A Comparison of Plants Utilized in Ritual Healing by Two Brazilian Cultures: Quilombolas and Krahô Indians

The present study deals with two ethnobotanical surveys carried out i n two different segments of the Brazilian population: the first among the Krahô Indians living in Tocantins State, a Cerrado region, and the second one among the descendants of former black slaves, the Quilombolas, living in Mato...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of psychoactive drugs 2006-09, Vol.38 (3), p.285-295
Main Authors: Rodrigues, Eliana, Carlini, E. A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Addictive behaviors
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Biological and medical sciences
Brazil
Brazilian folk healers
Culture
Drug addiction
Ethnobotany
ethnopharmacology
Field study
Flowers & plants
healing ceremony
Humans
Indians, South American
Laboratory animals
Medical sciences
Medical treatment
Medicine, Traditional
Methods
Neuropharmacology
Pharmacology. Drug treatments
Plants, Medicinal - chemistry
Plants, Medicinal - classification
psychoactive plants
Psychoanaleptics: cns stimulant, antidepressant agent, nootropic agent, mood stabilizer..., (alzheimer disease)
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Psychopharmacology
Psychotropic Drugs - pharmacology
shaman
shamanism
Spiritual Therapies
Toxicology
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Summary:The present study deals with two ethnobotanical surveys carried out i n two different segments of the Brazilian population: the first among the Krahô Indians living in Tocantins State, a Cerrado region, and the second one among the descendants of former black slaves, the Quilombolas, living in Mato Grosso State. Both populations use plants which may have effects on the central nervous system (CNS) in their ritual healing ceremonies. Field work was performed during two years by one of the authors (E. Rodrigues) utilizing methods from botany and anthropology. Information was obtained on a total of 169 plants which were utilized in the preparation of 345 prescriptions for 68 ailments seemingly of the CNS, classified as tonics, analgesics, anorectics, hallucinogens, and anxiolytics. The taxonomic families of plants used, the more common therapeutic indications and types of healing rituals are discussed.
ISSN:0279-1072
2159-9777
DOI:10.1080/02791072.2006.10399854