- 1 week ago
Season 14 (2000-2002)
Original production funding provided by: Barnes & Noble
National Science Foundation
The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations
Corporation for Public Broadcasting
PBS Viewers Like You
Original production funding provided by: Barnes & Noble
National Science Foundation
The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations
Corporation for Public Broadcasting
PBS Viewers Like You
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00Help all kids learn and grow with PBS Kids. Thank you for supporting your PBS station.
00:30My friends are known and ways to grow. A written rainbow. I can be anything. Take a look. It's in a book. A written rainbow. A written rainbow.
00:50Oh, oh, oh, oh. Hi. Are you ready for an adventure that you will never forget? Well, come on.
01:08We're heading for one of the most amazing places on Earth. The Amazon Rainforest.
01:25From the sky, you can see how big the rainforest really is. Except for the occasional blue river, it's just green, as far as the eyes can see.
01:41And if you're wondering why we're going to the rainforest, the answer is in a book. It's the true story of a shaman, or a medicine man, who uses the plants of the rainforest to treat the illnesses of his people.
01:54And how he passes his knowledge on to an apprentice or student. It's called The Shaman's Apprentice.
02:06The Shaman's Apprentice. A tale of the Amazon rainforest. Written by Lynn Cherry and Mark J. Plotkin. Illustrated by Lynn Cherry. Read by Susan Sarandon.
02:24In the Tyreo Indian Village of Quamala, deep in the Amazon Rainforest, Kamanya lay in his hammock, burning with fever.
02:35His mother sat nearby. She spoke gently to her husband.
02:39It is time. Take him.
02:40He picked up the boy and carried him to the hut of the shaman, the medicine man.
02:49Softly chanting, the shaman Natala disappeared into the forest.
02:54He returned with leaves, roots, and bark, which he put into a pot of water, boiling on the fire.
02:59Stirring and singing, he asked the sickness to leave the boy.
03:05Then Natala removed the pot from the fire, and when the mixture had cooled, he lifted Kamanya's head and poured the warm medicine into the boy's mouth.
03:14When the boy awoke, the fever was gone.
03:17As the years passed, Kamanya never forgot that the shaman saved his life.
03:26The village of Quamala rested on the banks of the beautiful Cipaluwini River.
03:33Unlike the other boys, Kamanya often slipped away and silently followed the shaman as he collected the plants from which he made his powerful medicines.
03:43Kamanya hoped that he could learn Natala's wisdom and one day become the next shaman.
03:48Natala was pleased with the boy and showed Kamanya which plants he used for healing.
03:55One day, a man from another tribe came down the river.
03:58He staggered from his canoe up the riverbank and into the Tyreo village.
04:03He told the Tyreos that strangers had come to his people's village in search of gold.
04:07These miners had dug up the ground, and they carried a disease so strong that the tribe's shaman could not cure it.
04:14A few days later, the man passed on to the spirit world.
04:19Soon, people in the Tyreo village became sick with the strange illness, and Natala could not cure it.
04:25Several months later, another canoe came down the river.
04:30The tall people who entered the village had the whitest skin the Tyreos had ever seen, and hair the color of straw.
04:38Their clothes covered their entire bodies.
04:41These white people were missionaries who had come to convert the Tyreos to their religion.
04:46They gave the sick people little white pills, and soon, everyone in the village felt well.
04:53They called this sickness malaria, and said the little white pills contained quinine, malaria's treatment.
04:59The missionaries gave the Tyreos new clothes to wear, taught them how to read and write, and translated the Bible into trio.
05:10The white people's medicine had done what the shaman's medicine could not.
05:14So now, the Tyreos believed that the missionary's god must be more powerful than their own gods.
05:20Kamanu watched sadly as the shaman lost his place of honor within the tribe, and at the council fire.
05:29He told Natala,
05:32Tamu, wise one, the day must come when they again see that you are the wisest of them all.
05:40One day, while Kamanu was fishing, he saw another stranger coming up the river.
05:45A young woman, accompanied by a guide from another village.
05:49Kamanu brought her to see the chief.
05:53The woman, Gabriela, explained that she had come to study the healing magic of the forest plants.
