Plants of common use in Paraguayan folk medicine for regulating fertility

Information on the use of plants for contraception and abortion inducement among the rural indigenous inhabitants of Paraguay was collected by surveying 223 obstetricians and 17 local vendors. Information obtained on 33 commonly used plants is presented in tabular form. For each plant, the table provides 1) the scientific name; 2) the local name; 3) the part of the plant used; 4) how the plant is prepared for consumption; 5) the quantity used, described as a bunch, a handful, a few roots, or pieces; and 6) the taste, described as either pleasant, bitter, or sour. 2 or more of these plants are frequently mixed and administered in combination. The proportions used in these combinations are not very exact. The plants are taken in combination either to create a more concentrated effect or to insure that at least one effective drug will be consumed. 14 of these combinations are presented.     

Plant folk medicines among Nicobarese tribals of Car Nicobar Island,India

The present paper deals with investigations of less known medicinal plant lore among the aboriginal Nicobarese tribe of Car Nicobar island, India. Information on 73 species and their therapeutic applications and manner of use are initially documented and described as remedies in folkloric tradition and popular domestic medicine. No chemical principles are identified; no putative herbal remedies are pharmaceutically and medically evaluated. The aim of this paper is to gather information concerning medicinal plants and to provide access to specialists in search of their applications in modern medicine. A brief account of geography, climate, ethnology, and methodology adopted is given. Vernacular name(s) of the plants in the Nicobarese language are incorporated for the first time in the literature.     

Can Andean medicine coexist with biomedical healthcare? A comparison of two rural communities in Peru and Bolivia

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: It is commonly assumed that indigenous medical systems are strong in developing countries because biomedicine is physically inaccessible or financially not affordable. This paper compares the health-seeking behavior of households from rural Andean communities at a Peruvian and a Bolivian study site. The main research question was whether the increased presence of biomedicine led to a displacement of Andean indigenous medical practices or to coexistence of the two healing traditions. Methodology: Interviews were conducted between June 2006 and December 2008 with 18 households at each study site. Qualitative identification and analysis of households' therapeutic strategies and use of remedies was complemented by quantitative assessment of the incidence of culture-bound illnesses in local ethnobiological inventories. RESULTS: Our findings indicate that the health-seeking behavior of Andean households is independent of the degree of availability of biomedical facilities in terms of quality of services provided, physical accessibility, and financial affordability, except for specific practices such as childbirth. Preference for natural remedies over pharmaceuticals coexisted with biomedical healthcare that was both accessible and affordable. Furthermore, our results show that greater access to biomedicine does not lead to less prevalence of Andean indigenous medical knowledge, as represented by the levels of knowledge about culture-bound illnesses. CONCLUSIONS: The take-home lesson for health policy-makers from this study is that the main obstacle to improved use of biomedicine in resource-poor rural areas might not be infrastructural or economic alone. Rather, it may lie in lack of sufficient recognition by biomedical practitioners of the value and importance of indigenous medical systems. We propose that the implementation of health care in indigenous communities be designed as a process of joint development of complementary knowledge and practices from indigenous and biomedical health traditions.     

Recreated practices by Mapuche women that strengthen place identity in new urban spaces of residence in Santiago,Chile

The phenomenon of migration to cities by indigenous Mapuche people of Chile is associated with various consequences, such as the loss of ethnic identity and cultural practices. This study aims to describe how ethnic identity is maintained through the recreation of ancestral cultural practices that Mapuche women promote in their families, generating identification to new spaces of residence. This qualitative research draws on analyses of forty-eight interviews conducted with twelve families from four neighbourhoods in Santiago. The study reveals ways in which key traditional Mapuche practices are translated and recreated through the processes of place-referent continuity and place-congruent continuity in new urban areas of residence which in turn express variant forms of ethnic identity and everyday politics of care that extend beyond folkloric notions of rural indigeneity and more static political ideologies of ethno-national autonomy.     

