Friday, December 10, 2010

Eucalyptus

        Hello~~ It’s me!! Herb~
       Hey this entry will be a little bit off from Asia but by not so much =). I have found another indigenous medicinal plant that was so abundant that I could not passed them by without mentioning them. The region where I found another plant to introduce is Australia especially central and northern Australia where traditional medicine is still practiced by tribal aborigines. When I went down to Australia from all the way from Siberia, I was wondering what kind of plants would be there, should I just head back to home and rest? But when I reached there I was struck with surprise with the abundance of medicinal plant that this country have.
    Although I had in mind how indigenous people are full of knowledge with organisms around them, when I found that all members of the indigenous family knew their medicinal plants, their location, structure, values and their application, I was stunned once more. Now let’s direct our attention to one of medicinal plants.
    Out of so many plants that were listed in this country, I would like to introduce one of the plants that somehow seemed very familiar to me, eucalyptus. Eucalyptus is one of plant that aboriginal people here in Australia used for medicinal uses. Eucalyptus was a traditional remedy for a variety of ailments back in time. Internally, the plant appears to help relieve symptoms of colds, chest congestion, sore throat, and respiratory infections. Externally, the antiseptic, anti-bacterial, and warming properties of eucalyptus make it valuable resource treatment of burns. So today, it is used worldwide in pills, liquids, inhalers, salves, and ointment for many common problems.
    Now that concludes our time in Australia. I will be back when there are any more interesting medicinal plant comes across my travel.


-Herb (Dong Jin/ Jin)


Rhodiola Rosea

             HELLO~~~ It’s me Herb! =)
      I would like to introduce North West of Asia this time where I found another very interesting indigenous medicinal plant. The region that I am going to introduce is called Altai region in Siberia where indigenous group of Altai people inhabit. The medicinal plant I found that one of this people use is called Rhodiola Rosea. This plant, Rhodiola Rosea, is a very special plant because it is a flowering herb in the Crassulaceae family that is only one which can be utilized for its potential health benefits out of 200 individual species.
     
      The group of native people who are living in the area of Altai region uses the property of this medicinal plant to enhance person’s life. This plant, Rhodiola Rosea, was for centuries used to cure most ailments. For those who suffer from anxiety, depression, stomach problems and other nervous system conditions, this plant can help ease the symptoms and allow the body to heal itself.
      Usage of this medicinal plant, Rhodiola Roea, draws attention to modern scientists beginning to use the property that this miraculous plant has. As mentioned above, indigenous people used this plant for many symptoms that had to do with nervous system conditions. Now the property that this medicinal plant led to modern research into its potential as an adaptogen- a substance that helps our bodies adapt to environmental, physiological and psychological stress.


-Herb (Jin or Dong Jin)


http://rhodiolaroseabenefits.com/index.html
http://www.planetaryherbals.com/products/GP1594/
http://www.yourbodycanheal.com/herb-rhodiola-rosea.html
http://www.pavelfilatov.com/gall/Altai_People/mini.php



Schisandra chinensis.

Hey it’s me Herb~
     I would like to take you to another part of Asia and that would be China, Korea and Japan. The reason that I am putting all three countries all at the same time is because they have one thing in common other than that they are located in Asia. These three countries have used and still using the medicinal plant called Schisandra chinensis. 
Schisandra Chinesis
Its berries were used in traditional Chinese medicine, where it is considered one of the 50 fundamental herbs. They are most often used in dried form, and boiled to make a tea. Medicinally it is used as a tonic and restorative adaptogen with notable clinically documented liver protecting effects.

Before I began talking any farther, I would like to explain a little bit about adaptogen and its importance. Adaptogen is a term coined by herbalists to refer to a natural herb product which they believe to increase body’s resistence to stress, trauma, anxiety and fatigue.
 In Korea, the berries of this plant is called omija, and the berries are also used to make tea which is same compared to what Chinese medicine do with this plant.
  In Japanese the plant is called gomishi. The Ainu people who are indigenous group lived in Japan used this plant as a remedy for colds and sea-sickness.
The reason as to why this plant is so favored by many people is because of the property that this miraculous plant has. Schisandra chinensis contains essential oils, acids and lignans which can, for example, help to regenerate liver tissue damaged by alcohol abuse or by hepatitis. And also as I already mentioned above the property to reduce the stress and fatigue that people have. This is all about schisandra chinesis. I will be back with more interesting indigenous plant.



