Warning as ‘tribal ritual’ man dies
A family have warned of the dangers of British travellers taking part in tribal rituals after their teenage son died after drinking hallucinogenic herbs in Colombia.
A FAMILY have warned of the dangers of British travellers taking part in tribal rituals after their teenage son died after drinking hallucinogenic herbs in Colombia.
Henry Miller was in a remote rainforest area with other tourists when he took part in the ceremony with a local tribe and drank yage, also known as ayahuasca, which brings on vivid hallucinations and supposedly spiritual experiences. Avon Coroner’s Court heard the 19-year-old had taken part in two ceremonies within three days of each other led by Shaman Guillermo and his wife Mama Concha.
The student, from Kingsdown, Bristol, was found dead by a rural road outside Mocoa, the capital of the Putumayo region, on April 23 2014.
Yage is a psychedelic drink made from leaves and is used by native people in South America for healing and spiritual purposes.
It is also known to cause nau- sea, diarrhoea and psychological distress.
The effects of the drug were documented by writer William S Burroughs in his book The Yage
Letters, in which he wrote to poet Allen Ginsberg of his mind-altering experiences.
Mr Miller had left the UK two months earlier to travel to South America and was due to begin his studies at the University of Brighton in September 2014.
Christopher Deardon, who was also travelling in Colombia, met Mr Miller while the student was staying at a nearby hostel run by a retired Belgian police officer.
He told the hearing that each ceremony cost 50,000 Colombian pesos and he took part in the first one with Mr Miller.
After drinking the psych- edelic brew and falling ill, Shaman Guillermo told his son and a friend to take Mr Miller to a hospital on a motorcycle.
The court heard that the two men realised Mr Miller was dead en route to the hospital and left him at the roadside hoping his body would be found.
Mr Miller’s father, David, said his son told him in a call the day before he died that he had taken part in a ceremony on Easter Sunday, April 20, and had drunk three cups of yage “but felt nothing”.
Dr Russell Delaney gave the cause of death as intoxication of yage, also known as ayahuasca, and scopolamine, also known as hyoscine.
Ignatius Hughes QC, representing the Miller family, said the family wanted other travellers to be aware of the dangers of taking part in these tribal ceremonies.
“Any anxiety generally is that I should alert the court to their concern that other young travellers might benefit from being made aware of the small but real dangers inherent in this perfectly lawful practice.”
Travellers might benefit from being made aware of the real dangers Ignatius Hughes QC, representing the Miller family.