Losing knowledge about plant use in the sierra de manantlan biosphere reserve, Mexico

The purpose of this paper is to document relationships between knowledge of plant use and indicators of modernization in Mexico. The model we are testing envisions increasing loss of plant use knowledge with increasing modernization indicated by loss of indigenous language and acquisition of nontraditional community services such as literacy and quality of housing. As predicted, we demonstrate that empirical knowledge about plant use is both more diverse and more evenly shared by people speaking an indigenous language—the Huastec—than by mestizo and Spanish-speaking indigenous populations in the Sierra de Manantlan. Our analyses also indicate that the adoption of modern community services by eight rural communities in the Sierra de Manantlan of western Mexico has had notable effects eroding traditional knowledge about useful plants in some but not all communities. From this we suggest that even though traditional knowledge about plants probably suffered a decline that accompanied loss of the indigenous language in Manantlan, traditional knowledge may be able to survive the modernization process today where such knowledge has an important role in subsistence.     

Coppice Harvesting of Fuelwood Species on a South African Common: Utilizing Scientific and Indigenous Knowledge in Community Based Natural Resource Management

The limitations of Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) with respect to the difficulties of comparing local versus scientific knowledge categories within a bounded definition of ‘community’ were investigated by means of a study exploring local indigenous knowledge pertaining to harvesting technique, and the impact of soil and species type on the post-harvest coppice response of popular savanna fuelwood species, among rural inhabitants of the Bushbuckridge region of the Limpopo Province, South Africa. Soils and plants were evaluated chiefly in terms of their perceived ability to retain precipitation, making rainfall a driving force in local understanding of environmental productivity. Some indigenous knowledge showed an agreement with biological data, but overall the variability in responses, as well as the diverse scales at which indigenous and scientific knowledge is directed, were too great to allow for simplistic parallels between local ecological indices to be made. Indigenous environmental knowledge was underscored by the perceived symbolic link between environmental and social degradation. It is recommended that environmental managers incorporate indigenous knowledge as a component of a systems-level approach to natural resource management, where biological, cultural, economic, and symbolic aspects of natural resource use are nested within a broader ecosocial system. This approach to indigenous knowledge is offered as an alternative to the simple scientific evaluation that so often characterizes environmental management.     

Collaborative research and intellectual property rights

Scientists find themselves working more and more with indigenous, traditional and local communities in all aspects of their collections and investigations. Indigenous knowledge has become increasingly important in research while at the same time local communities have become increasingly politicized in the use, misappropriation, and commercialisation of their knowledge and biogenetic resources. It is becoming more and more difficult for even the most well-intentioned scientists to stride into indigenous areas and collect plants, animals, folk tales, and photos without having first to convince local leaders that the scholarly efforts will somehow benefit the communities — that the benefits of research results will directly and indirectly lead to strengthening the traditional society. In many parts of the world, indigenous peoples only allow Collaborative Research in which the scientific priorities and agendas are controlled by the communities, or Community Controlled Research in which the communities actually contract scientists to carry out the group's research plan. Control over data has become one of the key battle cries for the indigenous movement, that is now demanding Intellectual Property Rights over information obtained through research and just compensation for economic benefits that eventually may accrue. This paper deals with some of the ethical and practical issues that frame this rapidly evolving debate.     

Hæwenhnydele: an Anglo-Saxon Medicinal Plant

Summary

The Old English plant-name, hæwenhnydele, occurs in herbal and medical texts and in glossaries containing translated Latin plant-names. Where it is linked with a Latin name, that name is always Herba Britannica, a cure for scurvy. Some scholars, rather naively assuming that the two names must refer to the same plant, have thought the identity of hæwenhnydele almost obvious, whereas others, knowing the frequently garbled accounts of herbal cures inherited by the Anglo-Saxons, have despaired of ever identifying it. An Anglo-Saxon translator, working on the Old English version of the Latin Pseudo-Apuleius, inherited an account of Herba Britannica which was a confusion of two different plants, compiled from several sources. The information available to him is discussed, in an effort to understand how he made an identification. Evidence such as the synonyms attached to the plant entry, the etymology of hæwenhnydele, and the illustration of the plant is presented. There is also a brief discussion of the two recorded occurrences of the rural plant-name, hawdod, from the 16th and 18th centuries, and whether this name could be cognate with hæwenhnydele. In the Durham Glossary, another name, vihtmeresvyrt, is linked with Herba Britannica and hæwenhnydele. This name is discussed, and found to denote a well-known source of Vitamin C, the cure for scurvy. This paper demonstrates that the attempts of the Anglo-Saxons to identify Herba Britannica, and to link their guesses with real herbal cures, are an impressive rationalisation of an almost nonsensical Latin plant record.     