-Herb (Dong Jin/ Jin)


Tumeric

     Hello Herb here~
     Today, I would like to take you to a new continent, Asia. I would like to start off with India where there are many indigenous medicinal plants that are in record and uses as practical medicine.
     Before I began introducing one of the indigenous plants in India, I would like to explore and introduce a group of indigenous people in India called Adivasi. Adivasi isn’t a particular indigenous group rather it is a collective term of indigenous people living in India. There are different names for different indigenous group living in different part of India. For example there are a few large tribes like Gonds, Santals, Oraon and Nagas.
Tumeric Plant
     The reason why I want to introduce Adivasi people is because their significance. This group is responsible for developing and passing down the knowledge of various plants and their medicinal uses. Ultimately they shed the light to so many medicines that are now in India. One of example would be ayurvedic which it owed many of their cures to Adivasi people’s knowledge of plants. It shows how much the knowledge that this indigenous group is very real and practical to modern medicine.
     Now the plant that I would like to introduce is called turmeric or curcuma longa. This plant is native to tropical South Asia. It is used extensively in foods for both its flavor and color. And also interestingly, this plant is the source that gives the curry its characteristic yellow color. Now enough with this kind of fact let’s get down to medicinal part of this plant.

Tumeric Powder
     Tumeric is also used extensively in the Indian systems of medicine such as ayurveda as I mentioned above. It is used as a carminative and stomachic in the treatment of digestive disorders. Also this plant is used to make paste, oil, ointment and lotion. It can be applied to topically for ulcers, wounds, eczema and inflammations. Although many of the “scientific” information is now much more clear, the knowledge the Adivasi people hold should be credited. If it weren't for their outstanding knowledge of plants, it is hard to imagine its impact on so many medicine and therapy that are practiced today.
    That’s all for India and one of the indigenous medicinal plants, turmeric. Next time I will be back with another interesting plant from other parts of Asia.



-Herb (Dong Jin/Jin)

Khat

Khat, qat, Catha edulis
Herb Here,
            Travelling East by the wave of internet surfing I transport to East Africa. Here, I learn of Khat, an indigenous medicine from the leaves of the Catha edulis pine. Khat is used traditionally by peoples of Ethiopia, Yemen, and Somalia. However, recent popularization of the drug by East African and Yemenite immigrants to Europe and America have led politicians, scientists, and the immigrants, themselves, to question whether use of Khat is traditional to their culture or a symbol of a displaced connection to their countries of origin.  
            
           Khat refers to the leaves of the Catha edulis tree that grows naturally in the hills of Ethiopia. In Ethiopia, among indigenous peoples, like the Zay, Tigrey, and Shanqella (just to name a few of the many peoples indigenous to Ethiopia), traditional medicines are practiced with the natural flora and fauna of the region. There are many instances in Traditional Environmental Knowledge being passed among these people, although traditional knowledge systems are beginning to disappear due to Western influence and environmental degradation.
           
The traditional medicine systems are holistic so they encompass treatment of physical, mental, and spiritual ailments. Khat, is primarily used to treat mental ailments and works like an amphetamine. In fact, some modern amphetamines contain cathinone and cathine, the active compounds in Khat that produce the stimulant effects. Khat is used traditionally to help farmers work on their crops, help elders concentrate during judicial meetings, intensify religious prayers to Allah, cure obesity, and bring euphoria to social gatherings. In Yemenite culture especially, Khat is central to social gatherings and has been used recreationally since the 17th century. Khat is usually rolled up in banana leaves and chewed. The juices excreted are absorbed in the saliva while the resin is spit out, like chewing tobacco. The individual begins feeling the effects about an hour later.
          
Khat causes many social interactions, as it is here in this trade between two Ethiopean men 
Recently, Khat has come under fire for its use by immigrants from Somalia, Yemen, and Ethiopia in European countries and America. The euphoric effects of Khat is generally what worries officials and no studies have linked the drug to crime. Some immigrants consider regulation of Khat unjust because the drug links the immigrants to the tradition of their home countries. For Yemenites, Khat is a focus of social gatherings and causes unity among them. Still for other immigrants, especially Somali immigrants, use of the drug is malevolent to their communities. Though some Somali argue Khat is traditional to their homeland, many do not believe it is traditional; instead Khat is a drug that was exported in Somalia during Somali labor on roads in Ethiopia for European expansionists. Because the Khat is relatively cheap, Somali immigrants argue that instead of creating a community Khat destroys the community through poverty. The Somali government has even banned Khat from use in Somalia.
            
Khat is becoming regulated in many European countries
There are two sides to modern uses of Khat. First, Khat can often be a symbol of home for traditional peoples who were displaced from their home countries, which constructs community in new countries. With this in mind, government regulation stems from a lack of cultural understanding. Still, there is the argument that the traditional uses of Khat are false traditions. This illustrates a degradation of TEK because as indigenous peoples are displaced from their homelands, their traditional knowledge becomes abused and not practiced among the peoples.
Herb on,
Herb (Danielle)
Websites:

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Kel Ewey Tuareg, Tree Bark, and Women Healers

Kel Ewey Tuareg, Tree Bark, and Women
Herb Here,
Traveling north through the wire to Mt. Bagazan in the Air Region of Niger. Here, I encountered the Kel Ewey sub-tribe of the Tuareg tribe and learned of the medicinal practices among the Kel Ewey female herbalists.
        
    The Tuareg tribe are apart of the Berber people, a longstanding ethnic group in North Africa. The Berber people, in some instances, have been subject to many cultural influences from pre-dynasty Egypt to French and English colonists so today one can see an intermingling of polytheist, Christian, Jewish, and Islamic religious practices among the people, although the primary religion is Islam. While here, I learned that the medicine rituals among the Kel Ewey involves cooperation between polytheist and Islamic practices. This is especially the case for female herbalists, tinesmeglen.
            
The Tinesmeglen work primarily with fertility; they use herbal ingredients from Mt. Bagazan’s tree bark and earthly remedies that promote female attractiveness. Although Kel Ewey society is primarily Muslim, female herbalists are allowed to practice medicine because “‘only women know the trees’ (Rasmussen 148).” This illustrates a symbolic connection between women and the trees (their environment) that pre-dates Islamic influence there. Kel Ewey women, and sometimes men, will visit the tinesmeglen to diagnose why no children have resulted in the marriage and stomach pains; in a Western society, seeing one of the female herbalists would be the equivalent of a woman seeing her gynecologist. Tinesmeglen diagnose the fertility problem through divination on the stomach, another symbol of their realm of femininity. If the problem becomes a problem of the head, then the tinesmeglen refer their patient to a marabout, an Islamic medical scholar. The cooperation between the tinesmeglen and the marabout allows for women to continue practicing their pre-Islam medicine tradition without rebuke from the society. In a way, the religious changing of the medicine tradition is what allowed the tradition to thrive for as long as it has.
            Tinesmeglen intermix Islamic religion in a lot of their practices. When they are gathering herbs for their remedies, traditional herbalists will give the Islamic benediction “Bissmillallah” for every herb they gather, recognizing that the herb possesses more than medicinal value, it possesses spiritual value. Likewise, tinesmeglen give the benediction before diagnosing the problem because sickness in the culture is attributed by affliction from a malign spirit in the stomach.
            Although tinesmeglen tradition has changed due to religious influence, it still revolves around a matrilineal passing of knowledge from family members. In Kel Ewey society, only older women are respected herbalists. This is due to rigorous apprenticeship an herbalist must undergo under a mother or aunt that is an experienced practitioner. The mother or aunt received her knowledge from her mother or aunt, and this matrilineal cycle continues like this. The Kel Ewey model Traditional Environmental Knowledge (TEK) through the tinesmeglen tradition because the difficult training is created from environmental knowledge on herbs that has been inherited from generation to generation. The tinesmeglen also adhere to a strict ritual. If this ritual is not followed then the entire cure is useless. The tinesmeglen represent a system that has incorporated new religious ideas as well as adhered to a longstanding relationship with their environment.
Herb on,
Herb (Danielle Radic)
Rasmussen, S. (1998). Only women know trees:medicine women and the role of         healing in tuareg culture.Journal of Anthropological Research, 54(2),       Retrieved from http://http://www.jstor.org/stable/3631728?seq=9

