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TRAVELING CULTURES AND PLANTS
The Ethnobiology and Ethnopharmacy of Human Migrations
Edited by Andrea Pieroni and Ina Vandebroek
ISBN 978-1-84545-373-2 Hb $90.00/£53.00 Published (Autumn 2007)
ISBN 978-1-84545-679-5 Pb $29.95/£17.50 Published (October 2009)
eISBN 978-0-85745-578-9
All chapters available for download - see below.
“I was enthusiastic at the prospect of reviewing Traveling Cultures and Plants…and my enthusiasm was amply rewarded. Although exploring the well worn theme of traditional medicine and plant pharmacopoeias, this volume navigates away from 'indigenous' cultures and 'native' floras into the virtually unexplored terrain of diaspora healing andethnobotany... this book represents a noteworthy contribution to an area of emerging interest." · Economic Botany
The tremendous increase in migrations and diasporas of human groups in the last decades are not only bringing along challenging issues for society, especially related to the economic and political management of multiculturalism and culturally effective health care, but they are also creating dramatic changes in traditional knowledge, believes and practices (KBP) related to (medicinal) plant use. The contributors to this volume – all internationally recognized scholars in the field of ethnobiology, transcultural pharmacy, and medical anthropology – analyze these dynamics of traditional knowledge in especially 12 selected case studies.
Ina Vandebroek, features in Nova's "Secret Life of Scientists", answering the question: just what is ethnobotany?
Andrea Pieroni holds a PhD from the University of Bonn, Germany. He is an Associate Professor of Plant Biology and Ethnobotany at the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo/Bra, Northern Italy and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine. His research focuses on gastronomic and medical ethnobotany in the Mediterranean and in the Balkan areas, as well as among migrant communities and diasporas in Europe.
Ina Vandebroek holds a PhD in Medical Sciences from Ghent University, Belgium. She is a Research Associate at the Institute of Economic Botany of the New York Botanical Garden. Her research focuses on the dynamics of plant knowledge and plant use among immigrants from the Dominican Republic in New York City. She also conducts community healthcare workshops in Bolivia. She is a Deputy Editor of the Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine.
Series: Volume 7, Environmental Anthropology and Ethnobiology
LC: GN476.7 .T73 2007
BL: YC.2011.a.159
BISAC: SCI011000 SCIENCE/Life Sciences/Botany; SOC002010 SOCIAL SCIENCE/Anthropology/Cultural; SOC007000 SOCIAL SCIENCE/Emigration & ImmigrationBIC: RN The environment; JHM AnthropologyRelated Video
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Introduction (Free download)
Medicinal Plants and Cultural Variation across Dominican Rural, Urban, and Transnational Landscapes
Andreana L. Ososki, Michael J. Balick, and Douglas C. Daly
Ethnobotanical knowledge evolves as it is exchanged, transferred, and appropriated by people adapting to new surroundings and changing environments. As people migrate between rural and urban environments, they exchange knowledge, cultural traditions, and medicinal plants. Fixed borders do not exist between rural, urban, and transnational groups, nor do they exist between laypeople and healers, as information is shared through various channels.
Medicinal plant knowledge is important for health care initiatives and conservation efforts, yet our understanding of the distribution of plant knowledge within a community or across multiple communities is in its infancy. Ethnobotanical studies tend to understate the variation of plant knowledge by reporting plant use information as homogeneous throughout a cultural group. Ethnobotanical knowledge is diverse and can differ markedly from one individual to another, as well as from one community to another, making it difficult to analyze. Studying cultural variation of ethnomedical knowledge gives insight into the distribution and transmission of plant use information in a community.
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Use of Medicinal Plants by Dominican Immigrants in New York City for the Treatment of Common Health Conditions
A Comparative Analysis with Literature Data from the Dominican Republic
Ina Vandebroek, Michael J. Balick, Jolene Yukes, Levenia Durán, Fredi Kronenberg, Christine Wade, Andreana L. Ososki, Linda Cushman, Rafael Lantigua, Miriam Mejía and Lionel Robineau
Introduction
The growth of the Dominican population in the northeastern United States in the past two decades constitutes one of the major immigration waves during the second half of the twentieth century. This movement is equal in magnitude to the massive Puerto Rican migration in the 1950s and 60s (Rivera-Batiz 2002). If current trends continue, the Dominican immigrant population in New York City (NYC) will grow to be larger than that of Puerto Ricans in the next ten years. Fifty-three percent of all Dominicans in the United States live in New York City. Depending on the source, the number of Dominicans in New York City in 2000 was estimated to be 369,200 (NYC Department of City Planning 2004), 407,473 (US Bureau of Census), or 555,000 (Rivera-Batiz 2002). The actual number is likely to be higher given the presence of undocumented immigrants who are not included in the above estimates and whose population is difficult to determine. Dominican immigrants live in all five New York City boroughs, but are primarily concentrated (more than 66 percent) in Manhattan and the Bronx (NYC Department of City Planning 2004).
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Between Bellyaches and Lucky Charms
Revealing Latinos' Plant-Healing Knowledge and Practices in New York City
Anahí Viladrich
Introduction
This chapter provides a contribution to the fields of urban ethnomedicine and medical anthropology by examining the reliance on alternative forms of healing among Latino immigrants, via the provision of and access to traditional plants and herbs in New York City. In particular, this chapter explores the migratory careers of Latino healers in New York City, and the ways in which they adapt their prescription of herbs and plants both to what is affordable and available to their Latino clientele.
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The Changing Scene of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Strategies Due to Migration of Indians from the Asian Subcontinent to the United States
Usha R. Palaniswamy
The history of the Indian subcontinent is a mix of dynasties, religions, and invaders who conquered and ruled India and imposed their own cultural institutions and religions. This has resulted in a complex cultural blending of the native cultures and religions in modern India. Among the major religious influences in Indian history are Hinduism (2500 B.C.), Buddhism (184 B.C.), Islam (A.D. 1526-1707), and Christianity (A.D. 1858–1947). At the time of independence (1947), what had been the Indian nation was divided into India and Pakistan, with the majority of Hindus establishing residency in India and the Muslims in Pakistan. Later, West Pakistan became an independent nation named Bangladesh. Vegetarianism is most popular among Hindus, who form the majority of the Indian population, while eating meat is acceptable to Christians and Muslims, who constitute 12.1 and 2.3 percent of the total population, respectively. Dietary habits of Indians are also influenced by plant species grown in a particular area, availability, and the practice of Indian Ayurvedic medicine, Ayurveda meaning "knowledge of life."
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Use of Traditional Herbal Remedies by Thai Immigrant Women in Sweden
Pranee C. Lundberg
In Swedish society, which has become multicultural as a result of transnational migrations, different groups — such as Asian, Middle Eastern, African, and European — express their own cultural identities through traditions, values, beliefs, and symbols. Thai immigrant women in Sweden expressed the meaning of health as a state of well-being, absence of illness, and the ability to perform daily role activities and adapt to their new life situation. The use of herbal remedies is becoming increasingly popular all over the world. Folk medicine involves the use of culturally known herbs and remedies for self-administered treatment of sickness or illness. To be culturally competent, health care professionals need to have knowledge of ethnomedicine, and of the culture and health practices of their immigrant clients. In particular, knowledge about the use of herbal remedies by Thai immigrant women in Sweden, in the context of their culture, is significant if health care professionals are to provide culturally appropriate and congruent care to this group. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore the use of traditional herbal remedies by Thai immigrant women in Sweden.
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Medicinal Plant Use by Surinamese Immigrants in Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Results of a Pilot Market Survey
Tinde van Andel and Charlotte van't Klooster
Almost 90 percent of the population of developing countries relies largely on traditional herbal medicine to meet their primary health care needs. The frequently inadequate supply of Western medicine, the cost of consultations and pharmaceuticals, the distance to the nearest primary health care center, as well as cultural and religious practices, contribute to the widespread and continued use of herbs as medicine in developing countries. It is often assumed that the demand for wild plants will decrease with increasing welfare, because they will be replaced in time by cultivated or synthetic products. Moreover, the reliance on medicinal plants may decline in the long term as modern health care facilities become available. Recent studies of urban ethnobotany, however, contradict these assumptions. In fact, research on the use of medicinal plants by ethnic minorities in Europe and the United States has shown that immigrants generally adhere to their culture and continue their traditional medical practices after emigration.
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The Use of Home Remedies for Health Care and Well-Being by Spanish-Speaking Latino Immigrants in London
A Reflection on Acculturation
Melissa Ceuterick, Ina Vandebroek, Bren Torry, Andrea Pieroni
Today Britain is one of the most multicultural of societies, encompassing traditional Commonwealth immigrant groups from Indian, Caribbean, African, and Irish descent, as well as increasing numbers of people originating from South America and Central Europe. Despite the government's aim of rendering the National Health Service (NHS) more culturally appropriate for the ethnically diverse population, little attention has been paid to study traditional health care practices of immigrant communities in the United Kingdom. When people migrate to urbanized centers, they often bring along their medical traditions. Urban ethnobotany studies these plants used as medicine by ethnic communities in an urban environment, and also focuses on the changes that traditional medicine undergoes when it is transplanted from one culture to another. The present study aspires to contribute to this new discipline, by exploring the plants that are used for health care by Latino immigrants in London, and the influence of migration on these medical practices.
