ACHOTE Handicrafts
What is Achote?
The name Achote is derivated from Achiote (Bixa orellana) which is a shrub or small tree originating from the tropical region of the Americas. Central and South American natives originally used the seeds to make red body paintand lipstick. For this reason, the achiote is sometimes called the lipstick tree.
The tree is best known as the source of annatto, a natural orange-red condiment (also called "achiote" or "bijol") obtained from the waxy arils that cover its seeds. The ground seeds are widely used in traditional dishes in South and Central America, the Caribbean, and Mexico; such as cochinita pibil, chicken in achiote and caldo de olla. Annatto and its extracts are also used as an industrial food coloring to add yellow or orange color to many products such as butter, cheese, sausages, cakes, and popcorn.
The species name was given by Linnaeus after the Spanish conquistador Francisco de Orellana, an early explorer of the Amazon River. The name achiote derives from the Nahuatl word for the shrub, āchiotl. It may also be referred to as aploppas, or by its original Tupi name uruku, urucu or urucum ("red color"), which is also used for the body paint prepared from its seeds.
The Legend about Achiote
Maxé Iní
Long ago, in the depths of the jungle, in the central part of the eastern part of Peru, in what is now known as Ucayali and where passes the river of the same name; there was a community of indigenous Shipibo Conibo, which inhabited a territory what is now called Iparía.
The Indians lived on the banks of a beautiful lake with dark waters. In this lagoon were a lot of fish of various species and many black lizards. It was a source of food for indigenous people Pano, who lived from the hunting and harvesting.
At that time, this tribe was disconnected from the other worlds, white men had not yet arrived there and the Indians lived alone with Mother Nature.
One day a hunter from the village was walking nerby the lagoon and looking for an animal to hunt and eat. After some time he got very tired in finding anything to satisfy his hunger, he leaned back to rest under a small tree with broad leaves, which had a fruit that man did not know. Suddenly they fell from the top a few dark red grains, he looked up into the branches and saw a bird that stung the fruit of that tree.
The red granite fell to the ground, hunter took them in his hands and pressed them as playing in thought. Suddenly he saw that his hand was very red as blood and he got very frightened. The spots were so red and so intense that the Indian was stunned by that intense color.
He took a few fruits of the tree and then took the rest to their community to show to people what he had found. At that time the ceramics of this people lacked colorful, and linear and geometric lines of this culture had no tones; so one woman from the village asked then man to give her the red seeds. Later the woman brought a beautiful jar of clay she had made and then she painted that jar with color from these seeds.
All were impressed with the details and drawings that the jar had. Since that time all women began to paint and decorate their handicrafts with essences prepared from those seeds which the Indians called "Maxe" in language Shipibo Conibo means "Achiote" and lagoon where they found that plant they called "Maxe Ian" which means "lagoon achiote". Later on this plant was recognized by other tribes such as the Ashaninka who use it until today as natural painting for their various handicrafts.
Note: Achiote lagoon exists and is situated in the Native Community San Luis de Contamanillo in the district of Iparía in Ucayali.
Achiote: Bush whose botanical name is: Bixa Orellana. Other common names to this species are achiote, bixin, urucú or annatto.
Recopilado en 1997 de la tradición oral amazónica por Carlos Paul Quispe Torres. Docente peruano, egresado del Instituto Superior Pedagógico Bilingüe de Yarina Cocha en Ucayali-Perú. ha trabajado como docente bilingüe por siete años en comunidades indígenas de la selva ucayalina, actualmente radica en Pucallpa la ciudad capital de la región Ucayali en Perú y es docente de Lenguaje y Literatura.
Junto a sus estudiantes continua la fiel tarea de recopilar historias, mitos y leyendas de la cosmovisión indígena y mestiza de la selva. Es activo participante de diversos concursos nacionales. El año 2014 fue ganador junto a un estudiante indígena ocupando el primer puesto a nivel nacional en Narrativa oral en lengua indígena shipibo. Ha obtenido varios premios y reconocimientos regionales y nacionales por su afán de recrear la cultura autóctona amazónica.