Medical Ethnobiology of the Highland Maya of Chiapas, Mexico: The Gastrointestinal Diseases
592
Medical Ethnobiology of the Highland Maya of Chiapas, Mexico: The Gastrointestinal Diseases
592eBook
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Overview
The authors base their work on broad-ranging comparative ethno-medical and ethnobotanical data collected over seven years of original field research. In describing the Mayas' understanding and treatment of gastrointestinal diseases, Berlin and Berlin show that the plants used as remedies are condition specific. Moreover, laboratory studies demonstrate that the most commonly agreed upon herbal remedies are potentially effective against the pathogenic agents underlying specific diseases and that they strongly affect the physiological processes associated with intestinal peristalsis. These findings suggest that the traditional Maya medical system is the result of long-term explicit empirical experimentation with the effects of herbal remedies on bodily function.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781400872886 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Princeton University Press |
| Publication date: | 03/08/2015 |
| Series: | Princeton Legacy Library , #1740 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 592 |
| File size: | 120 MB |
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Medical Ethnobiology of the Highland Maya of Chiapas, Mexico
The Gastrointestinal Diseases
By Elois Ann Berlin, Brent Berlin
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
Copyright © 1996 Princeton University PressAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-691-03741-7
CHAPTER 1
Introduction
MAYA ETHNOMEDICINE AS SCIENCE
E. A. BERLIN AND B. BERLIN
Work over the past several decades in the emerging field of ethnobiology, and research in medical ethnobotany in particular, has demonstrated that ethnobiological knowledge of traditional peoples conforms in many respects to basic scientific principles (Berlin 1973, Berlin 1978, Berlin 1992, Berlin and Patton 1979, Berlin, Breedlove, and Raven 1974, Raven, Berlin, and Breedlove 1971, Quiros et al. 1990, Toledo 1988) and that recognition of the curative properties of medicinal plants is not simply unsubstantiated folklore. Since the late 1970s traditional herbal medicine has been given major emphasis by the World Health Organization, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and other international bodies (see, for example, UNCTAD/GATT 1974, NAS 1975, WHO 1979, Khan 1978a, WHO 1978b, UNIDO 1978, Attisso 1977, WHO 1978a, UNESCO 1978). Furthermore, a number of botanists, ethnobiologists, and pharmacologists have argued persuasively that new pharmaceuticals are most likely to be found in native pharmacopoeias (Chadwick and Marsh 1994, Schultes 1984, Sofowara 1982, Elizabetsky 1986, Farnsworth and Pezzuto 1983).
In this volume on the medical ethnobiology of the Tzeltal and Tzotzil Indians, two Maya-speaking peoples who reside in the highlands of Chiapas, Mexico, we present evidence that confirms the scientific bases of traditional medicine. Our data show that the highland Maya have developed a large number of herbal remedies based on an astute understanding of the signs and symptoms of common disease conditions. Furthermore, the potential therapeutic efficacy of Maya herbal medicine is suggested by laboratory studies on the pharmacological properties affecting the agents associated with the ethnomedically identified clinical signs and symptoms that correlate closely with biomolecular medical disease categories.
This volume on the Maya gastrointestinal conditions presents data from the interdependent perspectives of biocultural medical anthropology, medical ethnobotany, and pharmacology. It provides (1) an ethnomedical characterization of major gastrointestinal conditions recognized by the highland Maya; (2) a medical ethnobotanical description of the most significant medicinal plant species used as herbal remedies for these recognized health conditions; and (3) the initial results of laboratory studies and literature surveys on the pharmacological efficacy of these herbal remedies.
RESEARCH SETTING
E. A. BERLIN AND D. CASTILLE
The data we present in this monograph represent part of the results of a binational, multidisciplinary research program carried out among the highland Maya during the period 1987-91. The work reported here is based on comparative research carried out in the principal Tzeltal and Tzotzil municipalities of the central Chiapas highlands (see Figure 1.1).
