Looking to Rural Herbalists for Medicinal Insights

Newswise — Rural herbalists from Cherokee and European American backgrounds come from different traditions, yet research at the University of Arkansas shows they end up adopting similar patterns of plant use.

Their collective knowledge can contribute to ecological and medical science and natural resource sustainability. At the same time, the decline in numbers of native Cherokee speakers threatens the transmission of plant lore.

Anthropologist Justin M. Nolan led a team in studying how rural plant experts in the Ozark and Ouachita mountains of Arkansas and Oklahoma gathered and used local flora for food and medicine. The results will be presented in a keynote session of the annual conference of the Society for Ethnobiology, to be held at the University of Arkansas.

Nolan worked with anthropology graduate student Shawna Cain, a basket weaver and member of the Cherokee Nation; her husband, Roger Cain, a traditional artisan; and Matthew Reynolds, an undergraduate student majoring in anthropology. The Cherokee Nation has honored both the Cains as "Cherokee Living Treasures" for their traditional artistic contributions. Reynolds produced a video documentary that will be shown at the conference.

The researchers found that knowledge of botanical medicine is flourishing in remote communities of the Ozarks and Ouachitas. Many times, food and medicine uses "overlap and intermingle" : plants that are desirable as foods are frequently desirable as medicine. Commonly used plants, such as sassafras, wild strawberries and blackberries, are rich in flavonoids, phenols and other bioactive compounds that conventional nutritional research has identified as valuable.

"While Euro-Americans are eager to share information about medicinal flora, Cherokee medicine is esoteric and considered highly sacred," the researchers observed. "As such it is not discussed openly in fieldwork settings or otherwise."

On the other hand, Nolan said, "Cherokees are very enthusiastic about food foraging knowledge and practice. In early spring, for instance, they name and use at least eight different wild mushroom species and various wild onions. They are highly familiar with their distinct perceptual features and ecological niches."

About half of the European American herbalists are long-term residents and descendants of old Ozark families. The other half tends to be more recent settlers, often part of the back-to-the-land movement of the 1960s and 1970s.

Both Cherokee and European American herbalists emphasize ecological stewardship when gathering wild plants. Sometimes they practice "wild-crafting" or "safeguarding," which Nolan describes as falling somewhere between deliberate cultivation and foraging. The herbalist may tend the plants by pruning them, clearing back competing plants, supplementing soils or "keeping an eye out" throughout the seasons.

"Cherokees are especially efficient and parsimonious foragers," Nolan said. "They often follow the sacred rule of four. That is, they locate three of something before they harvest the fourth plant."

This approach applies to rarer plants such as bloodroot, or threatened plants, such as the native Arkansas honeysuckle. The red native honeysuckle is prized for anti-cancer properties, and according to Nolan, medical research is beginning to bear this out.

Age, experience and training affect how practitioners identify and use plants. Older herbalists know more rare plants, and they understand a greater variety of applications for these plants, whether as preventative medicines or to alleviate symptoms of acute illnesses. Younger herbalists are more likely to know about emergency medicine.

Some herbalists " and this is typical of the back-to-the-land practitioners " have acquired formal training through classes or correspondence courses. The researchers found that those who have had training know more applications for plants and specific plant combinations. The traditional herbalist is more likely to know one or two applications for locally available plants.

"The downside is that those who have had correspondence training may be less attentive to plant physiology," Nolan said. "For example, herbalists who have learned through traditional training, or intergenerational knowledge transmission, know that plants found on shady hillsides often have different chemical effects than those found in sunny areas."

Cherokee herbalists are beginning to commit themselves to preserving the knowledge of elders, according to Nolan. One challenge is the steady decline in the Cherokee language. Fewer than 1,500 Cherokee speak the language fluently in western Oklahoma, although in the past few years the Cherokee Nation has successfully trained about 100 bilingual speakers.

"Keeping the Cherokee language alive is an important if not vital link in efforts to keep plant knowledge alive," Nolan said.

In Cherokee, plant names are formed with many syllables which often reveal the use of the plant, its ecological niche, and its size, shape and color. By knowing the name of a plant, a native Cherokee speaker and herbalist can locate the plant and use it appropriately.

"Linguistic conservation is essential, because the plant names are themselves emblematic of cultural knowledge. The names are valuable bundles of information," Nolan said.

The 31st annual conference of the Society for Ethnobiology will be held at the university in Carnall Hall, April 16-19. Registration is open to the public. Cosponsored by the Cherokee Nation, the theme of the conference is indigenous ethnobiology and sustainability.

"Many of the 68 speakers will be Native Americans from various tribes," Nolan said. "Shawna Cain has organized a Thursday evening panel discussion of university scholars and native experts. The goal of this panel is to address the challenges and opportunities for native groups interested in conserving their languages and ecological knowledge systems."

Nolan is a research assistant professor of anthropology in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences.