Mexican migrant ethnopharmacology: Pharmacopoeia, classification of medicines and explanations of efficacy

Waldstein, Anna

doi:10.1016/j.jep.2006.07.011

Cited by 63 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…Thus, whereas Guatemalan exiles in southern Mexico lost much of their subsistence plant knowledge, they retained understanding of medicinal plants due to the presence of weedy exotics (Nesheim et al 2006). Among Mexican migrants to USA (Waldstein 2006) and Sikhs to UK (Sandhu & Heinrich 2005), traditional use of medicinal species perseveres in part owing to the presence of introduced kitchen garden plants and weeds. During the colonial period, enslaved Africans in Brazil quickly recognized the invasive castor bean (Ricinus comunis) and reincorporated it into their healing rituals.…”

Section: Cultural Enrichment and Facilitationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biological invasions and biocultural diversity: linking ecological and cultural systems

2008

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SUMMARYStudy of the ecological and economic effects of invasive species has paralleled their progressively pervasive influence worldwide, yet their cultural impacts remain largely unexamined and therefore unrecognized. Unlike biological systems, where the ecological consequences of biological invasions are primarily negative, from an ethnoscientific standpoint, invasive species' impacts on cultural systems span a range of effects. Biological invasions affect cultural groups in myriad, often unpredictable and at times contradictory ways. This review groups case studies into a conceptual matrix suggesting three categorically different cultural impacts of invasive species. Culturally impoverishing invasive species precipitate the loss or replacement of culturally important native species and their associated cultural practices. Culturally enriching invasive species augment cultural traditions, through their inclusion in lexicons, narratives, foods, pharmacopoeias and other tangible and intangible ends. Culturally facilitating invasive species can provide continuity and reformulation of traditional ethnobiological practices. An understanding of the processes by which invasive biota become culturally enriching, facilitating, or impoverishing can contribute to articulating interdisciplinary programmes aimed at simultaneously conserving biological and cultural diversity.

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Section: Cultural Enrichment and Facilitationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biological invasions and biocultural diversity: linking ecological and cultural systems

2008

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“…Due to the large increase in the scale of migration globally during the past few decades, scholars have paid increasing attention to the process of migration and related cultural issues from an ethnobotanical perspective (Greenberg 2003;Pieroni et al 2005;Nesheim et al 2006;Waldstein 2006;Pieroni and Vandebroek 2007). Indeed, researchers often focus on ethnobotanical knowledge and practices at one point in time, usually the present, whereas less attention has been given to the drivers of change over time and with migration of the original users, although migration is widely acknowledged as one of the principle means by which plant genetic material and associated knowledge and practices are diffused across the globe (Niñez 1987;Carney 2001;Carrier 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Migration and Ethnobotanical Practices: The Case of Tifey Among Haitian Immigrants in Cuba

Volpato

Godínez²,

Beyra³

2008

Hum Ecol

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Ethnobotanical knowledge and practices are dynamic and they change as they are transferred and appropriated by people who are adapting to new surroundings and changing environments. Using tifey, a multispecies drink, as a case study, we discuss the changes that emigration brought about related to tifey, and the processes that determined these changes. Tifey is a Haitian drink prepared by soaking Artemisia absinthium and other plants in rum or aguardiente. It probably had its origin in the adoption of the absinthe-based liquor used by French settlers and troops during the colonial period. Haitians progressively added culturally relevant flavorings and medicinal plants to this drink, and differentiated its production and use for medicinal, medicinal food, ritual (religious and social), and economic purposes. When Haitians migrated to Cuba, they brought tifey with them, but over the course of the twentieth century its use declined and its composition changed due to sociocultural factors such as the dissolution of Haitian settlements, and to ecological factors such as difficulty in cultivation and/or procurement of A. absinthium in the new environment.

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“…Since food habits are very dynamic (Baumann 1999;Waldstein 2006), it is useful to analyse changes in the appreciation of edible vegetables among the interviewees, especially within younger generations. The women interviewed for this study, especially older women and those who were married with several children, were more aware of the interlinkages between plants used in the kitchen and their therapeutic uses.…”

Section: Knowledge Transmission Age and Interrelationships Between Pmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Instead, most studies have focused on the use of traditional medicines among migrants (Balick et al 2000;Reiff et al 2003;Waldstein 2006) or on food plants used by people living in urban areas (Jonsson et al 2002;Burnes 2004;Ray 2004;Mellin-Olsen and Wandel 2005), or on more general ethnobotanical issues (Nesheim et al 2006). The interlinkages between edible and medicinal plants have hardly been studied among urban populations.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Therapeutic uses of edible plants in Bangalore city, India: combining health with cooking practices through home herbal gardens

Torri

Hollenberg

2011

Environ Dev Sustain

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This article examines the therapeutic uses and perceptions of edible plants cultivated in home herbal gardens in the city of Bangalore, Southern India. We suggest that an examination of edible plants within a therapeutic context facilitates a more comprehensive understanding of the role that plants play both in the diet and in the health of urban populations such as in Bangalore. We conclude by reinforcing the importance of promoting awareness of the combined value of medicinal and edible plants through their cultivation in home gardens and the role of local health knowledge in health promotion.

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Mexican migrant ethnopharmacology: Pharmacopoeia, classification of medicines and explanations of efficacy

Cited by 63 publications

References 58 publications

Biological invasions and biocultural diversity: linking ecological and cultural systems

Biological invasions and biocultural diversity: linking ecological and cultural systems

Migration and Ethnobotanical Practices: The Case of Tifey Among Haitian Immigrants in Cuba

Therapeutic uses of edible plants in Bangalore city, India: combining health with cooking practices through home herbal gardens

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