CNN —When four young indigenous children were found last week after 40 days in the Colombian Amazon jungle, their rescuers noticed that the oldest, 13-year-old Lesly Jacobombaire Mucutuy, had something hidden between her teeth. Muñoz told CNN the seeds were from a native Amazon palm tree called Oenocarpus Bataua, colloquially known as “milpesos” in Colombia. The accomplishment feels like a moment of pride for the indigenous community of the Colombian Amazon. One of the traditional tasks of indigenous women is to look after one’s siblings as if they were your own children. Traditional elders like Guerrero attempted to bridge a spiritual link with the children using traditional plants like tobacco, coca, and yagé, the sacred, hallucinogen plant also known as ayahuasca.

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Persons: ”, Eliecer Muñoz, Muñoz, Eliecer Munoz, Daniel Munoz, ” Muñoz, “, –, Henry Guerrero, Lesly, Fidencio Valencia, milpesos, ” Guerrero, Ranoque Mucutuy, Nelly Kuiru, Kuiru, Manuel Ranoque, San Jose del Guaviare, Guerrero, Magdalena Mucutuy, Leslie, There’s, ” Kuiru, Ranoque, Magdalena Organizations: CNN, AFP, Getty, Army, Cessna, Colombian Military Forces, Reuters, Colombian Amazon, Colombian, Blackhawk, Colombian Amazon Institute of Scientific Research Locations: Colombian, ”, Colombia, Bogota, Caqueta, La, San Jose, Araracuara, Amazonas