Women preparing cahuana and casabe.

From the Amazon region, Víctor Churay Roque, or Ivá Wajyamú (Pucaurquillo, Loreto 1972 - Lima 2002), a Bora painter from Pucaurquillo, Loreto, depicts in this painting on llanchama tree bark a scene of everyday life, in which we see the many ways in which the Bora people use cassava (Manihot esculenta).
In its many varieties, this plant is native to the Amazon region of South America. Cassava contains varying quantities of prussic or hydrocyanic acid, and its high level of toxicity can lead to death, which is why the people of the Amazon know it by the name “yuca brava”.
The men and women of the Bora, Murui, Ocaina, Secoya and Airo Pai peoples, among others, know the procedure for processing the root in order to counter its toxicity and make it fit for human consumption.
In this painting, across different scenes Churay depicts the entire process for making cahuana, a drink shared on social occasions by the Bora people, made from cassava starch. A woman can be seen grating the cassava and straining it in a sieve to obtain the starch that will be left to ferment. To the right of this composition, the fermented cassava starch is boiled in a pot over a fire, and in the foreground of the painting, a woman is seated in front of a large container filled with the traditional flatbread known as casabe.