Fur rubbing: Use of medicinal plants by capuchin monkeys (Cebus capucinus)

There is a growing body of evidence documenting animals' selective use of medicinal plants found in their environments. During research conducted in Costa Rica, capuchin monkeys (Cebus capucinus) have been observed topically applying material of at least four plant genera (Citrus, Clematis, Piper, and Sloanea). The first three of these plants contain secondary compounds which are known to have anti-insect and/or medicinal benefits and the ethnographic record shows that indigenous peoples throughout the New World use these plants for similar purposes and in similar ways. It is suggested that free-ranging nonhuman primates use plants topically for their potential medicinal purposes. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Indigenous Medicine and Primary Health Care: The Importance of Lay Knowledge and Use of Medicinal Plants in Rural South Africa

Indigenous medicine is important to rural livelihoods, but lay knowledge and use of medicinal plants has not been extensively studied. Research in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, showed that medicinal plants were frequently used by villagers and contributed to their ability to cope with health problems. Knowledge of plants and household remedies was extensive and varied in that households often held different knowledge. Villagers mainly relied on common species, and were generally aware of alternative species for a certain ailment. People were flexible in their use of indigenous and western health care, which were both perceived as beneficial. Improved cooperation between health care systems could improve health standards. Extraction of medicinal plants has been described as unsustainable in the region—a situation not found in the study area. It is argued that conservation policies aimed to restrict access should be differential and potentially not include local consumption, since this may be ecologically unnecessary and entail local hardships.     

The Biodiversity Discourse: Categorisation of Indigenous People in a Mexican Bio-prospecting Case

Indigenous knowledge is often portrayed as static and traditional, while indigenous people are considered victims of exploitation. In the name of development and empowerment NGOs as well as scientists may run the risk of representing indigenous communities that fit their definition of the “correct” way to be indigenous. However, for indigenous people knowledge is not necessarily a static condition in a binary position to science or the ‘modern’ world. Rather, it is a dynamic condition that draws from experience and adapts to a changing environment. The perspective advanced in this paper is that all forms of knowledge, including indigenous knowledge(s), are situated and hybrid. Our argument draws from research carried out in Chiapas, Mexico, regarding the ICBG-Maya bio-prospecting project that was initiated in the 1990s and later terminated due to accusations of bio-piracy.     

广西龙胜红瑶传统药用植物的民族植物学知识

瑶族是一个拥有悠久历史和灿烂文化的民族,红瑶是其中一个分支,因妇女服饰上的花纹图案以大红色为主而得名,其生活习俗饱含民族特色,对植物尤其是药用植物的利用方式,与其他民族不同。该研究采用经典的民族植物学理论和方法,访问调查了广西龙胜红瑶传统药用植物种类,根据植物拉丁名、中文名、当地名、用途、用法及药用部位,对其进行民族植物学编目,并与《中国药典》作了比较。结果表明:共记录到药用植物95种,隶属于57科83属,其中蔷薇科、百合科种类最多,分别含有7种,显示龙胜红瑶传统药用植物资源的多样性;全株入药的植物种类41种,占总数的43.16%;根入药的种类为23种,占总数的24.21%;叶入药的种类为13种,占总数的13.68%。药用植物的药用部位以全株、根及叶为主;治疗风湿类疾病的药物比重最大,为23.47%,推测与其生活的环境有关;与《中国药典》比较,发现71种植物未被其收录,另有17种虽被收录但主治功效不同,有7种被收录且主治功效大致相同,为新型中药的研发提供了借鉴。同时,还探讨了龙胜红瑶传统药用植物的药用价值、资源现状及文化传承的问题。     

Elder knowledge and sustainable livelihoods in post-Soviet Russia: finding dialogue across the generations

Russia's indigenous peoples have been struggling with economic, environmental, and socio-cultural dislocation since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. In northern rural areas, the end of the Soviet Union most often meant the end of agro-industrial state farm operations that employed and fed surrounding rural populations. Most communities adapted to this loss by reinstating some form of pre-Soviet household-level food production based on hunting, fishing, and/or herding. However, mass media, globalization, and modernity challenge the intergenerational knowledge exchange that grounds subsistence practices. Parts of the circumpolar north have been relatively successful in valuing and integrating elder knowledge within their communities. This has not been the case in Russia. This article presents results of an elder knowledge project in northeast Siberia, Russia that shows how rural communities can both document and use elder knowledge to bolster local definitions of sustainability and, at the same time, initiate new modes of communication between village youth and elders.     