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

A Look Into the Future of Indigenous Medicinal Plants

Hello,

Today, instead of looking at one plant in particular and chronicling how it has or hasn’t been exploited by more powerful nations, I’d like to take a look at what is being done in response to these actions. Going back down to Central America and the Caribbean, you will find the work of the TRAMIL program, an organization made up of networks that is encouraging national health policies to incorporate traditional medicine in primary health care programs, all while conserving the traditional community knowledge (or TEK) and protecting the medicinal plant diversity in its natural habitat. However, TRAMIL doesn’t export this knowledge to other nations, but rather focuses it within Central America and the Caribbean.
According to the TRAMIL website, the acronym of TRAMIL stands for:

The Program of Applied Research to Popular Medicine in the Caribbean

While it was created in 1982, it is now well established within institutions in Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, and the Dominican Republic. Some of their work includes working with local and indigenous people and connecting them with government agencies in order to integrate the conservation and management of indigenous medicinal plants. They also mediate the rational use of traditional practices within a national setting. However, TRAMIL insists that while those in urban areas getting aid through the healthcare system could benefit from this local, environmental knowledge, their primary concern is to assess and improve conservation of these plants. They hope to be able to use these four countries as a model of cooperation that could be used in any region of the world, regardless of climate, culture, or location.

The TRAMIL program takes on a multidisciplinary approach that uses data collection, scientific testing, and discussion between ethnologists, ethnobotanists, indigenous and local people, pharmacologists, doctors and health personnel, government officials, and phytochemists. This collaboration is achevied through seminars, surveys and workshops. The program also gets universities of each country involved not only for the resources to conduct scientific research but also to increase awareness about the goals of the program and ways people can help.


I believe that what TRAMIL is doing is very important. Their objectives seek to benefit everyone, contributing to developing national health and education policies while taking advantage of, as well as giving credit to, the knowledge of indigenous people. Incorporating medicinal plants into healthcare can not only make healthcare more accessible to everyone in the country, but also creates awareness about traditions of the land that might have been lost to some. If programs continue to be successful, it could have very positive implications on the future of acknowledging local, place-based knowledge and also managing and maintaining biodiversity.

Herb out!


[Katie Nelson]


Images and info:
http://funredes.org/endacaribe/traducciones/tramil.html
http://scielo.sld.cu/scielo.php?pid=S1028-47962009000400009&script=sci_arttext

http://www.sld.cu/servicios/medicamentos/

Monday, December 6, 2010

Miracle Muti: The Amazing Remedies of Hypoxis Hemerocallidea

Herb Here,
            Zululand is an awesome place so I am extending my exploration here. I have learned of a plant called Hypoxis hermerocallidea, to the Zulu people the plant is called inkomfe. Hypoxis hemerocallidea also goes by the name “the African potato” but this is a misnomer because H. hemerocallidea is a corm not a potato. Corms refer the bulbous part of the plant that is hard, fleshy, mucilaginous, white or yellow-orange in the middle. H. hemercallidea is recognizable by its yellow star shaped flowers and long narrow hairy green leaves. Peak production of the plant is summer to autumn and a great bulk of its production is found in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, although the plant can be found in dry sub-Saharan reasons and parts of South America.
Hypoxis acuminata
Hypoxis Hemerocallidea Flowers
The medicinal portion of H. hemerocallidea is found in the corm. Traditionally, H. hemerocallidea has been used by Zulu iziNyanga, traditional healers, to remedy urinary tract infections, heart weaknesses, internal tumors, and nervous disorders. H. hemerocallidea was praised for its emetic capabilities. Modern South Africans also call H. hemerocallidea “miracle muti”, (muti being the westernized form of muthi which is the Zulu word for traditional medicines) because of its ability to alleviate immune related ailments like the common cold, the flu, and arthritis. Recently, the South African government is considering H. hemerocallidea as a treatment for HIV/AIDs because it contains hypoxide which converts to rooperol in the stomach; rooperol is a biologically active compound that helps the moderate the immune system. The most common way to ingest H. hemerocallidea is orally in the form of a tea.
Corm of H. hemerocallidea ground up to make tea
H. hemerocallidea represent the Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) of the Zulu peoples. The position of iziNyanga is based off of knowledge that has been circulating in Zulu society since before the 18th century. It is the iziNyanga’s job to diagnose an individual’s ailment. In Zulu culture, sickness arises for three reasons: bewitchment by a umthakathi (witch doctor), Imimoya emibi(evil spirit) influence in one’s life, and/ or an amadlozi (ancestor) reminding an individual of an overdue sacrifice. In this way, sickness in Zulu culture is attributed to spiritual deficiency. Emetics, like H. hemerocallidea, are believed to purge the individual of malevolent spirits or maladies.
iziNayanga man
Zulu traditional medicines are gaining a lot of popularity in South Africa, Europe, and the United States with H. hemerocallidea being in the highest demand. First, traditional Zulu herbalists are popular in healthcare for indigenous South African people living in the kwaZulu-natal (Eastern Cape). Researchers like A.P. Dold and M.L. Cocks believe that Zulu herbalists are popular because they are traditional to the indigenous inhabitants and because the ratio of doctors to people in the region is 1:17400.
H. hemerocallidea in Drug Form
Traditional medicines are also increasing in popularity around the world. Dold and Cocks report that the market earns over 270 million annually. H. hemerocallidea has become the most popular herbal medicine in the market being sold over the counter and by the drug Moducare™. Due to its popularity, ecologists and economists alike are worried about the unsustainable methods used to harvest the plant, which is not currently protected by the South African government. The decrease in the plants sustainability represents the globalization of the plant.

