Honoring the Roots | How Do We Source it?

     Collective Journey Art’s founder, Su-Ata Ongun, first connected with this sacred medicine in Peru, in 2012, when undergoing a dark night of the soul in his life. In the midst of his grief, he miraculously met a tabaquera (tobacco healer) who offered her healing wisdom. The force of the tobacco was so potent and profound that it planted a seed of curiosity around the healing properties of tobacco. This is the exact form of healing he had been searching all along. Not only did it serve as a full spirit reset, fully rewiring his internal software program, but it also served as a portal to transcendence, eliminating internal struggles. 

     His curiosity expanded when first connecting with the Matses tribe of Peru. The Matses people taught him the ceremonial ways of working with rappeh. Not only did he experience the powerful healing effects on the body, mind, and spirit, but also the honor of witnessing the whole journey of how this medicine is made in their village. He witnessed the ways this medicine heals, along with how it also embodies the ancient wisdom of mother earth. A profound wisdom that interconnects all living beings. Collective Journey now conducts these rituals at workshops, festivals, and ceremonial gatherings.

     We continue to stay connected to all of the Indigenous families we work with. We work with 9 different tribes, which include the Yawanawa, the Huni Kuin, the Xucuru Kariri, the Apurina, the Matses, the Nukini, the Katukina, the Kuntanawa, and the Bora tribe.