Aug 14, 2025 09:42 PM
Indigenous researcher revives traditional medical practices of his people
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1094754
INTRO: A groundbreaking study by ethnobotanist Hemerson Dantas dos Santos Pataxó Hãhãhãi has revived the ancestral healing knowledge of his indigenous people. Currently a doctoral student at the Institute of Environmental, Chemical, and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the Federal University of São Paulo (ICAQF-UNIFESP) in Brazil, he belongs to the Pataxó Hã-Hã-Hãi people. According to his doctoral advisor, Eliana Rodrigues, he is “the world’s first indigenous ethnobotanical researcher.”
An article reporting on the study, signed by Pataxó Hãhãhãi and Rodrigues, was published in the Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine. “This work was done by us and for us. It recovers knowledge that was being lost and shows that we can do science without giving up who we are,” the researcher celebrates.
The study sought to meet the demands of the Pataxó Hã-Hã-Hãi people themselves in the face of the progressive disappearance of ancestral knowledge. Initially, the focus was on finding treatments for the three most common complaints in the community: parasitic worms, diabetes, and hypertension. These diseases had been caused or aggravated by the fragmentation and dispersion of the people, deteriorating living conditions, and contact with the surrounding society.
However, based on the initial objective and within the parameters of academic research, the scientist broadened the scope of his study, cataloguing 175 medicinal plants used by the Pataxó Hã-Hã-Hãi. Forty-three of these plants were used specifically to treat the three diseases that inspired the investigation, and 79% of their uses are consistent with recent scientific literature.
“One of the discoveries that most caught my attention was that the main medicinal plants used are exotic species, not native, but introduced into the territory. This attests to the fact that the fragmentation and forced displacement of the original population were accompanied by extreme environmental devastation, with land grabbing and the establishment of large farms,” says Pataxó Hãhãhãi.
Among the most commonly used plants are mastruz (Dysphania ambrosioides) for intestinal worms, moringa (Moringa oleifera) for diabetes, and lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) for hypertension. Two of the three, lemongrass and moringa, are exotic and originated in Asia. They were introduced to Brazil during the colonial period or more recently. Many botanists believe that mastruz already existed in tropical areas of South America before the arrival of colonizers and that indigenous peoples have used it for centuries.
Another plant considered native that is also used to treat intestinal worms is purgative potato (Operculina macrocarpa). “But so far, I’ve only been able to find a few native species. Many plants mentioned by the elders have disappeared from the forest,” laments Pataxó Hãhãhãi... (MORE - details, no ads)
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1094754
INTRO: A groundbreaking study by ethnobotanist Hemerson Dantas dos Santos Pataxó Hãhãhãi has revived the ancestral healing knowledge of his indigenous people. Currently a doctoral student at the Institute of Environmental, Chemical, and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the Federal University of São Paulo (ICAQF-UNIFESP) in Brazil, he belongs to the Pataxó Hã-Hã-Hãi people. According to his doctoral advisor, Eliana Rodrigues, he is “the world’s first indigenous ethnobotanical researcher.”
An article reporting on the study, signed by Pataxó Hãhãhãi and Rodrigues, was published in the Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine. “This work was done by us and for us. It recovers knowledge that was being lost and shows that we can do science without giving up who we are,” the researcher celebrates.
The study sought to meet the demands of the Pataxó Hã-Hã-Hãi people themselves in the face of the progressive disappearance of ancestral knowledge. Initially, the focus was on finding treatments for the three most common complaints in the community: parasitic worms, diabetes, and hypertension. These diseases had been caused or aggravated by the fragmentation and dispersion of the people, deteriorating living conditions, and contact with the surrounding society.
However, based on the initial objective and within the parameters of academic research, the scientist broadened the scope of his study, cataloguing 175 medicinal plants used by the Pataxó Hã-Hã-Hãi. Forty-three of these plants were used specifically to treat the three diseases that inspired the investigation, and 79% of their uses are consistent with recent scientific literature.
“One of the discoveries that most caught my attention was that the main medicinal plants used are exotic species, not native, but introduced into the territory. This attests to the fact that the fragmentation and forced displacement of the original population were accompanied by extreme environmental devastation, with land grabbing and the establishment of large farms,” says Pataxó Hãhãhãi.
Among the most commonly used plants are mastruz (Dysphania ambrosioides) for intestinal worms, moringa (Moringa oleifera) for diabetes, and lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) for hypertension. Two of the three, lemongrass and moringa, are exotic and originated in Asia. They were introduced to Brazil during the colonial period or more recently. Many botanists believe that mastruz already existed in tropical areas of South America before the arrival of colonizers and that indigenous peoples have used it for centuries.
Another plant considered native that is also used to treat intestinal worms is purgative potato (Operculina macrocarpa). “But so far, I’ve only been able to find a few native species. Many plants mentioned by the elders have disappeared from the forest,” laments Pataxó Hãhãhãi... (MORE - details, no ads)