Kaiapo medicine man in Brazil Kaiapo medicine man in Brazil To date many of the prescription drugs used in the western world have been derived from plants and 70% of the plants identified as having anti-cancer characteristics by the US National Cancer Institute are found only in the tropical rainforest. Typically knowledge of medicinal plants is carried by the shaman or "medicine man" of a village. The shaman treats the sick often during elaborate ceremonies and rituals using plants gathered from the surrounding forest.previous | tour index | next20