Revista Cubana de Alimentacin y Nutricin. Part of 1979, La Habana, Cuba: Editorial de Ciencias Sociales, Guanche J, Garcia AJ: Ethnic history. Haitian Plants Medicine. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. Weniger B, Haag-Berrurier M, Anton R: Plants of Haiti used as antifertility agents. Some locals say that Voodoo succeeds where modern medicine can't, but that the religion is often misunderstood. 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. 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. 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]. 10.1007/s10745-008-9211-4. 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. around Central Brasil, Minas in the North of the Province and Central Haiti in the South). 1966, 1: 25-39. Revealing Latinos' plant-healing knowledge and practices in New York City. One that I ran across in my research that is very interesting and pertinent to this subject is quassia, or bitterwood. The practice of using herbal baths both as physical and spiritual medicine is similar to other ethnic groups [37, 38]; as well, baths are very important in general in traditional health systems based on Afro-American religions [39], and their use among Haitians can be regarded at the same time as magical, spiritual, and medicinal. During the period 19001930, more than half a million Haitians entered the country legally or illegally [6, 7]. The Province of Camagey is located between 2031'01" and 2229'00" latitude North and 7657'00" longitude West from Greenwich. 105 e/ngel y Pobre, Camagey, Cuba, Daimy Godnez,Angela Beyra&Adelaida Barreto, You can also search for this author in Especially dominant are the soothing effects it is known to have on small infants. Haitian immigrants and their descendants mainly decoct or infuse aerial parts and ingest them, but medicinal baths are also relevant. In this article we have presented the medicinal plants' knowledge of Haitians in Cuba as it is today, approximately 80 years after migration. 1988, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba: Editorial Oriente, James J, Millet J, Alarcn A: El Vod en Cuba. Chenopodium ambrosioides, Momordica charantia) are used to treat intestinal parasites. My mom comes from a line of Haitian women herbalists from Gonaives, Haiti. The European slave owners were not without their healing knowledge, too. In Haiti, Voodoo priests, or hougans, use homemade remedies consisting of herbs and exotic plants to cure patients. They are used to treat rashes in children caused by measles and smallpox (e.g. Among first generation migrants, twenty are originally from the cities of Les Cayes (Creole name Okai) and Port Salut (Creole name Posal), in the South of Haiti, whereas four lived in or near Port-au-Prince. My mom comes from a line of Haitian women herbalists fromGonaives, Haiti. Uses of medicinal plants by Haitian immigrants and their descendants in 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]. Although they are also reported in Beyra et al. Google Scholar. All of the mints have the effect of soothing indigestion and quieting nausea. 2007, Oxford: Berghahn, 245-269. Nez N, Gonzlez E. Antecedentes etnohistricos de la alimentacin tradicional en Cuba. Cerasee Or Asosi: The Cure-All Plant For South Florida's Caribbean In the Ozarks sarsaparilla tea is also widely used for its purifying properties.. Another blood purifier that is a very common remedy both in Ozarkia and Haiti, is catnip or catmint. https://doi.org/10.1186/1746-4269-5-16, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/1746-4269-5-16. Haitian Medicinal Plants. Throughout the field study, the ethical guidelines adopted by the American Anthropological Association [27] were followed. Cabrera L: El Monte. The decoction of fresh herbal components is by far the preferred means to prepare medicinal remedies, accounting for almost 60% of all preparations, which is similar to what has been found in traditional Cuban medicine [15,17,19]. It just doesnt taste good, said St. Fort. 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. Immigration was a key factor in the plans for economic reconstruction after the War of Independence against Spain, and West Indians entered Cuba as cheap labour required to cut sugarcane [8]. Down through the ages women have had to deal with menstrual cramps, excessive bleeding, water retention and unwanted pregnancy, just to name a few. Information was obtained from semi-structured interviews with Haitian immigrants and their descendants, direct observations, and by reviewing reports of traditional Haitian medicine in the literature. Topical application as a pomade or plaster is used in 10% of the remedies, while frictioning, preferred with preparations for rheumatisms and arthritis, accounts for two per cent. She belongs to an unofficial club of Caribbean folks around South Florida who pick bushes from other peoples front yards and the side of the road. 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. A Haitian carnival takes place every year in Santiago de Cuba, and a Creole radio program is broadcasted nationally [13]. Since catnip is a very mild herb for humans, it is safe to give to babies in tea form. [12], Nevet and de la Rosa [9], and Pedro [10]. During the decades after emigration, the original Haitian ethnomedicinal knowledge progressively changed and adapted to the new environment, maintaining cultivation and use of important medicinal plants, incorporating plants and uses from the host Cuban culture, and diffusing specific plant uses to Cubans in contact with Haitian communities. We are a Social Impact (SI) company; we don't focus in making excessive profits, but we primarily . CERES Research School, Department of Social Sciences, Wageningen University, Hollandseweg 1, NL-6706, Wageningen, the Netherlands, CIMAC, Centro de Investigaciones de Medio Ambiente de Camagey, Cuba. Code of ethics of the American Anthropological Association. Davis had found Datura growing in Haiti. Traveling cultures and plants The ethnobiology and ethnopharmacy of migrations. She is a believer of remed fey, or bush medicine. "y tienen faxones y fabas muy diversos de los nuestros" Origin, Evolution and Diversity of Cuban Plant Genetic Resources. Ingestion is the preferred means to administer the remedies and accounts for 62% of all applications. Once they found themselves in Cuba, the main strategies that Haitian migrants used to maintain their ethnomedicinal practices depended principally on the floristic similarity between Haiti and Cuba (i.e. Summary. Pieroni A, Mnz H, Akbulut M, Baser KHC, Durmuskahya C: Traditional phytotherapy and transcultural pharmacy among Turkish immigrants living in Cologne, Germany. 