05:59The chief told her about the malaria, and asked why she wanted to learn their medicine when hers was so much stronger.
06:05Do you know where the treatment for malaria comes from? Gabriela asked.
06:10She explained that missionaries had learned about quinine, the medicine in the white pills, from the forest people of Peru.
06:17This healing medicine comes from the bark of the cinchona tree, she said.
06:22The chief was astonished.
06:25A shaman's medicine had saved them after all.
06:28Every day, Gabriela followed the shaman through the forest and learned about the hundreds of plants he used for medicines.
06:37Plants to cure earaches and stomach aches, snake and insect bites.
06:41One day, Natala noticed Gabriela scratching her elbow.
06:47Going over to a weedy tree, he peeled the bark away.
06:51He spread the bright red sap on Gabriela's arm.
06:55By the next day, the fungus and itching had disappeared.
06:59After several months, Gabriela left.
07:04But every year, she returned to Kwamala to learn, with Kamanya, more and more of the shaman's wisdom.
07:11Now Gabriela could speak effortlessly in their language, and on the next visit, she had a special gift, a book that she had made for them.
07:23She carefully unwrapped her handbook of all their medicinal plants, and said,
07:31Now you have two books in your language, the Bible, and this, the wisdom of Natala.
07:38Now your people will never forget the shaman's wisdom.
07:43Perhaps one day, the people of the world may benefit from Natala's knowledge of the healing powers of the rainforest.
07:49The next day, Kamanya visited Gabriela and said,
07:55The chief thinks your book is very important.
07:58He has asked Natala to teach a young man of our tribe all he knows.
08:02Natala has chosen me.
08:07Gabriela left the Tyreo village with a full and happy heart.
08:11She would continue to return to Kwamala year after year and learn from her wise mentor.
08:16And she knew that while she was away, the old shaman's work would continue with Kamanya.
08:25And so it was that Kamanya became the shaman's apprentice.
08:36There it is. There's Kwamala.
08:39And it looks a lot like the pictures in the book.
08:41It's almost as if the book itself is coming to life.
08:58Hey, LeVar. How are you doing?
09:00How are you?
09:00Fine.
09:01Glad you made it, man.
09:02Good to see you.
09:03You all right?
09:06I'm doing just fine.
09:06Great.
09:07This is my friend Mark Plotkin.
09:10He's not only one of the authors of the book,
09:12he's a scientist and an absolute expert at rainforest plants.
09:16Man, I'm glad you made it.
09:17Me too.
09:18You're just in time.
09:19There's a special place I want to take in.
09:20Somebody really special you've got to meet.
09:21Really?
09:22Yeah.
09:22Right away?
09:23Let's do it.
09:23Hit the ground running.
09:24That's what I like.
09:25When you visit Kwamala, the first thing you do is meet the chief, or Granman,
09:32and get his permission to explore the village.
09:34Mark speaks Trio, the language of the Tirio Indians,
09:37so he'll introduce me and explain why I'm here.
09:41This is Nami Mati.
09:42LeVar.
09:42LeVar.
09:43LeVar.
09:43One biggie summa.
09:49Granman, I want you to know that I'm very happy to be here in your village
09:54and among your people.
09:55I've been looking forward to this trip for a long time.
09:58Then I go talking,
09:59so I said that you wanted to see how things were here,
10:05and then you were going to tell all the children back home
10:08how things were here in the jungle.
10:11It's also customary to offer a small gift to the chief,
10:14like this machete.
10:16He accepts and grants me permission to visit.
10:20Because Kwamele lies near the equator,
10:36every day is like the hottest day of summer.
10:39So families live in open huts instead of houses.
10:42I'm using this video camera to keep a record
10:46of just how different everything is.
10:50Here, they sleep in hammocks instead of beds.
10:54And those hammocks are woven from cotton
10:56they've grown just outside the village.
11:00And with leaves from the rainforest,
11:02villagers can make everything from a roof to a basket.
11:06Writing what I'm seeing and feeling
11:11gives me another chance to share my experiences
11:13with my friends and family back home.
11:16And just like the shaman's apprentice
11:17tells the true story of Kamaña,
11:19maybe my journal can tell people even more
11:22about what life is really like here.