Herb on,
Herb (Danielle Radic)

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Pequi fruit

Hello again,

Today I'm traveling to South America seeking out a particularly intriguing fruit. The pequi tree grows in the Cerrado region of Brazil. The Cerrado is a vast tropical savanna and comprises about 20% of the country. It is also one of the most threatened ecosystems in Brazil, which is frightening because of the enormous amount of plant and animal biodiversity. More than 1600 species of mammals, reptiles, and birds have been documented there. Sadly, less than 3% of the Cerrado is protected by law. There is surprisingly a great amount of variation in the flora and vegetation found there for having naturally nutrient poor soil.


Despite the decrease in habitat, the demand for pequi fruit has significantly risen in recent decades. The pequi tree grows to about 10 meters tall so it is a relatively small plant, with rugged, grayish colored bark. It has large, tough leaves, big white flowers that look similar to St. John’s Wort flower, and a greenish fruit that slightly resembles an avocado on the outside. Inside you can find an orange-ish colored pulp that surrounds a large seed. Many thorns surround the seed making the fruit slightly dangerous to eat if you’re not careful.



As far as medical use, remedies made from the pequi fruit are thought to alleviate the degenerative action of drugs that treat cancer. People began researching the medicinal potential of pequi after discovering that it was extremely rich in vitamins A, C and E.
The pequi tree is deeply rooted in the region’s culture. Countless indigenous tribes from the Xingu River region have taken advantage of the pequi tree and believe that it belongs to everyone, that no one should have exclusive rights to it. Not only is it eaten in traditional dishes and also mixed with liquor, but it also has several other uses. The leaves of the plant are full of tannins, which creates a dye used in weaving. When the pit of the fruit is processed, it is thought to be an aphrodesiac and also a remedy to treat asthma, bronchitis and colds. The pequi creates such a variety of products that it has been deemed “the new gold of the Cerrado”. Since essentially every part of the pequi plant can be used, rural Brazilian people plant these slowly germinating trees around their villages.


Deforestation interferes with the natural production of this fruit, so action needs to be taken in order to preserve this integral part of the people of the Cerrado’s sense of place and identity.

Over and out,
Herb

[Katie Nelson]

Images:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cerrado_ecoregion.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Frutopequi.JPG
http://pibmirim.socioambiental.org/en/how-they-live/food

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

The Amazing Umkaloaba


Herb here, traveled through cyberspace to Eastern South Africa (well at least Eastern South Africa as documented by Google). While here I have been learning a good deal about the indigenous plant umckaloaba 

            Glaring on the screen and surrounded by the page dominating links to the tabloid myths of the Western celebrities is an advertisement for Umcka Cold Medicine by Nature’s Way™. In, over-sized letters a caption catches the eye: “Umcka Cold Medicine From Zulu Tribal Remedies in South Africa”. This; however is the last mention of the Zulu people and their interaction with the “tribal remedies.” And just like that, the traditional medicinal herb of the Zulu, umckaloaba, is degraded to a commodity for European profit.