The Influence of Indigenous Food Procurement Techniques on Populations of Cyanobacteria in pre-European Australia: A Potential Small-scale Water Amelioration Tool

During times of pre-European Australia, indigenous people utilized methods of food procurement that resulted in toxic phytochemicals from plants entering their waterholes. This paper focuses on three of these plants, namely the leaves of Acacia colei and Duboisia hopwoodii, which were used by hunters to poison water holes to stun fish or a drinking animal, and the seeds of Castanospermum australe, which were eaten following the leaching of toxins into a running stream. If consumed by humans, the main toxins from these plants—saponins/sesquiterpenes, nicotine/nornicotine, and australine/castanospermine—are fatal. However, it is undetermined whether populations of Cyanobacteria also can be affected. During this study, the previously mentioned plants were administered to populations of the species Anabaena circinalis, Microcystis aeruginosa, and Nodularia spumigena, while mimicking the traditional applications of these plants as closely as possible. Results varied with treatments and species; however, cell chlorosis manifested in nearly all treatments, concomitantly with thylakoid membrane disorganization. Cell dormancy typically manifested, along with destruction of populations at higher treatments. The results indicated that populations of Cyanobacteria could have been destroyed or inhibited by indigenous people during traditional applications of these plants. Findings presented herein indicate a more sophisticated and complex traditional Australian resource management scheme than is currently understood, contributing to the growing awareness of the plight of earlier indigenous Australians. The reintroduction of traditional water management techniques may have potential as a suitable small-scale water resource management strategy.     

Plants Used for Reproductive Health by Nahua Women in Northern Veracruz,Mexico

Plants Used for Reproductive Health by Nahua Women in Northern Veracruz, Mexico. This paper reports the use of medicinal plants by Nahua women in the state of Veracruz, Mexico. It documents the women’s plant knowledge for reproductive purposes, which includes uses such as conception, pregnancy, birth, contraception, menstruation, post-partum, and general reproductive health. The concept of equilibrium is very important in regaining health among the Nahua; consequently, many of the medicinal plants have this as their primary purpose. The introduction of biomedical clinics and hospitals in the region has had a significant effect on the loss of knowledge about medicinal plants. Additionally, the midwives are not taking any new apprentices and laywomen are not passing on their knowledge to future generations. This generational gap contributes to the loss of knowledge about medicinal plants. This research contributes to the study of indigenous ethnobotany by (a) creating a record of the plant knowledge possessed by indigenous women, (b) giving voice to some of their health concerns, (c) indicating how the introduction of biomedicine has affected their plant use, and (d) providing a framework for understanding how marginal peoples around the world respond to the impact that globalization and change has on their health needs and local ethnobotanical knowledge.     

Selecting replacements for invasive plants to support frugivores in highly modified sites: A case study focusing on Lantana camara

Summary Invasive plants are regarded as a major threat to biodiversity worldwide. Yet, in some cases, invasive plants now perform important ecological functions. For example, fleshy‐fruited invasive plants provide food that supports indigenous frugivore populations. How can the disparate goals of conservation versus invasive weed control be managed? We suggest using the fruit characteristics of the invasive plant to select replacement indigenous plants that are functionally similar from the perspective of frugivores. These could provide replacement food resources at sites where plants with these characteristics are part of the goal plant community and where such plants would not otherwise regenerate. Replacement plants could also redirect seed dispersal processes to favour indigenous, rather than invasive, plant species. We investigated the utility of this approach by ranking all indigenous fleshy‐fruited plant species from a region using a simple model that scored species based upon measures of fruit phenology, morphology, conspicuousness and accessibility relative to a target invasive species, Lantana (Lantana camara). The model successfully produced high scores for indigenous plant species that were used by more of the frugivores of Lantana than a random selection of plants, suggesting that this approach warrants further investigation.     

