Although medicinal uses of these plants are not absent from the Cuban pharmacopoeia, they may in some cases be restricted to Haitian descendants and to Cubans who have been influenced by the migrants' culture. Macia M, Garcia E, Vidaurre PJ: An ethnobotanical survey of medicinal plants commercialized in the markets of La Paz and El Alto, Bolivia. Loma Linda, CA: Back to Eden Books, 1987. Cookies policy. Map of Cuba with the Province of Camagey. Therefore, herbs are the medicine of choice and necessity. Camagey is the largest province in Cuba, at 15,615 km2, corresponding to 14.3% of the nation's territory. Macia M, Garcia E, Vidaurre PJ. Article Voodoo, a traditional religion, is widely known for this hybrid form of care. Pedernales, Santo Domingo, in Ethnomedicine 4: 139-166, 1976. The Province is inhabited by some 780,000 people, or seven per cent of the Cuban population. 2001, Guantnamo, Cuba: Editorial el mar y la montaa, Nevet M, De la Rosa AS: Kote ou bouke m pote. Among those plants with shared uses are species that are widely used in Cuban pharmacopoeia such as Bidens pilosa, Boldoa purpuracens, Phyla scaberrima, Pluchea carolinensis, and Rheedia aristata, whose medicinal uses may have partly been adopted by migrants, as well as medicinal plants that are common to the Caribbean pharmacopoeia whose use Haitians and Cubans shared prior to migration: examples include the use of Cecropia schrebiana as an anticatarrhal; of Carica papaya, Chenopodium ambrosioides and Psidium guajava to treat intestinal parasites; of Lepidium virginicum as a carminative and diuretic; and of Zingiber officinale to treat colds, catarrh, and rheumatic pains. Some locals say that Voodoo succeeds where modern . Since catnip is a very mild herb for humans, it is safe to give to babies in tea form. These mixtures can be more or less complex, ranging from a concoction of two plants to complex preparations with different species. The ethnic and cultural composition of contemporary Caribbean populations are the result of historical population movements through the slave trade and inter-island migration and of the legacy of the different ethnicities involved in the process of national identity formation. Especially over the last decade, Haitians in Cuba have begun to rediscover their roots and revitalize their traditional culture by forming Haitian associations and groups and celebrating festivals and other events. Although in the recent past there has been an increase in ethnobotanical and ethnomedicinal investigations in Cuba [1519], these have generally not paid attention to the specific ethnic knowledge that immigrants have contributed to traditional Cuban medicine. The Ethnobiology and Ethnopharmacy of Migrations. More than half of the plant species reported in that study are also reported in the current study of Haitian immigrants and their descendants. A few other remedies of non-vegetal origin were also reported. The research project has been funded by a grant to Gabriele Volpato from the CERES Programme for Innovative PhD Research at Wageningen University (CEPIP-W). Nowadays Haitians are mostly integrated into mainstream Cuban society, although many of them maintain a small-scale farming and livestock production as a base for their livelihoods. Otherwise, they live in hospices either in Camagey or in smaller cities and villages. Google Scholar. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, http://www.afrocubaweb.com/haiticuba.htm#creole, http://www.aaanet.org/committees/ethics/ethcode.htm, decoction of three shoots and three roots. The incorporation of local remedies into their own pharmacopoeia occurred as a consequence of factors such as cultural contacts and exchanges between Haitians and Cubans and of personal experimentation or imitation of local practices by migrants. My mom comes from a line of Haitian women herbalists fromGonaives, Haiti. dicinal plants utilized in the plain regions. ). Datura is a powerful psychoactive plant, found in West Africa as well as other tropical areas and used there in ritual as well as criminal activities. Partly it . Comisin Nacional de Nombres Geogrficos: Diccionario Geogrfico de Cuba. The use of herbal medicine is common in Haiti, where the knowledge of plants is passed down through the generations, and Haitians are known to use the hibiscus flower and the cerasee plant . Many Haitians are believer of "remed fey" or "bush medicine". Other therapeutic uses treat afflictions of the reproductive apparatus (menstrual disorders, ovary pain, vaginal infections, as an aphrodisiac; about 9%), skin afflictions (wounds, burns, rashes; about 9%), helminth worm infections (about 7%), and renal afflictions (diuretic, depurative; about 7%). Creole Language and Culture: Part of Cuba's Cultural Patrimony, Volpato G, Godnez D, Beyra A. Migration and ethnobotanical practices: The case of, Beyra A, Len M, Iglesias E, Ferrndiz D, Herrera R, Volpato G, Godinez D, Guimarais M, Alvarez R. Estudios etnobotnicos sobre plantas medicinales en la provincia de Camagey (Cuba). Given the availability of medicinal plants in the surrounding environment, for some species at least, the use of fresh plants may present the advantage of preserving more active compounds and consequently enhancing their absorption and effectiveness. Haiti is tropical and ginseng and goldenseal need cool, shady forest slopes to grow in. Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 1992, 39: 9-22. Ethnomedicinal knowledge of Haitian immigrants in Cuba presents no exception [14]. Because of the importation of workers for plantation slavery, a vast body of knowledge departed Africa for the New World. The last group of herbs I would like to comment on are three that could be called "female herbs". the contents by NLM or the National Institutes of Health. PubMed Haitian's knowledge about plants seems to comprehend and deal with toxic allelochemicals through specific posological practices. If they or their leaf doctor sense that any of these factors are out of balance in their body, they dose themselves with an decoction (tea) of sarsaparilla root. Richard Allen More than 50% of the mixtures are used to treat afflictions of the respiratory system. 2008, 117: 41-50. Sister Francis is a religious woman whose backyard is filled with the healing bushes she grew up using in Jamaica. Interviews were conducted in Spanish after first explaining the aims of the study. 10.1016/0378-8741(86)90070-X. Cerasee or asosi . Kote ou bouke m pote Cultura haitiana en Esmeralda. Traveling cultures and plants The ethnobiology and ethnopharmacy of migrations. 1960, Port-au-Prince: Imprimerie de L'etat, Leon R: Phytotherapie Haitienne; Nos simple. Traveling cultures and plants The ethnobiology and ethnopharmacy of migrations. It is also known as the bitter gourd or bitter cucumber in Asia, South America and the Middle East. The research led to the identification of 123 different plant species used for medicinal purposes by Haitians and their descendants in the Province of Camagey. Haitians believe that giving catnip tea to infants will clarify impurities in their blood. The continuous ingestion of low doses of the allelochemicals in these species may be an effective means to prevent massive parasite infestations, especially in children [43]. and Bidens pilosa are added to treat congestions of the respiratory system, whereas 'hot' plants (e.g. Les plantes et legume d'Haiti qui guerrissent. Haitian migrants played an important role shaping Cuban culture and traditional ethnobotanical knowledge. Freshly picked mint from the backyard will ease the pain. And it is precisely that useful function and the needs it fulfils that keep herbal healing alive and well in both Haiti and the Ozarks. But, says Davis, "there were a lot of problems with the Datura hypothesis. My own interest in herbal healing dates back twenty years when I moved to a rural area in the Ozarks and had occasion to meet local people who gathered herbs and used them to treat various ailments. It would seem that to Haitian or Ozarkian, herbs are a comfort: they keep one grounded in the past and more importantly, they can be effective and inexpensive cures.. After realizing that a similarity existed between Haiti and mid-western America in terms of people gathering and using herbs, I wanted to discover if the two countries shared any common herbal remedies. DG, AB, and AB performed botanical analysis and species identification. 1951, La Habana: Contribuciones Ocasionales del Museo de Historia Natural Colegio La Salle 10, P. Fernndez and Ca, Len H, Alain H: Flora de Cuba. Haitian empirical medicine sprang from both European (16th to 19th century) and African (especially voodoo) traditional therapies. 1964, La Habana: Asociacin de Estudiantes de Ciencias Biolgicas, Alain H: Flora de Cuba. Respondents in the city of Camagey were located thanks to the local Haitian Association. Some plant uses have a common origin in the ethnobotanical practices of Caribbean people of African cultural heritage, the so-called Afro-Caribbean pharmacopoeia: examples include the use of the aerial parts of Lippia alba and Cymbopogon citratus, as well as the use of roots and ligneous parts of Allophylus cominia, Caesalpinia bahamensis, Erythroxylum havanense, and Chiococca alba. Afrikanische Arzneipflanzen und Jagdgifte Chemie, Pharmakologie, Toxikologie. Accessibility Beyra A, Len M, Iglesias E, Ferrndiz D, Herrera R, Volpato G, Godinez D, Guimarais