           Umcka Cold Care Medicine
Umckaloaba, known in the Western Scientific Paradigm as Pelargonium sidoides, is an herb traditionally used by the Zulu, Basuto, Xhosa, and Mfengi tribes that inhabit the Eastern Cape, Free State, and Guateng Provinces of modern South Africa. The plant is geranium like and has heart shaped leaves and a blackish purple flower; its roots contain medicinal properties. Umckaloaba is known to remedy respiratory diseases like tuberculosis, tonsillitis, sore throat, and the common cold. It also has healing effects for dysentery, diarrhea, gonorrhea, and herpes (http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-1135-SOUTH%20AFRICAN%20GERANIUM.aspx?activeIngredientId=1135&activeIngredientName=SOUTH%20AFRICA).
         Umckaloabo 
  In support of the European commoditizing Umckaloaba, Google links linked to the medical benefits of the plant, the increase in corporate sales of the plant, where to buy medicines, and scientific tests done on the plant. Little was found on the cultural relationship of the Zulu, Basuto, Xhosa, and Mfengi with the umckaloaba, but I will report what I found to the best of my ability.
            The focus here will be on the Zulu people who occupy the KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. Before British colonization, the Zulu were a powerful kingdom. During colonization, the Zulu actively defended the land from British colonists but lost control of the land during the Boer Wars from 1880-1881. The Zulu claim to be Christian but also practice ancestor worship. They have a monotheistic view of God, Unkulunkulu; unkulunkulu has perspicacity into all things and is said to have ‘sprung from the reeds’ (maybe indicating the lococentricity of the Zulu people?).
              The Zulu people have traditional medical practices, known as umuthi, that cure both physical and spiritual ailments. Inyanga are herbalists who are concerned with medicines from plants and animals; so they deal with the umckaloaba plant. In Zulu culture, Inyanga are said to possess imimoya nayambibi, spiritual powers that allow them to diagnose ailments of their patients.
Zulu Warriors          
  In 1897, English Major Charles Stevens traveled to the Zulu people to cure his tuberculosis, for which the Zulu people were rumored to have a remedy. After successful recovery, Stevens brought the umckaloaba plant back to England where it has since been commoditized. Popular modern sales of the umckaloaba, called kaloaba, have increased in Europe. In Germany Umcka, mentioned at the beginning of the post, has become the #1 herbal remedy. The medicinal form of umckaloaba is reported to have $15 million in sales in 2008.
            But popularity of umckaloaba comes with a price to both the environments and to the Zulu people. Lewu. Grierson, and Afolayan report that production of the plant is unsustainable to the soil and that the species is unprotected in its environment in their 2005 study on umckaloaba plants growth. http://www.academicjournals.org/AJB/PDF/pdf2006/16Jan/Lewu%20et%20al.pdf
Zulu traditional medicinal practices are also in danger because of exploitation of the umckaloaba. I was surprised while researching the plant, the lack of information on the Zulu people’s growth on the plant. Similarly, advertisements degraded the fact that umckaloaba was a traditional medicine to an advertising ploy. Health corporations seemed to give little care to the traditional methods and more concern with production of the plant.
 Herb On and Boogie down Bobby Brown,
Herb (Danielle) 

Yellow Root

Hello all-

For this post, I don’t have to travel far, because today’s plant, a native to the United States, is most abundant on the east coast and the states of Ohio, Kentucky, New York, and West Virginia. Xanthorhiza simplicissima, more commonly known as “yellow root” has several medicinal purposes, used both traditionally and today.


Yellow root is best grown along the banks of partially shaded bodies of water in rich soils. The main alkaloid in this plant is berberine, which can act as an anti-inflammatory, an astringent, an anti-microbial, an anti-catarrhal, and an immunostimulant. While toxic in large doses, this plant is used for a plethora of ailments, including ulcers of the mouth and stomach, sore throat, cirrhosis, cramps, and diabetes. The Cherokee Indians used a very similar root, “goldenseal”, not only for indigestion, to improve appetite, and for injuries from arrow wounds, but also as a yellow dye for fabric and war paint. 