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. Correspondence to The tea is bitter. The study of Haitian immigrants' traditional medicine in this context not only represents an interesting case about medicinal plant use, but also records knowledge that is rapidly disappearing with the death of older Haitian migrants. For most Haitian migrants, given their poverty, there was no possibility to make trips back to Haiti to procure remedies that were not available in the new environment. Once in the field, we asked for the help of the local government officers responsible for health (doctors or nurses from the local hospital) to determine whether there were any elderly Haitians living in the locality and precisely where. Partly it . In the case of a child with persistent 'evil eye' (for example when the child cries excessively), after the bath the child's clothes are burnt, and a collar is made with seeds of Canavalia ensiformis and placed on the child, as reported also in Haiti [36]. statement and Informants reported using 123 plant species belonging to 112 genera in 63 families. Decoction of fresh herbal components (mainly leaves and other aerial parts) is the preferred means to prepare medicinal remedies. Traditional Haitian medicine retained an important role in healthcare and cultural practices soon after immigration, when Haitian livelihoods were based on work in the sugarcane fields, on the surrounding environment, and on their knowledge about that environment. Additional file 1: Medicinal plants used by Haitian immigrants and their descendants in the Province of Camagey, Cuba. These mixtures can be more or less complex, ranging from a concoction of two plants to complex preparations with different species. 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. By listening to them, going along into the woods when they gathered and doing reading on my own, I too began to gather and use medicinal herbs. Herbal and Traditional Medicine in Post-Earthquake Haiti Volpato G, Godnez D. Medicinal foods in Cuba: Promoting health in the household. Background Haitian migrants played an important role shaping Cuban culture and traditional ethnobotanical knowledge. Jordan confirms these abortifacient qualities in his work, Voodoo Medicine. The Secrets of Haiti's Living Dead | Harvard Magazine Scull R, Miranda M, Infante RS. Cash-strapped Haitians find Voodoo a cheaper alternative to traditional Hernndez J: Uso popular de plantas con fines medicinales. 1999, 13: 145-150. Map of Cuba with the Province of Camagey. Santillo, Humbart. Knowledge, like slaves, was traded back and forth from slave to owner, owner to slave, Haiti to America, America to Haiti. She uses many local herbs and plants, such as chamomile and thyme (left basket) and ginger root (center baskets), to alleviate afflictions that include coughs, other cold symptoms and menstruation . A preliminary study on Haitian plant use revealed that Citrus aurantium (Rutaceae), common name "zorange si" was utilized in a wide variety of ways. Traditional pharmacology and medicine in Africa. Momordica charantia, Solanum americanum and Stachytarpheta jamaicensis are among those species most cited by Haitians in this study. Divergence and Convergence in Traditional Plant-Based Medicinal sharing sensitive information, make sure youre on a federal Brandon G. The uses of plants in healing in an Afro-Cuban religion, Santeria. 1984, 10: 1-39. According to information we . [21-25]. To the Haitian, these beliefs are inexorably woven in with Voodoo, serving the loa and reliance on the local docteur feille.. 2008, 117: 41-50. 2004, 90: 293-316. The rapid disappearance of Haitian migrants' traditional culture due to integration and urbanization suggests that unrecorded ethnomedicinal information may be lost forever. Voucher specimens were deposited at the CIMAC herbarium in Camagey (HACC). Its not even like cod liver oil. An ethnobotanical survey of medicinal plants commercialized in the markets of La Paz and El Alto, Bolivia. 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]. Specifically, I was looking for ginseng and goldenseal, both highly sought for their curative properties. GV and DG conceived and designed the research. Haitian empirical medicine sprang from both European (16th to 19th century) and African (especially voodoo) traditional therapies. 10.1007/BF00052650. 2007, Oxford: Berghahn. Canella winterana, Pimenta dioica) are added to preparations with stomachic purposes. The practice of using herbal baths both as physical and spiritual medicine is similar to other ethnic groups [37,38]; as well, baths are very important in general in traditional health systems based on Afro-American religions [39], and their use among Haitians can be regarded at the same time as magical, spiritual, and medicinal. Conversely, Justicia pectoralis, reported by Haitians only as a component of one mixture, is widely used and reported by Cubans for its sedative effects [15,19]. Dayana St. Fort was born in Haiti. Voodoo, a traditional religion, is widely known for this hybrid form of care. 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. Decoction of fresh herbal components (mainly leaves and other aerial parts) is the preferred means to prepare medicinal remedies. [15] and in other studies about traditional Cuban medicine [18,42], their use among Cubans is not as widespread or as differentiated as among Haitian descendants.