The Highlands of Chiapas
SOCIOCULTURAL CONTEXT
The traditional settlement pattern of the region, which has been amply documented in the literature, consists of a political and ceremonial center surrounded by smaller units, called parajes. This form of settlement has been called a vacant town pattern because of the relative lack of permanent residents in the town center. Although these patterns are now changing, the indigenous residents of these centers tend to be religious and political officeholders who reside there only during their tenure in office. The parajes were presumably once organized, at least to some extent, around water sources, and residence was based on patrilineal family lines. These patterns are also changing, and today a paraje is more likely to be defined by the establishment of a school. At the same time, an increasing number of people permanently reside in the town centers.
There is still strong social identity according to municipal residence, and individuals continue to be identifiable by clothing style. This is especially true for females, who tend to persist in wearing the form of dress typical of their municipality long after the males have changed to standard ladino street wear. Language differences also continue to serve as markers of municipal origin, each municipality speaking a distinct dialect of Tzeltal or Tzotzil. During the colonial period, specific Catholic saints were designated as the patron saints of each Maya municipality, and people selected their names from the roster of municipal saints. This pattern is also changing, and younger people are likely to have non-patron saint names or names that are completely secular.
SOCIOECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS
The state of Chiapas in general and the highland region in particular are characterized as having one of the highest marginality indexes in Mexico (19.91%) and a polarized development pattern, with some regions rapidly moving into modern industrial development and others lacking basic sanitation, economic, and health resources in a pattern more characteristic of third world economies (CIES n.d.). According to the 1990 census, the population of the highland region now surpasses 400,000, with a population density of 106.8 inhabitants per km2 (80% of whom are indigenous).
Despite rapid development over the past decades, agriculture remains the primary economic base. Subsistence agriculture continues to be the primary mode of production. Com and beans are the principal agricultural products, although there is commercial production of fruits, vegetables, and flowers. Sheep are raised in the highlands, primarily for their wool, which is used in weaving clothing. A few cattle are raised, but cattle ranching is not widely practiced in the highlands. Some income is realized by the Maya of the region from the sale of articles of traditional clothing and tourist items in the larger urban centers.
HEALTH AND SOCIAL WELFARE
Disparate economic conditions have caused a massive shift of the population from rural to urban settings and from rural communities to newer rural colonies, with the associated changes in cultural patterns and social support systems. There exists an increasing contrast in the health and risk-factor profiles of the different population segments, with the indigenous populations normally among the highest risk groups and receiving the least adequate services. Institutional health services have been developed following an emphasis on curative rather than preventive programs. The Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS), the Coordinated Health Services (SSA), and the National Indian Institute (INI), as well as religious organizations (primarily the Catholic Church), have (often competing) health-care delivery clinics in the region. The federal and state organizations rely primarily on new medical graduates, completing their obligatory year of postgraduate social service, and community health workers to staff the clinics serving the indigenous communities. While their infrastructure reaches into most areas of the state, quality and consistency of care are continuing problems, and sensitization of medical personnel to the local cultures is virtually nonexistent. As a result, a dilemma persists between providing effective health and social welfare interventions and addressing the need for health promotion and disease prevention for groups of distinct cultural identities at the community level.
Education and literacy programs in the indigenous areas of the highlands have increased in recent years through various programs instituted by the State Department of Public Education (SEP) and the National Institute of Adult Education (INEA). This is evidenced by the relatively higher literacy rates among the young (ages 6–14) that are reported for all municipalities of the highlands. Nonetheless, the latest national census documents show continuing high rates of illiteracy at all ages.
Much of the housing in the Maya municipalities, especially the more remote areas, continues to consist of dirt floor, thatch roof, and wattle and daub or wood plank walls. Most dwellings lack running water, many lack electricity, and virtually none have sewage systems. The indigenous regions are seriously underserved by basic public infrastructure such as roads and sanitation facilities.
