California Privacy Statement, We will present and discuss data about: 1) traditional remedies, their uses, and preparation, 2) traditional practices and beliefs related to these uses, and 3) changes and adaptation of Haitian medicinal knowledge with emigration and integration over time. Scull R, Miranda M, Infante RS. The Ethnobiology and Ethnopharmacy of Migrations. Consequently, there is little data in the literature about the ethnobotanical knowledge and practices of Haitians in Cuba, with the exception of Volpato et al. Almost half of the plants reported in this study are not reported in Beyra et al. 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]. 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). But, says Davis, "there were a lot of problems with the Datura hypothesis. Haitian Plants Medicine. 1988, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba: Editorial Oriente, James J, Millet J, Alarcn A: El Vod en Cuba. A preliminary study on Haitian plant use revealed that Citrus aurantium (Rutaceae), common name "zorange si" was utilized in a wide variety of ways. 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. Therefore, herbs are the medicine of choice and necessity. Rowe said growing up in Jamaica people used to tell pregnant women that if they wanted their babies to be born with pretty brown skin, they should drink cerasee. Hernndez J, Volpato G. Herbal mixtures in the traditional medicine of eastern Cuba. Conversely, and to a lesser extent, Haitians contributed to what is today considered as traditional Cuban medicine by introducing into the dominant Cuban community certain specific ethnobotanical practices and uses of plants, as described also in Volpato et al. Different plant species are added to the basic preparation according to the specific medicinal purpose for which it is prepared: for example, Cissus spp. The Province is inhabited by some 780,000 people, or seven per cent of the Cuban population. Remedies shared between Haitian immigrants and their descendants and the Cuban population are mainly the result of the presence of shared ethnobotanical knowledge before migration took place, but as well reflect adoption by Haitian immigrants of plants and/or uses from the dominant Cuban pharmacopoeia and, to a lesser extent, vice versa. 10.1016/j.jep.2008.01.016. 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%). They observe nuances in the condition of their blood that are almost unheard of in white Anglo folk pharmacopoeia. Comisin Nacional de Nombres Geogrficos . Economic Botany. Moreover, to date only limited data about Haitian traditional medicine has been collected in Haiti, mostly due to the fact that the religious, cultural, and political situation in Haiti has made the study of Haitian ethnomedicine difficult [20]. About 75% of the inhabitants live in urban areas, where Camagey, Florida and Nuevitas are the major cities. The plant pops up all over South Florida, especially when it rains. Besides the instinctual, the blood is watched by looking into the eyes, checking the fingernails, behind one's ears and through skin eruptions and bleeding. April 28, 2023. Everyone calls Francis Sister Francis because shes a respected elder. She learned from her mother, who learned from her mother, who learned from her mother and so on. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. 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%). 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. Of these, about three quarters were reported with the same medicinal uses, and the remaining quarter with different uses. (Laguerre, 68) In the Ozarks catnip tea administered to babies quiets colic and can even be used to stop convulsions. 2006, Binghamton, NY: Haworth Press, 213-235. Scientific name, botanical family, vernacular Cuban and Haitian name(s), voucher specimen number, part(s) used, preparation, use(s), and frequency of mention are . Cerasse vine intertwined with other plants growing in Cacheta Francis' North Miami Beach backyard. statement and Ed. Sister Francis is a religious woman whose backyard is filled with the healing bushes she grew up using in Jamaica. Volpato G, Godnez D. Medicinal foods in Cuba: Promoting health in the household. Ethnobotanical knowledge is dynamic for any given culture and it changes as it is transferred and appropriated by people who are adapting to new environments [44,45]. Juice extraction is mostly used for green parts and is preferred over decoction and infusion for topical applications. We are a Social Impact (SI) company; we don't focus in making excessive profits, but we primarily . [25]). The European slave owners were not without their healing knowledge, too. They are used to treat rashes in children caused by measles and smallpox (e.g. They brought plants and they brought their collective memories. Traditional and ritual plant posology should be investigated in more depth in ethnobotanical and ethnopharmacological studies in order to understand their relation with medicinal plant efficacy and toxicity. Haiti is tropical and ginseng and goldenseal need cool, shady forest slopes to grow in. 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]. In North Miami Beach, Audrey Rowe stopped by her friend Cacheta Francis house to pick some cerasee growing in the backyard. 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]. I used Kloss's Back to Eden and Santillo's Natural Healing with Herbs for my American source books. Boletn de Resea de Plantas Medicinales. Additional file 1 lists the plant species cited by informants in alphabetical order according to their scientific name, along with their botanical families, vernacular Cuban and Haitian names (as reported by informants during the fieldwork), voucher specimen numbers, parts used, preparation of the remedies, medicinal use, and frequency of mention. Johns T: The Origins of Human Diet and Medicine. 