Venezuela · Textile / Basketry
Sebucán; tönköi (Ye'kwana)
The weaving of the sebucán, an elongated, tube-shaped woven press made from interlaced vine or palm fiber, used across indigenous and criollo communities of eastern and southern Venezuela to extract prussic (hydrocyanic) acid from grated bitter cassava, the essential step in making casabe bread. Filled with grated cassava and stretched by suspending or twisting, the sebucán's woven structure elongates and constricts to press out the toxic liquid (yare). The tool's central place in indigenous life is reflected in Ye'kwana oral tradition, which attributes its invention to the creator figure Wanadi and requires a ritual song at each first use to ward off a spirit believed to inhabit the object — knowledge documented directly from a named community elder. The same weaving and twisting technique gave rise to a distinct traditional maypole-style ribbon dance, El Sebucán (also called palo de cintas), performed in Venezuela's eastern states.
Risk level: Vulnerable · Not inscribed; Venezuela is a State Party to the 2003 ICH Convention
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