This mixed-methods study researched people who have participated in traditional Indigenous
Ayahuasca ceremonies to determine if the experience served as an antidote to dominant cultural
hegemony. Fourty-four participants completed the quantitative scaled questionnaire and 11
qualitative interviews were conducted for the study. Findings reveal five antidotal movements
toward countering the uninvestigated assumptions dictated by hierarchical systems common to
Western culture. These include self-determination; increased relationality; reduced
anthropocentrism; reduced consumerism/materialism; movement toward more critical awareness of status-quo assumptions. The most profound transformations toward counter-hegemonic dispositions occurred in concert with certain dynamics I describe relating to several variables. I conclude that working with ayahuasca moves people toward Indigenous ways of understanding
the world.
Keywords: Hegemony, Western hegemony, ayahuasca, Indigenous worldview