M, Alvarez R: Estudios etnobotnicos sobre plantas medicinales en la provincia de Camagey (Cuba). religious and traditional practices have merged with medicine. For example, a small spoonful of the hairs of the fruits of Mucuna pruriens is mixed with Psidium guayaba jam and ingested before breakfast for three days; the massive diarrhea that follows is supposed to eliminate all worms from the gut and the stomach, as reported also by Seoane [16]. Boletn de Resea de Plantas Medicinales. News reports immediately following the disaster documented displaced Haitians sitting . Produced by Will Reid and Michael Simon Johnson. This figure is based on a comparison with data from another province that also absorbed much Haitian migration to Cuba, the Province of Guantanamo [13]. The resulting juice is then mixed with sugar and/or bee's honey and sometimes a small amount of rum, and drunk/eaten for problems of the respiratory system (asthma, catarrh), of the digestive system (stomach pains, intestinal parasites), and of the female reproductive apparatus (infertility) [19]. Somehow, this knowledge was transmitted to slaves in America and they began treating themselves with quassia, also. Generally, decoction is used for hard and ligneous parts, including coriaceous leaves, while infusion is used only for soft leaves and shoots, especially from aromatic plants (e.g. When a person thinks of sarsaparilla, what most often comes to mind is probably an old-fashioned sudsy drink not unlike root beer. Its popular name suggested the plant was used in creating zombies. And that's it. But in Haiti, the purifying qualities of sarsaparilla are held to be more important because of the emphasis Haitians place on the role of blood in the body. [15] who interviewed 29 Cuban informants across the Province of Camagey and reported 111 species used for medicinal purposes. The Traditional Use of Medicinal Plants and Herbs in the Province of Haitian immigrants and their descendants mainly decoct or infuse aerial parts and ingest them, but medicinal baths are also relevant. I think the reason I was unable to find any mention of them in Haiti was because of the complete dissimilarity in climate. This is where I come when Im sick and I really need some old-time herbs, she said. PubMed Map of Cuba with the Province of Camagey. The earthquake that hit Haiti on January 12, 2010, killed an estimated 230,000 people, wounded many more, and left a reported one million homeless. Exceptions to this are the works of Brutus and Pierre-Noel, Len, and Weniger et al. Esquivel M, Hammer K: The Cuban homegarden 'conuco': a perspective environment for evolution and in situ conservation of plant genetic resources. To gain further insights, we qualitatively compared our results with those reported in other Cuban ethnobotanical studies [18,19,42,49] and especially with the work of Beyra et al. They relied heavily on homegardens, wild plants, and on traditional ethnobotanical knowledge and practices in order to survive. She said, Once you see this crazy woman on the side of the street picking up bush, you can say, Oh, shes from the island. DG, AB, and AB performed botanical analysis and species identification. "y tienen faxones y fabas muy diversos de los nuestros" Origin, Evolution and Diversity of Cuban Plant Genetic Resources. In Michel Laguerre's book he tells of a Haitian woman who makes herself ill by eating the head of a turkey. Ingestion is the preferred means to administer the remedies and accounts for 62% of all applications. 1984, 10: 1-39. Some 22 herbal mixtures are reported, including formulas for a preparation obtained using the fruit of Crescentia cujete. During the period 19001930, more than half a million Haitians entered the country legally or illegally [6, 7]. Chemical Ecology. Sour orange leaves can fix that. GUID:FB7A69D3-5F4B-4A23-86B2-F73B140ADACB. Down through the ages women have had to deal with menstrual cramps, excessive bleeding, water retention and unwanted pregnancy, just to name a few. The vervain plant is a lesser-known herbal remedy, but it has a lengthy history of medicinal use when it comes to a variety of systems in the body . Most Haitians were illiterate, crowded into barracks (barracones), paid a miserable salary, and compelled to hand over their savings to reimburse the cost of their passage [7, 9]. Red sage is an herb found in both locales and is known to be an emmenagogue, or that which promotes menstrual flow (Kloss, 308; Laguerre, 94; Colon, 161). De Smet PAGM: Traditional pharmacology and medicine in Africa. They are persistent. The species belong to 112 genera and 63 families, with a prevalence of Annona and Citrus (three species each) among the genera, and among the families of