Mói Mapacho Powder (Nicotiana Rustica) – From Brazil

Mói Tobacco: The Brazilian Mapacho

Most connoisseurs of medicinal flora recongnize the name Mapacho. That’s how the Nicotiana rustica plant (widely referred to as simply tobacco) is commonly known across South American cultures, especially those of Peru. Now, for Brazilians, that sort of wild tobacco is known as Mói.

Mói is a higher quality, refined variation of common tobacco, harvested and crafted into a medicinal ingredient especially in the northern state of Acre. Mói tobacco is cultivated organically, without any added pesticides, and according to age-old traditions of the Ribeirinho people, cultivated and appreciated for generations. It combines local tobacco with seeds brought to the region by first generations of Ribeirinhos, who originally come from the Northeastern states of Brazil.

We offer it in rolls and in powder form used many times in rapé production by the local indigenous communities.

The Origins of Maya’s Mói Tobacco

Our Mói tobacco undertakes a very special journey. It is harvested from the Alto Juruá region, where the borders of Peru and the state of Acre meet, after the town of Marechal Thaumaturgo. There, the Ribeirinho people have settled into an area that nowadays comprises an extraction reserve. The Ribeirinho come from the Northeastern region of Brazil or, at least, descend from a lineage of Northeasterners that fled from the region a century ago to escape the violent crises of the Rubber Cycle era.

The story of the Ribeirinhos is one of resilience, strength, and unity. Their culture is rich and diverse, yet still very unique, as once the first of their community reached the river banks and beaches they still reside in nowadays, the foundations of their socio-economic system was created around the rivers. Produces and plantations follow a sense of self-sufficiency and environmental responsibility, preserving the forest and rivers around them as these mean more than just resources to be extracted, but really constitute their home.