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Hackney's "Ethnic Economy" Revisited
Local Food Culture, Ethnic "Purity," and the Politico-Historical Articulation of Kurdish Identity
Sarah Keeler
It has long been noted within anthropological discourse that absorption of foodstuffs can serve integrative and appropriating functions socially and symbolically, with the old adage "we are what we eat" serving as a recurrent everyday reminder of this. Increasingly since the emergence of theories surrounding globalization, researchers have also turned their attentions to the cross-cultural consumption of food, and the ways in which this can act as a site for the construction of identity and reiterate social relations at the global, national, and local levels (Caglar 1995; James 1996; Warde 1997; Bell and Valentine 1997). The ways in which foodstuffs are produced, presented, thought about, distributed, and consumed, particularly within a migratory context of growing mobility of goods and people, now also require us to pose the question: if "we are what we eat," in what ways does the how, where, and with whom of our eating habits contribute to our sense of self and other? This chapter, based on fourteen months of fieldwork with Kurdish migrants and refugees in a multiethnic London community, looks at food culture from this perspective.
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A Strange Drug in a Strange Land
Neil Carrier
In the last couple of decades a plant stimulant has traveled into lands not traditionally associated with its consumption and in the process has become highly controversial, causing panic not only for worries over its impact on health, but for far wider reasons as well. Khat is the substance in question, and unlike other plant stimulants such as coffee, tea, and tobacco, which also met with considerable opposition when they first entered the West, khat arrived along with representatives of the indigenous groups who consumed it in its lands of origin. This is a crucial factor in its reception, and the main focus of this chapter. After first introducing the substance and its effects, Carrier describes the growth in its international trade, linking this to the spread of khat-chewing diaspora communities. He focuses in particular on the Somali diaspora, emphasizing khat's social and cultural importance for the life of Somalis in the West.
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Traditional Health Care and Food and Medicinal Plant Use among Historic Albanian Migrants and Italians in Lucania, Southern Italy
Cassandra L. Quave and Andrea Pieroni
In this chapter, the authors explore the scientific questions related to the issue of traditional health care and food practices in a community founded by a historical ethnic group of Albanians who migrated to southern Italy during the fifteenth century and among an autochthonous south Italian community. In doing this, they employ the use of food and medicinal plants as a lens for better understanding the ethnomedical practices, including the perception and use of medicinal foods, which we recorded in that area during four years of fieldwork. The specific aim of their reflections is a cross-cultural comparison of traditional medical practices, botanical remedies, and foods in two communities: Ginestra/Zhurë, inhabited by Arbëreshë Albanians, and Castelmezzano, inhabited by autochthonous south Italians.
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Plant Knowledge as Indicator of Historical Cultural Contacts
Tanning in the Atlantic Fringe1
Ingvar Svanberg
Berries, mushrooms, and common plants are, thanks to the legal right of access to private land, freely available resources for everyone to use in Sweden. Many immigrants utilize them, although these immigrants generally live in urban environments. Market trade is actually thriving thanks to the recent newcomers, who also sell many homemade food products. Immigrants have also revived the interest in allotment gardening, and many "new" vegetables are thus becoming available, also in the local markets. For instance, it was through Italian immigrant workers in my hometown Karlskoga that I first came in contact with zucchini, Cucurbita pepo L., and chicory salad, Cichorium intybus L., in the mid 1960s. Nowadays the supplies of "exotic" vegetables are huge. Also, marginal phenomena such as breeding singing canaries and training carrier pigeons have survived in Sweden thanks to immigrants from southeastern Europe and southwestern Asia. These examples indicate that contemporary immigrants are affecting the food habits, material culture, and management of public space in Swedish society in many ways.
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Procurement of Traditional Remedies and Transmission of Medicinal Knowledge among Sahrawi People Displaced in Southwestern Algerian Refugee Camps
Gabriele Volpato, Abdalahe Ahmadi Emhamed, Saleh Mohamed Lamin Saleh, Alessandro Broglia, and Sara di Lello
Traditional medicinal systems worldwide are based on natural resources from the surrounding environment and on the ethnobiological knowledge needed to exploit those resources. Culture is seen as the filter between man and the surrounding environment; this implies that when the latter changes, traditional knowledge and practices come under pressure. When displacements occur because of war or other calamities, migrants and refugees strive to keep the connection between cultural identity, traditional resources, and their homeland. However, their cultural identity comes under threat due to the loosing of ties with the place of origin, but is also threatened by the process of integration in the host culture.
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