Fabaceae (9.8%), Asteraceae (6.5%), Euphorbiaceae and Verbenaceae (4.9%), Lamiaceae and Rutaceae (3.3%). Therefore, a medical syncretism of sorts must have occurred. Estudio etnobotnico I. Fuentes V. Plants in Afro-Cuban Religions. Additional file 1: Medicinal plants used by Haitian immigrants and their descendants in the Province of Camagey, Cuba. Scientific name, botanical family, vernacular Cuban and Haitian name(s), voucher specimen number, part(s) used, preparation, use(s), and frequency of mention are reported for 123 plant species used for medicinal purposes. [21-25]. (Laguerre, 68) By a mental process Laguerre terms cognitive mapping, Haitians seem to have a highly developed instinctual sense of their bodies, their circulatory systems particularly. Colon, Sandra Hernandez. 1999, 13: 145-150. leaves applied to the forehead to treat headache). 10.1016/S0378-8741(98)00031-2. The hairs of the fruit of this plant contain formic acid and mucunain, which are so toxic that they were used as homicidal poisons in Africa [40, 41]. In: Pieroni A, Vandebroek I, editor. 2001, 55: 9-13. The continuous ingestion of low doses of the allelochemicals in these species may be an effective means to prevent massive parasite infestations, especially in children [43]. The data presented in this paper are derived from a wider study that was conducted on the ethnobiological knowledge of Haitian people living in the Province of Camagey. 2007, Oxford: Berghahn, 14-38. 1998, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba: Editorial Oriente, Creole Language and Culture: Part of Cuba's Cultural Patrimony. In: Hammer K, Esquivel M, Knpffer H, editor. Volpato, G., Godnez, D., Beyra, A. et al. So, Lippia alba and Cymbopogon citratus often appear in the corpus of ethnobotanical knowledge of African origin in Cuba [14,51], and Erythroxylum havanense and Chiococca alba are among the main ingredients of multi-herbal preparations used as a medicinal remedy in Eastern Cuba as well as a spiritual remedy in Afro-Cuban religions [19,34]. Besides single medicinal plants, 22 herbal mixtures, mostly prepared as a concoction of plants or plant parts, are reported. around Central Brasil, Minas in the North of the Province and Central Haiti in the South). Weniger B, Rouzier M, Daguilh R, Henrys D, Henrys JH, Anton R: La medecine populaire dans le Plateau Central d'Haiti. Economic Botany. I was fortunate to have three solid sources of information on herbs in Haiti: Laguerre's Afro-Caribbean Folk Medicine, Colon's Traditional Use of Medicinal Plants in the Province of Pedernales, Santo Domingo, and Jordan's Voodoo Medicine. Often this practice is associated with a ritual acknowledgement of the plant and its power, by leaving a coin in the place where leaves have been collected, or by adding a coin to the bath and later leaving it at road crossing. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the California Privacy Statement, Ozark people are surely not as impoverished as Haitians and they have better access to doctors and hospitals, but the majority of improvements to this area of Missouri have come within the past fifty years, and before that time, an old-fashioned way of curing one's ills was the tradition. I used Kloss's Back to Eden and Santillo's Natural Healing with Herbs for my American source books. (PDF 182 KB). "The Bible say so. A Haitian carnival takes place every year in Santiago de Cuba, and a Creole radio program is broadcasted nationally [13]. For example, three shoots of Mangifera indica are boiled and the remedy is drunk in three different cups to treat empacho, a digestive problem; three leaves of Cissampelos pareira are split into half and three halves are boiled in the case of fever; an infusion made from three whorls or tops of Stachytarpheta jamaicensis is prepared and given to children in the morning on an empty stomach as an anthelmintic; the decoction of three leaves of Momordica charantia must be drunk for three days, and the seeds of the same plant are ingested one on the first day, two on the second, and three on the third, and so on for seven days. Other therapeutic uses treat afflictions of the reproductive apparatus (menstrual disorders, ovary pain, vaginal infections, as an aphrodisiac; about 9%), skin afflictions (wounds, burns, rashes; about 9%), helminth worm infections (about 7%), and renal afflictions (diuretic, depurative; about 7%). The relatively high figure for alcoholic maceration (8.7%) is due to the number of plants that are reported to be soaked in rum and used in the preparation of a medicinal and ritual Haitian drink called tifey [14]. Scientific name, botanical family, vernacular Cuban and Haitian name(s), voucher specimen number, part(s) used, preparation, use(s), and