11:24With only a couple of feathers,
11:32some string, a shaft of bamboo,
11:35a knife, and knowledge that's been passed on
11:37from generation to generation,
11:39Jacopo here is making one of the oldest tools
11:42known to man.
11:46It's an arrow.
11:48And it will be used with a bow to hunt
11:51or fish for food.
11:52After all, there aren't any grocery stores in Coamala.
11:57There's just the rainforest.
12:07He doesn't use a measuring tape
12:09or any of the tools we're used to.
12:13Just his knife and his touch,
12:16his sight, and his feel.
12:20Knowledge like Jacopo's
12:21has to be passed on from one generation
12:23to the next.
12:26Jacopo was once like this young boy.
12:29And one day, the boy will be like Jacopo,
12:31teaching the ancient art of arrow making
12:33to another generation.
12:41And while hunting with bows and arrows
12:43is one way to get their meals,
12:45the people here have found
12:46another source of food in the cassava root.
12:50But first, they have to dig the roots from the ground.
12:55Then, pack them into hand-woven baskets
12:57and carry the heavy packs to the village.
13:02It's hard work.
13:04And it's just the start.
13:06Next, they peel the roots
13:12and prepare them for grinding.
13:18Cassava makes up a large part of the diet
13:20of the Tyreo Indians.
13:21And here in Coamala,
13:22the women teach the young girls
13:24how to turn cassava root into bread.
13:26The trick is to grind the cassava
13:33and not your hands.
13:39Once the roots have been ground
13:41into a mushy paste,
13:42the paste is packed into a matapi,
13:45a really clever device
13:46made completely from rainforest materials.
13:49The matapi is used to strain the liquid
13:55out of the ground-up cassava.
14:06Next, the strained paste is laid out,
14:09kind of like a pizza crust.
14:19And finally, the cassava bread
14:23is then thrown on the roof
14:25to finish baking in the hot jungle sauna.
14:34This has been an incredible trip.
14:36I've been here just a few days,
14:38and yet I've seen and learned so much
14:40about the Tyreo Indians.
14:45Today, I went to school
14:46and learned a song in trio.
14:48I got my face painted
15:00like a real Tyreo tribesman.
15:03I'm initiated.
15:09And I got to watch
15:10as the villagers had a special celebration
15:12in honor of the chief.
15:16And even though I'm just a visitor here,
15:18they invited me to join in the festivities.
15:22They didn't have to ask twice.
15:24Later, I discovered that a dugout canoe
15:32and a paddle are the preferred way
15:33to get around the rainforest.
15:35And I think I may have experienced
15:37Kwamala's version of rush-hour traffic.
15:47Another fantastic day.
15:49And tomorrow should be even better.
15:51Mark told me we're actually going to meet
15:54someone from his book.
15:55But he won't tell me who it is.
15:58I can hardly wait to find out.
16:06Mark, so where are you taking me?
16:08I don't know.
16:09I don't know.
16:18Hey, wait a minute.
16:19I recognize him.
16:21This is Kamaña, isn't it?
16:22This is Kamaña.
16:24He has grown up
16:24and he's become a village healer.
16:26Kamaña, I'm Levar.
16:28Really nice to meet you.
16:30Hey, Mark,
16:31does Kamaña have his own apprentice now?
16:33He's teaching his twin sons,
16:39so they're learning his medicine
16:40so the circle remains unbroken.
16:42And is this his patient then?
16:44He's got a headache,
16:51a cold kind of a flu.
16:55He says the medicine is in the rainforest
16:57and he's inviting us to follow him
16:59in search of that medicine.
17:00Really?
17:01Yeah, I'd love to go.
17:04Okay.
17:05Mpa.
17:06Wow.
17:13Entering the rainforest
17:14is like entering another world.
17:18It's filled with wildlife of all kinds.
17:21Of course,
17:30it's also filled with plants and trees
17:32and it's Kamaña's knowledge
17:34of how these plants and trees
17:35can be used as medicines
17:36that we want to learn more about.
17:38This is Ponega.
17:49It's a tree of the nutmeg family
17:51and he's telling the kids
17:52that when you make a cut
17:53and then you rub the sap on your lips.
17:57Indians use this literally from head to toe.