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 . Our purpose was to list the plants held to be antifertility agents in the island. the contents by NLM or the National Institutes of Health. Kloss describes it as "good in all female troubles, will increase menstrual flow much better than quinine for the purposes for which quinine is used" (323). Herbal mixtures used by Haitian immigrants and their descendants in the Province of Camagey. Bidens pilosa, Cymbopogon citratus, Majorana hortensis, Ocimum spp.). The Origins of Human Diet and Medicine Chemical Ecology. Haitian empirical medicine sprang from both European (16th to 19th century) and African (especially voodoo) traditional therapies. [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. 1960, Port-au-Prince: Imprimerie de L'etat, Leon R: Phytotherapie Haitienne; Nos simple. But because of the recent wet weather, freshcerasee is practically everywhere wrapping itself around traffic signs near I-95 and across fences. Additional file 1: Medicinal plants used by Haitian immigrants and their descendants in the Province of Camagey, Cuba. De Smet PAGM. 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]. New York: McGraw-Hill, pp. She lives in Pembroke Pines and she also grew up drinking asosi tea. 1946, La Habana: Contribuciones Ocasionales del Museo de Historia Natural Colegio La Salle 8, Cultural S.A, Len H, Alain H: Flora de Cuba. 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. leaves applied to the forehead to treat headache). Haitian with a dried fruit of Abelmoschus esculentus from his homegarden (G. Volpato). 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. Seabrook, William B., The Magic Island, 1929. The complexity of practices related to traditional posology is rarely investigated in ethnobotanical and ethnopharmacological studies. In the latter province, they mainly settled in Haitian communities such as Caidije and Guanamaca, thus permitting the perpetuation of their own culture, including the voodoo religion and the creole language [912]. 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). 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). Today we have black-eyed peas, sesame seeds and peanuts in the Americas because slaves brought them along on the middle passage. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. GV drafted the manuscript. Fuentes V. Sobre la medicina tradicional en Cuba. He remembered and was able to impart that knowledge when he arrived in the Caribbean. We aim to make significant improvements in the health of the Haitian population while keeping our company strong. Along with the knowledge some of the slaves were able to bring a few plants. 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. DG, AB, and AB performed botanical analysis and species identification. Esquivel M, Hammer K. The Cuban homegarden 'conuco': a perspective environment for evolution and in situ conservation of plant genetic resources. 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. One that I ran across in my research that is very interesting and pertinent to this subject is quassia, or bitterwood. GV and DG conceived and designed the research. the use of Dichrostachys cinerea as antidiarrhoeic) or incomplete imitation of local practices. An ethnobotanical investigation was conducted to collect information on medicinal plant use by Haitian immigrants and their descendants in the Province of Camagey, Cuba. People who migrated in the 1920s generally sailed to eastern Cuba looking for jobs on the sugarcane plantations to improve their living conditions and support their families in Haiti. religious and traditional practices have merged with medicine. Background: Haitian migrants played an important role shaping Cuban culture and traditional ethnobotanical knowledge. To some, the wild green plant with five point leaves may be just an annoying weed, but to many in South Floridas Caribbean community Jamaicans, Bahamians,Trinidadians, Haitians -- its the "it" plant for just about every ailment. Haitian ethnobotanical practices related to traditional posology often follow cosmological/ritual numbers, both for plant quantities and timing of administration. In: Pieroni A, Vandebroek I, editor. The site is secure. Creole is the second most spoken language in the Province of Camagey, after Spanish. Among these, a mixture prepared with the fruit of Crescentia cujete as a main ingredient is highly regarded by Haitians and is considered as a panacea. Information was obtained . They both grow well in Ozark soil which contains a lot of limestone sediment. The present investigation shows that Haitian migrants and their descendants living in the Province of Camagey (Cuba) have medicinal uses for 123 plant species belonging to 112 genera in 63 families. Davis had found Datura growing in Haiti. I surmise that Quassia the Surinam had seen a plant similar to bitterwood in Africa. 