Patterns of Admixture and Population Structure in Native Populations of Northwest North America

The initial contact of European populations with indigenous populations of the Americas produced diverse admixture processes across North, Central, and South America. Recent studies have examined the genetic structure of indigenous populations of Latin America and the Caribbean and their admixed descendants, reporting on the genomic impact of the history of admixture with colonizing populations of European and African ancestry. However, relatively little genomic research has been conducted on admixture in indigenous North American populations. In this study, we analyze genomic data at 475,109 single-nucleotide polymorphisms sampled in indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest in British Columbia and Southeast Alaska, populations with a well-documented history of contact with European and Asian traders, fishermen, and contract laborers. We find that the indigenous populations of the Pacific Northwest have higher gene diversity than Latin American indigenous populations. Among the Pacific Northwest populations, interior groups provide more evidence for East Asian admixture, whereas coastal groups have higher levels of European admixture. In contrast with many Latin American indigenous populations, the variance of admixture is high in each of the Pacific Northwest indigenous populations, as expected for recent and ongoing admixture processes. The results reveal some similarities but notable differences between admixture patterns in the Pacific Northwest and those in Latin America, contributing to a more detailed understanding of the genomic consequences of European colonization events throughout the Americas.     

The use of medicinal plants by the Yanomami Indians of Brazil, Part II

The results of ethnobotanical fieldwork among two Yanomami communities are presented, and the knowledge of medicinal plants and fungi among those communities is discussed in the light of recent evidence that the Yanomami possess, contrary to previous assumptions, an extensive pharmacopoeia. In addition to the 113 species already known to be used by the group, a further 85 species are documented. Twenty-three species are named and discussed in detail. Considerable overlap is found between the uses of medicinal species by the upland Yanomami and those of the lowland Yanomami, but considerable differences are also apparent. The new data raise the currently recorded total to a level comparable with or greater than that recorded among other Amazonian indigenous peoples. Many of these plants are used in the same way by other indigenous and non-indigenous groups, supporting the hypothesis that their use is based on pharmacological activity. The origins and significance of this knowledge are discussed, with particular reference to the use of plants in the treatment of malaria.     

Zapotec and Mixe use of Tropical Habitats for securing medicinal plants in MéXico

Medicinal plants are essential in the medical systems of the Mixe and Zapotec. In this study ethno-ecological strategies, employed by the two neighboring Indian groups in Mexico, for obtaining medicinal plants are analyzed. The indigenous classification of the environment is notably different from the Western one and distinguishes six dissimilar principal “zones” or land use types. Most ethnomedically important species are cultivated in the “house garden” or gathered in the community or its immediate surroundings. The house garden, for example, contributes 31.8% and 26.2% of all medical taxa for the Mixe and Zapotec, respectively. These ethnobotanical data on the indigenous uses indicate that anthropogenic types of vegetation yield the largest percentage of medicinal taxa.     

县乡村三级卫生人力资源的构成与分布特征研究

目的 通过分析县乡村三级人力资源配置的内部构成及各级机构间的分布差异情况,为农村卫生人力资源的纵向整合和三级医疗预防保健网的建设提供依据。 方法 用EXCEL2010分析各级医疗机构的人口学特征及内部构成比,用SPSS20.0进行卡方检验分析不同级别,不同地域类型的医疗机构卫生人员的构成与分布是否存在差异。结果 总体上男性医务人员多于女性医务人员,但由于村卫生室以乡村医生为主,所以医务人员的内部构成比例和性别分布情况与县乡两级机构不同。60岁及以上人员在县级医疗机构为2.69%,在村卫生室的比例达27.51%（P<0.05）。与2014年相比,2015年该市乡镇卫生院人员引进了15人,流失了27人,而县级医院引进了50人,流失了24人。结论 分级诊疗相关政策影响农村卫生人力资源的配置和床日负担水平,县乡村三级医疗机构医务人员的性别年龄分布均有差异,不同地域类型乡镇卫生院均需对高学历医务工作者给予针对性的激励措施。