Ethnobotany
Ethnobotany is the study of a region's plants and their practical uses through the traditional knowledge of a local culture and people.[1] An ethnobotanist thus strives to document the local customs involving the practical uses of local flora for many aspects of life, such as plants as medicines, foods, intoxicants and clothing.[2] Richard Evans Schultes, often referred to as the "father of ethnobotany",[3] explained the discipline in this way:
Ethnobotany simply means investigating plants used by primitive societies in various parts of the world.[4]
Since the time of Schultes, the field of ethnobotany has grown from simply acquiring ethnobotanical knowledge to that of applying it to a modern society, primarily in the form of pharmaceuticals.[5] Intellectual property rights and benefit-sharing arrangements are important issues in ethnobotany.[5]
History
The idea of ethnobotany was first proposed by the early 20th century botanist
Medieval and Renaissance
During the medieval period, ethnobotanical studies were commonly found connected with monasticism. However, most botanical knowledge was kept in gardens such as physic gardens attached to hospitals and religious buildings. It was thought of in practical use terms for culinary and medical purposes and the ethnographic element was not studied as a modern anthropologist might approach ethnobotany today.[11]
Age of Reason
In 1732,
The
As the 18th century became the 19th, ethnobotany saw expeditions undertaken with more colonial aims rather than trade economics such as that of Lewis and Clarke which recorded both plants and the peoples encountered use of them. Edward Palmer collected material culture artifacts and botanical specimens from people in the North American West (Great Basin) and Mexico from the 1860s to the 1890s. Through all of this research, the field of "aboriginal botany" was established—the study of all forms of the vegetable world which aboriginal peoples use for food, medicine, textiles, ornaments and more.[14]
Development and application in modern science
The first individual to study the
Other scholars analyzed uses of plants under an indigenous/local perspective in the 20th century: Matilda Coxe Stevenson, Zuni plants (1915); Frank Cushing, Zuni foods (1920); Keewaydinoquay Peschel, Anishinaabe fungi (1998), and the team approach of Wilfred Robbins, John Peabody Harrington, and Barbara Freire-Marreco, Tewa pueblo plants (1916).
In the beginning, ethonobotanical specimens and studies were not very reliable and sometimes not helpful. This is because the botanists and the anthropologists did not always collaborate in their work. The botanists focused on identifying species and how the plants were used instead of concentrating upon how plants fit into people's lives. On the other hand, anthropologists were interested in the cultural role of plants and treated other scientific aspects superficially. In the early 20th century, botanists and anthropologists better collaborated and the collection of reliable, detailed cross-disciplinary data began.
Beginning in the 20th century, the field of ethnobotany experienced a shift from the raw compilation of data to a greater methodological and conceptual reorientation. This is also the beginning of academic ethnobotany. The so-called "father" of this discipline is Richard Evans Schultes, even though he did not actually coin the term "ethnobotany". Today the field of ethnobotany requires a variety of skills: botanical training for the identification and preservation of plant specimens; anthropological training to understand the cultural concepts around the perception of plants; linguistic training, at least enough to transcribe local terms and understand native morphology, syntax, and semantics.
Plotkin was interviewed in 1998 by South American Explorer magazine, just after the release of Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice and the IMAX movie Amazonia. In the book, he stated that he saw wisdom in both traditional and Western forms of medicine:
No medical system has all the answers—no shaman that I've worked with has the equivalent of a polio vaccine and no dermatologist that I've been to could cure a fungal infection as effectively (and inexpensively) as some of my Amazonian mentors. It shouldn't be the doctor versus the witch doctor. It should be the best aspects of all medical systems (
herbalism, homeopathic, and so on) combined in a way which makes health care more effective and more affordable for all.[16]
A great deal of information about the traditional uses of plants is still intact with tribal peoples.[17] But the native healers are often reluctant to accurately share their knowledge to outsiders. Schultes actually apprenticed himself to an Amazonian shaman, which involves a long-term commitment and genuine relationship. In Wind in the Blood: Mayan Healing & Chinese Medicine by Garcia et al. the visiting acupuncturists were able to access levels of Mayan medicine that anthropologists could not because they had something to share in exchange. Cherokee medicine priest David Winston describes how his uncle would invent nonsense to satisfy visiting anthropologists.[18]
