Itucham (/itu.ʧam/)

Itutcham is a newly developed ointment for preventing the disease know as Tolcham. The name literally means “purple ears” and is made with the buds of the Itunel flower. This ointment is used by the Tsomowbe people to cover their ears during the frost months. This substance avoids the fungus that causes Tolcham to instal in the people ears’. Just after the application, the colour is black, but as the days pass, the colour starts to fade, becoming purple. In the defrosting season, it is a singular marking for the people who used it, because they will emerge from their longhouses with very purple ears. The ointment was used as makeup for the Tsomowbe women, and it was discovered because some girls who played with it during the frost and were completely covered with it became the only ones who didn’t suffer from Tolcham. The black layer covers the ears and it is poisonous for the fungus that causes the disease. After that, some families start to try it out and finally was considered a perfect way to prevent contamination from Tolcham. It became such a staple product, the prospector clans start to seed Itunel flowers as soon as they arrive at the new campsites. As they are the first, as soon as the rest of the Herdsgroup arrive they already delimited the spaces where the flowers are. In the hot season as many Itunel buds are harvested and macerated to become the ointment that will be used for the next winter. The makeup is still very popular, but as many clans produce their own needs on both, the medicine and the makeup, the Itunel fields become bigger and bigger every year and some worry about the constant growth of the Herdsgroups.