how do bwiti nganga feel about the west’s use of iboga?
Statement by Grand Master Moubeyi Bouale from the NGO Mahanga Ma Nzambe addressing the Psychedelic Science Conference 2025 USA.
This is the heritage of a people linked to a sacred tree, from a land that still bears the traces of knowledge that is not taught in any university. This knowledge is that of the Iboga, the emblematic organic source of knowledge of the self and the entire universe.
Iboga is not just a chemical formula… It is a living entity… For centuries, our ancestors, people of the Gabon region, have been in dialogue with this plant, several initiation rites, the most important of which is Bwete.
Iboga is our most respected teacher. It heals, confronts and reveals. It is therapy, divination and reconciliation, all in one. It heals the body, the soul and the memory.
the scientific world is finally rediscovering and recognizing some of Iboga's therapeutic potential…
While the western world is experimenting with extracting, synthesizing and patenting products originally derived from Iboga, traditional communities in Gabon are being dispossessed, once again, once too often.
Iboga is overexploited, plundered, illegally exported, sold on the internet and delivered to homes all over the world without the slightest precautions…
This is what is commonly referred to as biopiracy and cultural appropriation, if not spoliation of intellectual property…
It's as violent as war. We are not against research. We are not against worldwide access to this medicine. We are a very tolerant and generous community, respectful of the primary purpose of Iboga, which is to heal, regardless of ethnic, racial or social origins...
But we are against the post-colonial erasure and amnesia that wants to turn Iboga and its potential into an American or European discovery, ignoring the peoples who made it sacred at the genesis of their knowledge...
Our people dreamed it, carried it, sang it and then revealed it to the world…
How can we imagine a future for Iboga and an isolated part of its synthesized soul that you call Ibogaine?
Without justice, without recognition, without reciprocity.
We're not trying to lose our souls. We refuse to let Iboga suffer the same fate as the other sacred plants that are part of the cultural and natural heritage of our Amerindian brothers, who are also present here today and to whom we lend our support through the Indigenous Medicine Conservation Fund.
If Iboga is to save the world, then the world must save Iboga.
Listen to the full transcript by Grand Master Moubeyi Bouale from the NGO Maghanga Ma Nzambé here.