The access and efficacy of health, education, and general services in these communities are factors that relate to both economic development and social welfare, which in turn determine patterns of soil use, population growth, and the conservation of natural resources. Problems of interethnic relations continue to play a major part in the conception and more particularly in the successful enactment of programs, as underscored by the uprising begun in January 1994.
GEOPHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
The central high plateau region, known as the highlands of Chiapas, represents one-sixth of the territory of the state. This region extends along a northwest-southeast axis for approximately 229 km and ranges from 50 km to 100 km in width. The area is made up of marine limestone with some extrusions of volcanic rock in the higher elevations. Elevations range from 1100 m to 2500 m, with several peaks exceeding 2900 m. Average annual rainfall is 1402 mm. Temperatures vary from a low of 14°C to a maximum of 23°C (Breedlove 1981, Estado 1991, INEGI 1992).
The highland region is characterized by a mountainous terrain broken by numerous steep-sloped canyons and valleys. Because of these topographical characteristics, the highlands include hot, temperate, and cold climatic regions. Many of the Maya municipalities incorporate all three climatic zones within their boundaries.
BIODIVERSITY
The current landscape in some of the most populated portions of the Chiapas highlands includes small, isolated fragments of old-growth forests surrounded by a complex habitat matrix with extensive young secondary forests, grasslands, and cultivated areas (Wagner 1962, González-Espinosa et al. 1991, Ramírez-Marcial et al. 1992). The high population density of the region has resulted in permanently cleared areas with major losses in the original vertebrate species, particularly large birds and mammals, due to overhunting and habitat modification. This is representative of patterns observed in other neotropical regions (see, e.g., Dirzo and Miranda 1990, Lovejoy et al. 1986, Redford 1992, Saunders, Hobbs, and Margules 1991, Thiollay 1992).
Nevertheless, the topographical, geological, climatic, hydrological, and edaphical heterogeneity of Chiapas, together with its geological and biogeographical history, make it second only to Oaxaca in total biological diversity in the country (Breedlove 1981, Garcia 1987, Miranda 1952, Quintana-Ascencio, González-Espinosa, and Ramírez-Marcial 1992, Rzedowski 1991, Toledo 1988, Müllerried 1957). Preliminary estimates of the richness of the biota of Chiapas indicate that approximately 9000 species of vascular plants are found within the state, greater than 30% of those known to occur in Mexico (Breedlove 1981, 1986, Toledo 1988). More than 1150 species of vertebrates, or 44% of the known Mexican vertebrate species, including 30% of the amphibians and reptiles (Alvarez del Toro 1982, Lazcano-Barrero, Góngora-Arones, and Vogt 1992), 65% of the birds (Alvarez del Toro 1964), and 55% of the mammals (Aranda and March 1987, Hall 1981) are found in Chiapas (CIES n.d.).
Areas of Data Collection
The scope of our research has aimed to be fully regional, beginning first in 1987 with comprehensive ethnobiological and ethnomedical surveys of nine of the fourteen central Tzeltal and Tzotzil municipalities, and expanding in 1991 to include the remaining five Maya municipalities that comprise the central Maya highlands. Extensive data have now been collected in the eight Tzotzil-speaking municipalities of Pantelhó, Chalchihuitán, Chenalhó, Larráinzar, Mitontic, Chamula, Zinacantán, and Huixtán, and the six central Tzeltal-speaking municipalities of Cancuc, Tenejapa, Oxchuc, Chanal, Amatenango, and Aguacatenango (see Figure 1.1).
We present below maps of the municipalities in which work has been carried out, census data for those localities identified in the latest Mexican National Census, and the approximate location of the localities within the municipalities where data collection took place or from which residents were interviewed in any of our surveys and questionnaires.
The municipal maps showing localities were generated in the geographic information system application for the IBM called ArcView and based on statistical information including municipal boundaries, locality latitude and longitude readings, and road locations made available on CD-ROM by the Mexican census bureau (INEGI 1992). Each municipal map was copied in scaled bitmap format, converted into Macintosh readable documents with IMAGERY, a graphic conversion application, and further processed in Aldus SuperPaint 3.0.
