Coca Plant - Erythroxylaceae

Mike Darcy

Geog324

Red Id #807512362

Mama Coca

Coca is a plant in the group Erythroxylaceae, native to north-western South America. The plant plays a central role in customary Andean culture. It is used by Andean cultures such as the Chibcha family of Colombia and Quechua family of Peru as a messenger from the Gods, but is best known in most of the world for the stimulant drug cocaine that is chemically extracted from its new fresh leaf tips in a similar manner, to tea bush harvesting. Unprocessed coca leaves are also commonly used in the Andean countries to make herbal tea with mild stimulant effects similar to strong coffee.

The plant resembles a blackthorn bush, and grows to a height of 7Ð'-10 ft. The branches are straight, and the leaves, which have a green tint, are thin, opaque, oval, and taper at the extremities. A marked feature of the leaf is an areolated portion bounded by two longitudinal bowed lines, one line on each side of the midrib, and more conspicuous on the under face of the leaf.

The flowers are tiny, and disposed in little clusters on short stalks. The corolla is composed of five yellowish-white petals, the anthers are heart-shaped, and the pistil consists of three carpels united to form a three-chambered ovary. The flowers mature into red berries. The people from the altiplano (an Inca heritage) love coca. They celebrate an Inca festival (ground hog day), and worship a goddess called Pachamama. Pachamama is a goddess revered by the indigenous people of the Andes.

In Inca mythology, Mama Pacha or Pachamama is a fertility goddess who presides over planting and harvesting. She causes earthquakes. Llamas are sacrificed to her. After conquest by Catholic Spain her image was replaced by the Virgin Mary, with whom she is identified in some parts of Chile, Bolivia and Peru. They now worship both. Pachamama is usually translated as "Mother Earth."

Since Pachamama is a "good mother", people usually toast to her honor before every meeting or festivity, in some regions by spilling a small amount of chicha on the floor, before drinking the rest. This toast is called "challa" and it's made almost every day. Pachamama has a special worship day called "Martes de challa" (Challa's Tuesday) where people bury food, throw candies, burn incense. In some cases, celebrants assist to traditional priests called "yatiris" in ancient rites to bring good luck or the good will of the goddess, such as sacrificing guinea pigs or burning llama fetuses

Coca is not only used during ceremonies, but in everyday life. They chew it all day long to keep them going. One man says that if they didn't have coca he would not be able to get through the day. He could go without breakfast but not without coca. Coca is a very big in social gatherings. Neighbors bring coca to one another to resolve conflicts between one another. I can see this relating to someone bringing over beer or wine to one of our neighbors.

The leaves are not chewed but sucked. The term chewing is not an appropriated one, this is a technique developed over centuries. It consists in taking a mouthful of coca leaves without swallowing them. These are previously stripped of the veins to avoid traumatic action by these hard parts of the leaf on the mouth lining. Chewing is done softly, trying not to crush them totally, only enough to break the cell membranes and then let them dissolve slowly in the saliva.

Several reports have shown that chewing leaves of coca is widely believed by users in South America to enhance their work capacity. In the movie they move to interview workers of a silver and tin mine. These workers work 48 hours a week and in return only make 90 dollars. I wasn't shocked when I heard this but, I tried to picture doing that much laborious work for that little of money and I cringed