Kuntanawa Rapé

The Kuntanawa’s story is one of return — a people once thought lost to the rubber era, who reclaimed their name, their land and their medicine on the upper Rio Tejo in the Alto Juruá of Acre. Their name means “people of the cocão palm.”

The collection is led by Ayahuasca Vine, one of our best-selling blends. Every blend here is made entirely by hand, often as a group effort — from gathering the herbs, to burning the ashes, to curing the tobacco — and comes to us directly from the tribe, shipped same-day from the US.

New to rapé? Our complete rapé (hapé) guide covers the tradition, how it’s used in ceremony, and how to choose your first blend. Or explore all our tribal blends, or the Nukini and Yaminawá collections.

This image is for illustrative purposes and does not necessarily depict members of the Kuntanawa tribe.

Tribal man wearing a large headdress made of patterned brown feathers with striking red accents, symbolizing Amazonian cultural heritage.

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Kuntanawa Tribe FAQ

What does the name “Kuntanawa” mean?

It’s a Pano name — nawa means “people,” and kunta refers to the fruit of the cocão palm, so it reads roughly as “people of the cocão.” (It’s sometimes mistranslated as “cocoa/chocolate” — that isn’t right; the palm is the cocão, not cacao.) The spelling has shifted over time from Kontanawa to Kuntanawa.

Where do the Kuntanawa live?

Along the upper Rio Tejo, deep inside the Alto Juruá Extractive Reserve in the municipality of Marechal Thaumaturgo, in western Acre. Their main village is Sete Estrelas.

The Kuntanawa were once thought to have vanished — what happened?

During the rubber boom they were struck by the armed raids known as correrias, and by the early twentieth century were reported “exterminated.” The survivors were absorbed into the rubber-tapper population and lived for generations as caboclos — their Indigenous identity submerged rather than gone.

How did the Kuntanawa become a recognised people again?

Theirs is a documented case of cultural re-emergence. From the late 1980s the family of the matriarch dona Mariana and the patriarch Milton Gomes da Conceição began refusing “caboclo” status and reasserting that they were Indigenous, formally declaring themselves a distinct people around 2001–2002. Their claim for official recognition and land demarcation has moved through FUNAI and the courts for two decades and, as of 2025, is still not finalised.

Do the Kuntanawa still speak their own language?

Their language belongs to the Pano family but was almost entirely lost through the rubber era; today the community speaks Portuguese. Revitalisation draws on fragments held in dona Mariana’s memory and on exchange with neighbouring Pano peoples such as the Huni Kuin and Yawanawá.

What part do sacred plants play in Kuntanawa life?

Ayahuasca — known locally as uni or simply cipó — has been central to the Kuntanawa cultural recovery, the thread through which chants, body-paint designs and forest knowledge were drawn back together. Rapé (hapé) belongs to the wider sacred-medicine tradition shared across the Pano peoples of the Juruá, and is worked with in that same ceremonial spirit.

Does buying Kuntanawa rapé support the community?

Yes — we source directly from the makers rather than through middlemen, so the money reaches a people still working to secure recognition of the land and culture they fought to reclaim. That direct relationship is the whole point.