17:59Wow.
18:02This is one of the greatest medicines
18:03in the Amazon forest.
18:04I would say it's one of the greatest medicines
18:05in the world.
18:06So it's topical.
18:06It's not really internal.
18:08It's not something you take, you know?
18:09Right.
18:10For mosquito bites, pets.
18:11Mosquito bites,
18:12athlete's foot,
18:13all sorts of itches and rashes,
18:15scalp problems.
18:17Wow.
18:18All from a tree.
18:18All from a tree.
18:25Here,
18:26under this leafy canopy,
18:28Kamaña has taught Mark
18:29much of what he knows
18:30about rainforest medicines
18:31and treatments.
18:39Like this water vine,
18:41which is not only good
18:42for quenching your thirst,
18:43but it can be used
18:44as a medicine too.
18:45This is what they call it
18:46on the kind of tree.
18:47No, it's all like this.
18:48Mm-hmm.
18:49It's good for colds,
18:50good for coughs.
18:54Give it a sip.
18:55It's a preventative medicine.
19:06Really?
19:06Not when they're sick,
19:07but before they get sick.
19:12It's great.
19:13We follow Kamaña
19:24deeper into the rainforest,
19:26just as he must have
19:27followed Natala
19:28when he was a boy.
19:30I feel so lucky to be here.
19:32They use the leaves
19:33and also the roots
19:34for toothache.
19:36You jam it up,
19:36it's full of essential oils
19:37which kill the toothache.
19:39Kill pain in the teeth, huh?
19:40Kill pain in the teeth, yeah.
19:42It does that thing.
19:43This is a woody vine
19:44they call coffee.
19:46This is a red sap
19:47and it's also used
19:48to keep wounds
19:49from getting infected.
19:50So the rainforest
19:51is really just like
19:52one big drugstore.
19:53If you know what you're
19:54looking for,
19:54like Kamaña does,
19:55you know,
19:56you can really go shopping
19:57for any number of medicines.
20:00Like we would go
20:00to a supermarket.
20:01You know, Levar,
20:02we go down the aisles
20:03of the supermarket
20:03or the drugstore at home,
20:04but this is like
20:05going down those aisles
20:06right here
20:06because all these drugs
20:07are here.
20:08But our mission
20:08won't be complete
20:09until we find the plant
20:11that can help
20:11Kamaña's young patient.
20:16This is it?
20:17This is it.
20:17This is the plant
20:18you're just looking for
20:19to treat the little boy.
20:20Great.
20:21Good job.
20:22Well, the patient's waiting.
20:23So with the special plant
20:33now in hand,
20:34it's time to head back
20:35to the village
20:36where a sick boy waits.
20:43They're giving the boy
20:44a tea made from the leaves
20:46we collected
20:47in the rainforest.
20:48It's going to make
20:48them feel better.
20:49It's just like in the book.
20:50Kamaña is not only
21:05passing his knowledge
21:06of the rainforest
21:07on to his two boys.
21:09He's teaching
21:10all the children
21:11of Kwamala
21:11about the jungle's
21:12many plants and trees
21:13that can be used
21:14to prevent
21:15or treat illness.
21:16In the rainforest,
21:22children learn
21:23the skills and traditions
21:24of tribal life
21:25through their parents.
21:26Knowledge is passed
21:27from one generation
21:28to the next
21:29by word of mouth.
21:31But through books,
21:32we can learn
21:32the skills and traditions
21:33of many different
21:34kinds of people.
21:35So, if you want
21:37to branch out
21:38and add to your
21:39tree of knowledge,
21:40then here are three books
21:41that you can plant
21:42on your reading list.
21:44But, you don't have
21:45to take my word for it.
21:49Hi, I'm Ariel.
21:51Can you imagine
21:52living in a house
21:53on stilts
21:54or eating banana leaves?
21:56Some people do
21:57these interesting things
21:58and more.
21:59They're in this book,
22:00People in the Rainforest.
22:03Rainforest people
22:04are expert hunters.
22:06This boy uses
22:07a bow and arrow
22:08to catch fish.
22:10Farming is very important
22:12in the rainforest.
22:14These ladies
22:15are making
22:15manioc pancakes.