1984, 10: 1-39. Exceptions to this are the works of Brutus and Pierre-Noel, Len, and Weniger et al. Edited by: Pieroni A, Price LL. The plants cited were photographed, collected with the informants during the interviews, and identified by authors (D.G., A.B., A.B.) a Part(s) used: ap, aerial part; ba, bark; bu: bulb; ep, fruit epicarp; fl, flowers; fr, fruits; ft, flowering tops; la, latex; le, leaves; ls, leaf stalks; re, resin; rh, rhizome; ro, root/tuber; se, seeds; sg, stigma; sh, shoots; st, stems; uf, unripe fruits; wh, young whorls; wo, wood; wp, whole plant. Traveling Plants and Cultures. These mixtures can be more or less complex, ranging from a concoction of two plants to complex preparations with different species. The plants cited were photographed, collected with the informants during the interviews, and identified by authors (D.G., A.B., A.B.) The plant . Laguerre M: Afro-Caribbean Folk Medicine. Manage cookies/Do not sell my data we use in the preference centre. Prior to that date, many documents on the French colonies carry some mention of Haitian ethnobotany. Almost half of the plants reported in this study are not reported in Beyra et al. They knew the use of cure-to-all medicinal plant Asosi or cerasee or corailee in English which grows all over South Florida, especially in abundance during the rainy season. The most frequently used species are Chenopodium ambrosioides, Cissus verticillata, Cocos nucifera, Crescentia cujete, Cymbopogon citratus, Lippia alba, Momordica charantia, Pimenta dioica, Portulaca oleracea, Psidium guajava, and Stachytarpheta jamaicensis. Fieldwork was carried out from December 2002March 2003 and from FebruaryJuly 2004. Traveling Plants and Cultures The Ethnobiology and Ethnopharmacy of Migrations. During the period 19001930, more than half a million Haitians entered the country legally or illegally [6,7]. Revealing Latinos' plant-healing knowledge and practices in New York City. As a library, NLM provides access to scientific literature. While I was able to match several Haitian herbs with American counterparts, I was a little disappointed that I could find no mention of the "biggies" of American herbal pharmacoepeia in Caribbean plant botany. HHS Vulnerability Disclosure, Help Cerasee or asosi is typically prepared as a tea: Wash the vine; throw it into a pot of water --leaves, stems and all. most plants used in Haiti were also available in Cuba), and to the cultivation of medicinal plants in the new environment. Haitian ethnobotanical practices related to traditional posology often follow cosmological/ritual numbers, both for plant quantities and timing of administration. The most frequently used species are Chenopodium ambrosioides, Cissus verticillata, Cocos nucifera, Crescentia cujete, Cymbopogon citratus, Lippia alba, Momordica charantia, Pimenta dioica, Portulaca oleracea, Psidium guajava, and Stachytarpheta jamaicensis. Shes picking up bush to make some kind of remedy. . Down through the ages women have had to deal with menstrual cramps, excessive bleeding, water retention and unwanted pregnancy, just to name a few. (Colon, 154).. Camagey is the largest province in Cuba, at 15,615 km2, corresponding to 14.3% of the nation's territory. 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. An ethnobotanical investigation was conducted to collect information on medicinal plant use by Haitian immigrants and their descendants in the Province of Camagey, Cuba. 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]. Since catnip is a very mild herb for humans, it is safe to give to babies in tea form. Code of ethics of the American Anthropological Association. In Haiti, Voodoo priests, or hougans, use homemade remedies consisting of herbs and exotic plants to cure patients. Edited by: Pieroni A, Vandebroek I. Most of those interviewed are elderly people living in remote rural areas; they often live alone since, because of their age, their husbands and wives have passed away and their children, if any, have migrated mainly to major Cuban cities (e.g. 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. 1953, La Habana: Contribuciones Ocasionales del Museo de Historia Natural Colegio La Salle 10, P. Fernndez and Ca, Len H, Alain H: Flora de Cuba. I think the reason I was unable to find any mention of them in Haiti was because of the complete dissimilarity in climate. Data also suggest that culturally relevant plants (those cited by more informants and with a greater number of uses) are often used in different qualitative ways by migrants and hosts. Also, cricket's (genus Acheta and Neoconocaephalus) legs are boiled in water and the decoction is then drunk by children and older people who have urination problems. Anales del Jardn Botnico de Madrid. Almost five per cent of the remedies are used without processing, which is especially the case for fruits eaten as medicinal foods (e.g. She learned from her mother, who learned from her mother, who learned from her mother and so on. With Nina Feldman. 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]. Her go-to cure-all medicinal plant is asosi, also called cerasee or corailee in the English-speaking Caribbean. Otherwise, they live in hospices either in Camagey or in smaller cities and villages. Although in the recent past there has been an increase in ethnobotanical and ethnomedicinal investigations in Cuba [15-19], these have generally not paid attention to the specific ethnic knowledge that immigrants have contributed to traditional Cuban medicine. They relied heavily on homegardens, wild plants, and on traditional ethnobotanical knowledge and practices in order to survive. 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. 2008, 117: 41-50. 1987, South Hadley, MA: Bergin and Garvey Publishers. In: Hammer K, Esquivel M, Knpffer H, editor. " Baths are the second more important category of means of application at almost 16% of the total. Some locals say that Voodoo succeeds where modern . Afrikanische Arzneipflanzen und Jagdgifte Chemie, Pharmakologie, Toxikologie. In reference to therapeutic use, almost half of the remedies are intended to treat gastro-intestinal afflictions (stomach pains, and as digestive and carminative; about 20%) and afflictions of the respiratory system (catarrh, asthma, colds, cough; about 18%). 1959, Port-au-Prince: Imprimerie de L'etat. 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.
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