Ethnography of the Amanita muscaria in the Americas

Objective: To collect and analyze the ethnographic data set on the traditional use of the intoxicant mushroom Amanita muscaria among American populations.Methodology: A careful evaluation was carried out during data collection, making criticisms and corrections where it was considered the data were presented in an inadequate way from the methodological point of view. Another type of data that was taken into account is the popular names that this mushroom receives and its etymologies. Also, the causes that have provoked a cultural process of "mortalization" of A. muscaria are analyzed, so that among many ethnic groups, both American and Old World, this mushroom is now considered deadly poisonous.Results: The traditional use of A. muscaria as an intoxicant source has been preserved today among some ethnic groups in North America (Ahnishinaubeg, Ajumawi, Wixaritari) and the purposes of use are mainly religious and shamanic-therapeutic. The etymologies of the popular names reveal a range of semantic associations similar to those found in the Old World and testify to a knowledge of the intoxicant properties of this mushroom that was preserved until very recent times among some native groups of Mesoamerica. The presence of this mushroom in South America seems to be due to the recent anthropic reforestation activity and this would explain the lack of archaeological, historical and ethnographic documents for this region.Conclusion: The data collected here suggest a greater dissemination of knowledge of the intoxicant properties of A. muscaria among North American and Mesoamerican natives in past times, knowledge forgotten or secretly transmitted even today after the centuries-old colonial repression against native cults, including the use of intoxicating sources.