22:18Many medicines
22:19grow in the rainforest.
22:22This man is using
22:23a leaf to help
22:24his friend feel better.
22:26Look at their clothes.
22:28They're so colorful.
22:31This book is like
22:32your own guide
22:33to the world's
22:34rainforests.
22:34I enjoyed it
22:35and so will you.
22:37Remember,
22:38it's called
22:38People in the Rainforest.
22:41Hi, would you like
22:43to go on the adventure
22:44of a lifetime?
22:45Well, if you would,
22:46this book is for you.
22:48It's called
22:49Amazon Diary.
22:51This is a story
22:53about a boy named Alex
22:54and a vacation
22:55he will never forget.
22:58He's on his way
22:59to the Amazon jungle.
23:01Alex's plane
23:03has to make
23:03an emergency landing.
23:06He's rescued
23:07by a tribe
23:08in the rainforest.
23:10He learns about
23:11their ways
23:11and how they live.
23:13Here's a tribesman
23:15fixing the roof.
23:17Here they are
23:18painting their faces
23:19for a special celebration.
23:22Believe it or not,
23:23that's lunch.
23:24I'm Adam
23:28and I thoroughly
23:29enjoyed this book.
23:30So go to your library
23:31and check it out.
23:33Amazon Diary.
23:34Enjoy.
23:35Hi, I'm Ian
23:36and I'd like to show you
23:38a beautiful place
23:39with all sorts of colors,
23:41sounds,
23:42and amazing animals.
23:43That place
23:44is the rainforest
23:45and it's in this book
23:46called
23:47Welcome to the Greenhouse.
23:49The rainforest
23:51is like a greenhouse.
23:53It's home
23:54to many animals
23:55and plants.
23:57See the flash
23:58of a blue hummingbird.
24:01There are lizards
24:02in rainbow colors.
24:04Look at those
24:04fantastic butterflies.
24:07Chur, chur,
24:09sings the frogs.
24:10The toucan says,
24:12creak, creak, creak.
24:14Shh,
24:15there's an ocelot
24:16on the prowl.
24:17The rainforest
24:19is an incredible place.
24:21If you want to visit there
24:22without leaving your home,
24:24read
24:24Welcome to the Greenhouse.
24:31One of the things
24:32I appreciate most
24:34about life here in Kwamala
24:35is
24:35that it is so completely
24:37different from ours.
24:39Life is so simple here.
24:41They don't have telephones,
24:42there are no computers,
24:44no television,
24:45they don't even have electricity
24:46and yet none of that
24:48seems to matter
24:48to the people here.
24:50They have none of the things
24:51that we think
24:52are essential for life
24:53and yet
24:54they don't seem to need them.
24:56chur, chur, chur.
25:04chur, chur.
25:08My journal and my video have helped me
25:38capture some incredible moments
25:40and amazing images
25:42that will help me remember
25:44and share the story of these
25:46wonderful people.
25:54By working with the people of Kwamla,
25:56Mark is helping to protect
25:58and pass on the ancient knowledge of the
26:00shamans and the healing power
26:02of the rainforest. And guess what?
26:05Now you possess
26:06some of that knowledge too, and you too
26:08can help to pass it on.
26:11I huepa, which means
26:12I'll see you next time.
26:14I huepa, which means
26:18I'll see you next time.
26:20I huepa, which means
26:24Today's reading rainbow books are
26:34The Shaman's Apprentice by Lynn Cherry
26:38and Mark J. Plotkin, illustrated by Lynn Cherry,
26:56published by Harcourt Incorporated.
26:59People in the Rainforest
27:01by Xavier Perrotta, published
27:05by Raintree Steckvon Publishers.
27:09Amazon Diary by Hudson Talbot and Mark Greenberg,
27:13illustrated by Hudson Talbot,
27:15photographs by Mark Greenberg,
27:18published by G.P. Putnam Sons,
27:20a division of Penguin Putnam Books
27:21for young readers.
27:23Welcome to the Greenhouse
27:25by Jane Yolen, illustrated by Laura Regan,
27:28published by G.P. Putnam Sons,
27:30a division of Penguin Putnam Books
27:32for young readers.
27:33www.pipipipipapolitian.com