frequency of mention are reported for 123 plant species used for medicinal purposes. only with the new moon [42]), where the remedy is ingested periodically throughout the year. Journal of Ethnopharmacology. Rituality based on 'sacred' numbers represents, in these cases, a simple way of memorizing the proper dose to be used, as well as a contribution to the efficacy of the remedy by calling upon supernatural forces and entities related to those numbers. The tea is bitter. y tienen faxones y fabas muy diversos de los nuestros " Origin, Evolution and Diversity of Cuban Plant Genetic Resources. For example, a small spoonful of the hairs of the fruits of Mucuna pruriens is mixed with Psidium guayaba jam and ingested before breakfast for three days; the massive diarrhea that follows is supposed to eliminate all worms from the gut and the stomach, as reported also by Seoane [16]. 10.1663/0013-0001(2004)058[0381:EOPATC]2.0.CO;2. My mom comes from a line of Haitian women herbalists from Gonaives, Haiti. An ethnobotanical investigation was conducted to collect information on medicinal plant use by Haitian immigrants and their descendants in the Province of Camagey, Cuba. An ethnobotanical survey of medicinal plants commercialized in the markets of La Paz and El Alto, Bolivia. Audrey Rowe is Jamaican. Interviews were conducted in Spanish after first explaining the aims of the study. In this context, traditional ethnobotanical practices are sometimes reconstituted as part of Haitian culture [14]. 1957, La Habana: Contribuciones Ocasionales del Museo de Historia Natural Colegio La Salle 10, P. Fernndez and Ca, Alain H: Flora de Cuba. In these contexts, the main forces that drive change in the cultural domain of traditional medicinal knowledge are: (1) the adaptation of the original knowledge to the new (host) environment (through substitution of no longer accessible traditional remedies with locally available ones, and the incorporation of remedies from the host culture into migrants' own pharmacopoeia); and (2) the development of strategies to obtain the original remedies (through cultivation, gathering, or marketing of the original remedies, and the development of social networks that link migrants to relatives and friends in the place of origin) [47, 48]. Traveling Plants and Cultures The Ethnobiology and Ethnopharmacy of Migrations. Kloss, Jethro. A close-up of the cerasee bouquet Audre Rowe plans to use as a topical treatment for a rash. [12], Nevet and de la Rosa [9], and Pedro [10]. He deduced that the bark and wood of the simarouba excelsa plant were an excellent tonic and febrifuge (that which acts to expel intestinal worms from the system). Lee RA, Balick MJ, Ling DL, Sohl F, Brosi BJ, Raynor W. Cultural dynamism and change An example from the Federated states of Micronesia. Among the peoples of African origin who settled in Cuba throughout the centuries, Haitians played an important role shaping Cuban culture and traditional ethnobotanical knowledge. Terms and Conditions, Baths are the second more important category of means of application at almost 16% of the total. Esquivel M, Fuentes V, Martnez C, Martnez J, Hammer K: The African influence from an Ethnobotanical Point of View. During the period 19001930, more than half a million Haitians entered the country legally or illegally [6,7]. Etnologa y Folklore. Goat feces are dried, powdered, mixed with olive oil and applied topically for burns, while packages made of urine and cotton are applied to the back of the heads of children with fever. Although no census of Haitians (residents or descendants) in Cuba has been done to date, we can roughly estimate the number of Haitians and their descendants in the Province of Camagey at about 50,000 or 67% of the population. Miel de gira is considered as a panacea, and its use is apparently widespread among Cuban and Cuban-Haitian populations as a preventive and a remedy, when it is taken in small spoons in doses of from one to five spoons per day [16]. An ethnobotanical investigation was conducted to collect information on medicinal plant use by Haitian immigrants and their descendants in the Province of Camagey, Cuba. 105 e/ngel y Pobre, Camagey, Cuba. In my research, I discovered three herbs that are used for female problems both in Haiti and Ozarkia. About 40% of the total population of the province lives in the city of Camagey; almost 200,000 people live in rural areas. Momordica charantia, Solanum americanum and Stachytarpheta jamaicensis are among those species most cited by Haitians in this study. Pierre-Noel (1959) gathered recipes and modes of usage for various plants and categorized them by illness.

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