This presentation will focus on the traditional Chumash Indian

Ethnobotany practices and it will evaluate the differences between

traditional ethnobotany and Western biomedicine.

Chumash Indians

The Chumash Indians of Southern California had specialists for their remedies.
Shaman were the main people who practiced medicine. Most medical practices
used virtual herbs.

Yerba Mansa

Yerba Mansa is from tea of yerba mansa root. This plant was used for washing
cuts and ulcers, but it was also used to drink for colds and to purify blood. Yerba
mansa was known as the "good medicine" and it was a very efficient treatment
for venereal disease.

Chuchupate

The medicine side of the chuchupate was to treat headaches and pain. When the
root was combined, or soaked, with brandy and drank, it was to treat
stomachaches.

It was thought that the chuchupate controlled rattlesnakes by attracting

them so that they could be captured and the root would prevent them from
biting.

Datura

Datura was the most important plant among the Chumash and also used to treat
tapeworms, wounds and broken bones. It's a hallucinogen that has three main
purposes.
-Making ways to contact a supernatural guardian
-Seeing the truth in people, contacting the dead, seeing the future and finding
lost items

-Curing the effects of injury, evil omens, breaches of taboo and immunity from
danger

Tobacco

Tobacco was eaten by the Chumash for recreational use and good health. It was
chewed during social events mostly by men. It was smoked by the pipe doctor
and used as incense for treating sick people. Tobacco was also used to treat
stomach pains caused by eating undercooked fish.

Poison Oak

Poison oak was used to treat wounds and lacerations and also ingested to treat
diarrhea. When its leaves were cut in early spring, poison oak was best at
healing warts, calices, corns and skin cancers.

Mugwort

Mugwort was used by Chumash to cauterize wounds, such as skin cancers and
rheumatism. The leaves were used to treat a sore neck and the Chumash would
put the leaves over hot coals for the patient to lie on to treat paralysis. It was
also a treatment for poison oak rash, measles and asthma.

Chumash

Using plants for food and medicine was very important among the Chumash
culture. The Chumash are known for trying new remedies and still have some of
the traditional ones around today. There are also remedies that are no longer
practiced and some that have been replaced by new ones.

Chumash Ethnobotany vs Western Biomedicine

The Chumash medical specialists were secretive with remedies because medical
knowledge were their livelihoods. Specialists in Western biomedicine publish
works to make their studies known when the new info is proven to be
knowledgeable or accurate.

The Chumash used the same plants to cure many different ailments. In Western
biomedicine we have a broader scope of medicine to cure specific illnesses. For
example, a cure for diarrhea in Western medicine is Imodium, while a cure for a
cough could be Robitussin. However chuchupate would be used for both in
Chumash ethnobotany.

Chumash Ethnobotany vs Western Biomedicine

The Chumash believed that many diseases were really just one, "blood trouble".
In Western biomedicine all diseases are not narrowed down to one specific
cause.
The Chumash used the plants that were available. At times, the plants became
unavailable because of breakdown of trade networks, restriction of access to
private property where the plant was grown or extermination by overzealous
collectors. In these cases they picked a look-a-like substitute. In Western
medicine our resources are not as limited.

Chumash Ethnobotany vs Western Medicine

In the Chumash society tobacco was used to "promote good health". It was later
that they considered it more for recreation than for curing. Three men would be
involved with tobacco curing. One man would seek the sick, the second man
would blow smoke on the sick and the third man would sing during the
process. Western biomedicine considers tobacco as unhealthy and blowing
smoke on someone would be subjecting them to secondhand smoke
which studies have proven to also be unhealthy.

Chumash Ethnobotany vs Western Biomedicine

Western biomedicine is a multibillion dollar industry. Ethnobotany focuses more

on culture, beliefs, purification and restoring balance and harmony within the
body. Ethnobotanists distrust competence and motives of Western physicians
because they believe they are more for getting money rather than curing people.

Ethnobotany/Western Biomedicine

Traditional Chumash ethnobotany and Western biomedicine both use plants for
medicine, but the plants in Western biomedicine are genetically modified by
pharmaceuticals. Plant-made pharmaceutical production is advantageous
because some medicines can't be produced any other way. Federal agencies
performing the proper research and risk assessments ensure that the medicines
are safe for use. More lives will be saved and people will live longer with the
right medications.

Literature Cited

Minnis, Paul E. 2000. Ethnobotany: A Reader. University of Oklahoma Press,

Oklahoma.
Part 3 Foods and Medicine
Chapter 8 Virtuous Herbs: Plants in Chumash Medicine, Jan Timbrook
172-183

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