Word, Vision, and Bond: The Ontology and Performativity of Shipibo-Konibo Medicinal Song

Abstract

This article analyzes the medicinal poetics of the Shipibo-Konibo nation of Ucayali, based on a study of healing chants performed by two onanya –Chonon Jisbe and Wexa Beso– during ayahuasca (oni) ceremonies. The research draws on recordings made in October 2024 and is grounded in a collaborative translation process with the indigenous healers themselves and other Shipibo-Konibo researchers. Through linguistic and pragmatic analysis of the chants, the article argues that these are not merely descriptive but performative acts: they heal, diagnose, open visionary worlds, and summon spiritual forces. From an indigenous perspective, the onanya’s word is effective because it is sustained by an initiatory process (sama) that transforms the body and forges a bond with non-human beings. The chant thus functions as a performative speech act whose power cannot be fully explained through conventional theoretical frameworks but instead through a sonic ontology in which saying is also doing. Medicinal poetics emerge as a relational and visionary knowledge system that challenges dominant epistemologies and demands ethical, co-produced engagement. In sum, the article proposes an indigenous theory of verbal agency, situated at the intersection of body, voice, and spiritual world.