Another scholar, James W. Herrick, who studied under ethnologist
Researcher Cassandra Quave at Emory University has used ethnobotany to address the problems that arise from antibiotic resistance. Quave notes that the advantage of medical ethnobotany over Western medicine rests in the difference in mechanism. For example, elmleaf blackberry extract focuses instead on the prevention of bacterial collaboration as opposed to directly exterminating them.[21]
Issues
This section may be confusing or unclear to readers. In particular, it should explain what kind of gender biases exist, and how they came to be. (September 2017) |
Many instances of
Ethnobotanists have also assumed that ownership of a resource means familiarity with that resource. In some societies women are excluded from owning land, while being the ones who work it. Inaccurate data can come from interviewing only the owners.[24]
Other issues include ethical concerns regarding interactions with
Scientific journals
- Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine
- Economic Botany
- Ethnobotany Research and Application[26]
- Journal of Ethnopharmacology
- Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge (IJTK)[27]
- Latin American and Caribbean Bulletin of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants
See also
- Society for Ethnobotany
- Agroecology
- Anthropology
- Botany
- Economic botany
- Ethnobiology
- Ethnomedicine
- Ethnomycology
- History of plant systematics
- Ethnobotany of Poland
- Medical Ethnobotany of India
- List of ethnobotanists
- Non-timber forest product
- Phytogeography
- Plant Resources of Tropical Africa
- Plants in culture
- Traditional ecological knowledge
References
- ^ "Ethnobotany". www.fs.fed.us. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
- ^ a b "Ethnobotany". www.eplantscience.com. Archived from the original on 14 April 2018. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
- ^ Kandell, Jonathan (13 April 2001). "Richard E. Schultes, 86, Dies; Trailblazing Authority on Hallucinogenic Plants". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
- ISBN 9781316675397.
- ^ PMID 15993554. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2016-01-07. Retrieved 2013-06-01.
- ^ a b White, James T. (1931). The National cyclopædia of American biography ... v.21. University of Michigan.
- ISBN 978-0984841523.
- ^ Mazal, Otto. "Dioscorides: De Materia Medica". Uchicago.edu. University of Chicago. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
- ^ Crosby, Alfred W. "The Columbian Exchange: Plants, Animals, and Disease between the Old and New Worlds". nationalhumanitiescenter.org. National Humanities Center.
- ^ "Sitka spruce". www.for.gov.bc.ca. British Columbia. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
- S2CID 220844064.
- ISBN 9780803277380.
- ^ "Captain James Cook (1728-1779)". PlantExplorers.com.
- ISBN 9789401009690.
- ISBN 9781493914920.
- ^ The Shaman's Apprentice Forest. South American Explorer, Autumn 1988.
- ^ Sood, S.K., Nath, R. and Kalia, D.C. 2001. Ethnobotany of Cold Desert Tribes of Lahoul-Spiti (N.W. Himalaya). Deep Publications, New Delhi.
- ^ Wind in the Blood: Mayan Healing and Chinese Medicine, by Hernan Garcia, Antonio Sierra, Hilberto Balam, and Jeff Connant
- ^ Ethridge, Robbie (1996). "Review of: Iroquois Medical Botany. By James W. Herrick". American Indian Culture and Research Journal. 20 (2). American Indian Culture and Research Center, University of California: 213.
- ^ Herrick, J. W. (1995). Iroquois Medical Botany. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press.
- ^ Jabr, Ferris (14 September 2016). "Could Ancient Remedies Hold the Answer to the Looming Antibiotics Crisis?". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-10-26.
- ^ Howard, Patricia. "Gender Bias in Ethnobotany: Propositions and Evidence of a Distorted Science and Promises of a Brighter Future". academia.edu.
- ^ "Gender bias in ethnobotany -- a legacy and process". TeachEthnobotany. 2 July 2013 – via YouTube.
- S2CID 29156875.
- ^ "The ISE Code of Ethics - International Society of Ethnobiology". ethnobiology.net. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
- ^ "Ethnobotany Research and Applications". ethnobotanyjournal.org. Retrieved Nov 20, 2022.
- ^ "Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge (IJTK)". op.niscair.res.in. Retrieved Nov 20, 2022.
External links
Media related to Ethnobotany at Wikimedia Commons
- "Before Warm Springs Dam: History of Lake Sonoma Area" This California study has information about one of the first ethnobotanical mitigation projects undertaken in the USA.
- Grow Your Own Drugs, a BBC 2 Programme presented by ethnobotanist James Wong.
- Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases
- Ethnobotanical Database of Bangladesh (EDB)
- Native American Ethnobotany
- North Dakota Ethnobotany Database
- Websites on ethnobotany and plants
- Howard P. The Major Importance of 'Minor' Resources: Women and plant biodiversity. 2003