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| For these reasons, I have
focused my recent research not on pharmacological
analysis of native medicines, but on how native people
perceive the healing properties of their medicinal
plants. The Machiguenga and Yabashta -Yaminahua were
chosen for this comparative study because, though
occupying adjacent territories, they belong to different
language families and did not interact until recently. I
paid special attention to how the two groups classified
the medicinal properties of plants such as taste, smell,
color, texture, and so on. Surprisingly, the two societies were found to have very different ideas about the healing properties of plants. The Machiguenga classify their medicines mostly according to toxic properties (bitterness, pungency, causticity) which overpower and expel illnesses. Bitter teas are an important from of herbal administration. Yabashta ethnomedicine is based more on visible |
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"signatures"
related to their medicinal uses: spiny plants for sharp
pains, pink leaves for "pink eye", plants with
red sap for treating blood less, and so on. Medicines are
almost never taken as teas, but rather applied as warm
plasters. Bitterness, so crucial in Machiguenga medicine,
is hardly an issue in Yabashta medicine. This does not
mean the Yabashta medicines do not work. In fact, the
Yabashta have a number of interesting plants used for
treating tumors, especially breast tumors, and for both
preventing and stimulating pregnancy. By studying how native people understand their own medicines, we gain insights into how human medicine might have evolved. We may find clues for discovering new medicines for our own society. We also gain a better appreciation of the great cultural diversity of Amazon peoples and the biological diversity of tropical forests, and insights into how these may be preserved. |
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