The two plants have the same basic properties; however, goldenseal root is an endangered species while yellow root is still very common. Today, goldenseal is hardly found in the wild, and is instead manufactured commercially on farms.
After the Civil War, North Americans realized the medical potential of goldenseal root. This realization and subsequent manufacturing of medicines with goldenseal root during this time was a direct contribution to it’s extinction. Pharmaceutical companies today use both yellow root and goldenseal root in medicines, cosmetics and also in supplements that enhance the immune system. 

This is yet another clear example of the exploitation of nature by industrializing countries that don’t seem to understand long-term consequences of their actions.
Over and out,
Herb




[Katie Nelson]


Images:
http://www.burncoose.co.uk/site/category.cfm?search=purplish
http://www.owlsdaughter.com/2010/06/encounters-with-the-little-people/
http://www.americanlifestyle.com/theproducts.cfm?owner=694&subcat=1219&cat=6

Monday, November 22, 2010

Ayahuasca

Today I’m traveling south to the Peruvian rainforest. South American rainforests offer a vast amount of medicinal plants that do everything from cure toothaches to increase fertility. However, the particular plant that I’m going to discuss today has a more spiritual purpose. The scientific name of this plant (or vine, more specifically) is Banisteriopsis caapi, but is known by many indigenous tribes as a number of things: Ayahuasca, Yagé, Cappi, and Natema to name a few. 

This plant is used to make a tea that is used in rituals and spiritual ceremonies in order to “open the soul”. It is highly hallucinogenic and is said to have a psychotic effect similar to that of mescaline or LSD.  The pharmacology of this vine is fairly well-understood since being brought back to the United States several decades ago. It contains DMT as well as the enzyme monoamine oxidase, which together create a visionary effect and a sense of euphoria. It is used widely across Amazonia by over 70 different indigenous tribes. There are hundreds of ways to prepare this “Spirit Vine” for consumption, and there are an equally large amount of puposes and uses in ceremonies. Ayahuasca is most commonly prepared as a hot beverage and ingested orally, though it can also be smoked. 




In some cultures it is used to diagnose or treat illnesses, some shamans use it to predict the future, and others use it as a visionary tool to get in touch with spirits or ancestors. It is said to be a learning, healing, and purifying experience.
Despite this plant being a very intimate part of some indigenous people’s TEK, just about anyone can now sign up for an Ayahuasca “experience”, and it has now become somewhat of a tourist attraction. Organizations throughout South America welcome outsiders to take part in these “retreats” (for a price) in order to reach a superior, spiritually-focused state of mind. 





While some of these experiences offer interaction with indigenous neighbors and insights into their traditions, one cannot wonder whether this is a source of exploitation or not. For example, two Americans have organized “jungle ecology tours” that prepare Ayahuasca for tourists and take them through villages of the Urarina peoples of Peru. This has not only upset the Urarina tribes in terms of invasion, but has also shown to bring disease into the villages. Clearly, the discovery of Ayahuasca by Western peoples has had an effect on indigenous people not only indirectly through biopiracy, but also quite directly by imposing upon their land. 
Til next time,
Herb


[Katie Nelson]



Images:
www.lastdaysoftheincas.com
www.ayahuaska.wordpress.com
www.biopark.org/peru/millennium-agenda.html
www.ayahuascaassociation.org

Monday, October 25, 2010

Hello, My name is herb: an introduction

Hello,
             My name is Herb. I am a figment of the imaginations of Katie, Jin, Melissa, Aster, and Danielle. I hope you follow me on this blog journey exploring the use of indigenous plants as medicines for both physical and spiritual ailments of the body and mind. Each week I will be illustrating the use of medicinal plants from Asia, Africa, Australia, South and Central America, Europe, and North America (humblest apologies to Antarctica but I have yet to see a penguin use arctic plants for medicinal purposes). I will then make comparisons on these areas’ knowledge. Hopefully this expedition into non-Western medicines will respectfully illustrate the Traditional Ecological Knowledge of indigenous peoples around the world for the Environmental Anthropology class as well as anyone else who wishes to read the sequential blog posts. The desire is to promote reverence for Non-Western medicines that may have been lost during colonialism as well as promote reader inquiries. Always feel free to challenge the creators with any questions you may have or contribute pieces of your own knowledge.
Herb on,
Herb (Katie, Jin, Melissa, Aster,and Danielle)