The leaves of Erythroxylum coca, the coca plant, have a predominant presence in the daily lives of the Runakuna. In her ethnography, Catherine Allen explores its profound meaning and the wide variety of dimensions that coca plays in the world of the Runa. Its ubiquity and incomparable importance make coca a hallmark of Runa identity and a necessary component of their traditional lifestyles. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Chewing coca is symbolic of indigenous identity, defining the boundaries between Runa and Misti. The Runakuna identify culturally with the Inca, believing that coca chewing is one of the traditions they have kept alive. Chewing coca signifies “cultural loyalty and identification with the traditions passed down by the Incas,” essential to one's self-understanding and concept of heritage (CA: 108). The Runakuna are the only people in this region who chew coca leaves, thus distinguishing them from the Mestizos (Mistikuna), who see the habit as backward and dirty. However, chewing coca properly is part of what it means to “be a Runa, a real person” based on one's culture and lifestyle (CA: 7). The widespread social function of chewing coke or paying wages is central to group cohesion. and harmony in this Andean community. Coca is chewed when friends casually meet on the street, before starting work, when discussing problems or after finishing eating. The ceremony of making a k'intu offering and then performing ritual blowing (phukuy) expresses the values ​​at the heart of Runa culture, primarily reciprocity. The symmetrical way in which the coke is reciprocated is representative of the way in which Runa sees the cosmos as a whole as a circulatory system of flow. The order in which k'intu exchanges occur reflects and reinforces Sonqo's social hierarchy, with high-ranking older men and guests receiving coke first. In Allen's words, "coca chewers share k'intus with each other in a tangible expression of their social and moral relationship, while at the same time sharing the sami of the leaf with the Earth and the Sacred Sites" (105). Coca is therefore woven into the world of the Runa in a way that interpenetrates both the sacred and the mundane, uniting their society and expressing their connection to the divine. Since sharing k'intu reflects the hierarchy of the social group, phukuy also functions to orient the individual in a space inhabited by local deities who have their own hierarchical structures. Traveling into unknown lands, Runa may fly their k'intus to new local sacred sites as a means of introduction. In this way, coca reflects the Runa worldview in which the animated landscape is imbued with power and part of a cosmic hierarchy (CA: 109). Its use is both pragmatic and symbolic. The practical role of coca chewing may be as essential to Runa culture as its explicitly ceremonial functions. The myth of Santisima Maria discovering that chewing coca as pain relief after losing her son expresses how coca is viewed among the Runakuna. Allen notes that coca “helps ease the pain of life and brings people together in mutual support,” a crucial role in the harsh environment of the high mountain tundra (CA: 7). Their myth regarding the origins of coca comes to life when coca is used as a source of comfort in the midst of personal pain, demonstrating the deep emotional meaning of the leaf. The ceremonial and religious functions of coca can be seen in the practice of coca qhaway. ,.