Maestra Ynes Sanchez Gonzalez
Shipibo · Peru
Maestra Ynes (Xawanjisbe) is a Shipibo elder and one of the last Onayas (healer) with her level of wisdom within the Shipibo people. Coming from a long lineage of healers, originally from the Shipibo community of Roaboya, next to the Ucayali River, Pucallpa, Peru. Ynes began her intensive training with plant knowledge at 14 years old, when she became seriously ill with an unknown disease. Her illness led her to diet medicinal plants under the guidance of her grandfather and master healer, Aurelio. After successfully healing herself, Ynes decided to apprentice with Maestro Aurelio to learn her ancestral curandera tradition of the Shipibo indigenous people. A year later she undertook a diet in the forest that lasted for more than two years in complete isolation from the outside world. Some years later, Ynes continued dieting with her great-grandfather, Maestro and a Meraya healer, Luciano Sinuiri. At the age of 18, she began her last training diet with her mother’s uncle, Maestro and Onaya healer, Basil Gordon. These three powerful healers gifted her the base of her knowledge and experience with the sacred plant medicine and ayahuasca. Ynes founded her healing and master plant dieta center, Niwe Rao Xobo ten years ago.
View elder profile