While no scale is printed on the maps, scaled images were used at all stages of map generation. Where collection sites and localities coincide, INEGI locations were followed. Other sites were placed with respect to these locations and are based on ongoing consultation with Maya collaborators. Apparent lack of correspondence between our location data and the census data may result from reference to locally recognized place-names that are not related to land or census records. Many of the names reflect physical characteristics of the site known to local residents, such as the presence of creeks or streams, rocks, trees, or hills. Consequently there may appear to be some duplication of site-names within any given municipality as well as from municipality to municipality. In some cases, we have found that a number of collection sites and INEGI-based localities attributed to one municipality fall outside municipal boundaries or do not correspond exactly with the paraje (community) divisions of individual municipalities. Localities identified as pertaining to Chamula, for example, can be found throughout Mitontic and as far north as Chenalhó.
The population figures presented in the tables for each of the municipalities are drawn from the 1990 Mexican National Census. In some cases, the names of the census sites listed do not accord with either their correct Maya name or with the official orthography adopted by the state of Chiapas for rendering Maya words. We have listed the official standard Maya orthography for rendering the names of those sites from which we have collected data in this project (e.g., a community in Chalchihuitán cited in the INEGI census as Canech, would be cited as K'an Ech' in the locality of work column). A comprehensive ethnogeographic survey of the Maya central highlands, with efforts to document locally recognized political boundaries within and between municipalities, is sorely needed. Until further information is available, the maps presented here reflect reality with as much accuracy as it is possible for us to achieve at this time.
In the census and locality tables listed with the map of each municipality, column 1 shows the official Mexican census number. Column 2 shows the names of each census locality as it appears in the official census. Column 3 shows the Tzeltal or Tzotzil rendering of each of the names of the localities of work within the municipality that are represented in our data collection files. The numbers listed in column 4 correspond with the arbitrarily assigned numbers shown on the municipality map to identify the approximate location of each data collection site.
As an indication of the living conditions in the Maya communities, particularly those affecting health, we describe the availability of piped water, sewage disposal, and electricity as indicators of the public services infrastructure of each municipality. We should note that "piped or running water" in many cases probably means access to a pump or hydrant that serves a community or several households rather than individual household installations. Even when a piped water source serves an individual household, it is usually located outside.
TZOTZIL MUNICIPALITIES
Chalchihuitán
Chalchihuitán covers an area of 74.5 km2. Its total population is 9138 persons, with a population density of 122.6 persons per km2.
The mean altitude of the municipality is 1500 m. The topography is characterized by hills, broken slopes, and mountainous areas. Water resources include the Huixtán River and various streams that make up the Almendro River.
The principal agricultural products are com, beans, coffee, tobacco, and fruits.
Figure 1.2 shows the location of Chalchihuitán in relation to the other highland municipalities.
According to the 1990 census, of the 2371 children between six and fourteen years of age, 822 (35%) were unable to read or write. The illiteracy rate for those fifteen years or older increased to 62%.
Of the 1763 houses censused, 202 (11%) had running water, 45 (2%) had sewage systems, and 78 (4%) had electricity.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Medical Ethnobiology of the Highland Maya of Chiapas, Mexico by Elois Ann Berlin, Brent Berlin. Copyright © 1996 Princeton University Press. Excerpted by permission of PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS.
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Table of Contents
| List of Figures | ||
| List of Tables | ||
| List of Plates | ||
| Preface | ||
| Contributors | ||
| Ch. 1 | Introduction | 3 |
| Ch. 2 | The Diarrheas | 91 |
| Ch. 3 | The Abdominal Pains | 281 |
| Ch. 4 | The Worms | 400 |
| Ch. 5 | Summary and Conclusions | 438 |
| Appendix | Pharmacological Activity of Plant Species Used as Admixtures | 455 |
| Glossary of Technical Terms | 471 | |
| References | 485 | |
| Index of Maya Terms | 501 | |
| General Index | 513 |