I made a post a while ago about studying Shamanism academically. After a lot of great feedback, I've decided that it will be best for me to study independently, meaning going to learn from indigenous populations directly. Now I'm trying to figure out how to go about doing that.

I think the best way considering my future goals would be to become an ayahuasca apprentice. My main problem here is separating bullshit from real tradition. What I mean by this is figuring out if the place I am going is mainly just a for-profit organization trying to prey on naive individuals and get thousands of dollars out of them as their primary motivation? This is the main reason I want to learn for free (although the freedom from paying thousands of dollars in course fees would honestly be a financial blessing).

Is this possible in this day and age? If so, how can I go about taking this path? Should I just accept that I'll have to pay (a lot) for this sort of training? From my perspective, if the main point is for these organizations to make money, there's simply no point and I might as well just learn on my own. How should I go about finding places/ people whom I can learn from authentically?

For context, I am planning on moving to South America in the next few years after I finish up school and start working. I'm also planning on becoming a Shaman apprentice there, so it's not like I will be going back and forth a lot to learn, ideally I'll be living and working in the same country where I do my apprenticeship.

I'm really not looking for advice on introspection here. Need to work on myself first, the plant is the teacher not me etc. I fully agree with all advice along these lines and value these points immensely, but that's not the info I'm seeking in this post. I'm looking for tangible advice to start on this path.

Edit: Added context