Described as a 'master plant' by many indigenous groups in lowland South America, tobacco is an essential part of shamanic ritual, as well as a source of everyday health, wellbeing and community.

Anthropologists and other researchers working in lowland South America write about the historical and contemporary role of tobacco within indigenous communities.

List of IllustrationsList of TablesContributorsForeword: From Gift of the Deities to Scourge among HumansRobin Wright, University of Florida, Gainesville, USAAcknowledgementsIntroduction: The Changing Landscape of Tobacco Use in Lowland South AmericaAndrew Russell, Durham University, UK and Elizabeth Rahman, University of Oxford, UKPart I: Tobacco in Ecological and Historical Contexts1. A Deep History of Tobacco in Lowland South AmericaAugusto Oyuela-Caycedo, University of Florida, USA and Nicholas C. Kawa, Ball State University, USA2. Methods of Tobacco Use among Two Arawakan-speaking Peoples in Southwestern Amazonia: A Case Study of Structural DiffusionPeter Gow, University of St Andrews, UK3. Tobacco and Shamanic Agency in the Upper Amazon: Historical and Contemporary PerspectivesFrançoise Barbira-Freedman, University of Cambridge, UKPart Two: Shifting Perspectives4. Singing White Smoke: Tobacco Songs from the Ucayali ValleyBernd Brabec de Mori, University of Graz, Austria5. Cool Tobacco Breath: The Uses and Meanings of Tobacco among the People of the CentreJuan Alvaro Echeverri, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Colombia6. Tobacco and Water: Everyday BlessingsElizabeth Rahman, University of Oxford, UKPart Three: Changing Landscapes7. Commercial Cigarettes and Tamï Ale among the Wayana in Northern Amazonia Renzo S. Duin, Leiden University, The Netherlands8. Landscapes of Desire and Tobacco Circulation in the Yanomami Ethos Alejandro Reig, University of Oxford, UK9. Of Tobacco and Well-being in Indigenous AmazoniaJuan Pablo Sarmiento Barletti, University of St Andrews, UK10. Smoking Tobacco and Swinging the Chicha: On Different Modes of Sociality among Guna ('Kuna') PeoplePaolo Fortis, Durham University, UKBibliographyIndex