Frauen aus Santa Rosa de Sucumbios ernten und verarbeiten Maniokknollen: Abschaben der Schale, Zerreiben der Knollen mit einer aufgespaltenen, dornigen Palmwurzel, Einfüllen des Breies in die aus Baststreifen geflochtene Maniokpresse (Tipiti), Auspressen des giftigen Saftes durch Drehen der Enden der Presse in entgegengesetzter Richtung.

Celila Lucitante and an elderly female relative of hers went over to the Ecuadorian side of the Rio San Miguel to bring back a supply of manioc tubers. They gather a considerable amount and bring them back to the house. The older woman then prepared the manioc, first by scraping away the outer skin with a knife. The woman began grating the manioc tubers then into a wooden vessel using a split, thorny root of a palm as a grater. The poisonous juice from the manioc must now be removed and this is achieved by the two women together (or sometimes by one person on her own) with the aid of the tipiti manioc press. Firstly the poison is removed by both women together operating the tipiti which has previously been filled with the manioc mass, each woman twisting her end of the tipiti in opposite directions, thus extracting the poison. In the second method a woman on her own suspends the tipiti from the rafters of her house and twists it by inserting a pole through its lower "ear". In this way the manioc flour is rendered edible and can be used for baking purposes.