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Plants and Health pp 1–16Cite as

Traditional and Nontraditional Medicine in a Yucatec Maya Community

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Part of the book series: Ethnobiology ((EBL))

Abstract

Traditional Yucatec Maya herbal medicine survives in eastern Quintana Roo. Here, both hmeen (curers/ritualists) and ordinary people continue to use traditional herbs, but fewer species over time and with more and more introduction not only of biomedical cures but also of folk cures from other parts of Mexico. The result is a free, open, dynamic system in which individuals choose what seems to work and what seems to offer hope.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    See my posting “The Morality of Ethnobiology” on my web site www.krazykioti.com for the Maya case and its relationship to the general question.

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Acknowledgements

All gratitude to the people of Chunhuhub, Polyuc, Presidente Juarez, and neighboring towns, and especially to Don José Cauich Canul, Aurora Dzib Xihum de Cen, Don Felix Medina Tzuc, and Don Marcos Puc Batab; also to Barbara Anderson.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anthropology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, USA

    Eugene N. Anderson

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  1. Eugene N. Anderson
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Correspondence to Eugene N. Anderson .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. History, Sociology, & Anthropology Department, Southern Utah University, Cedar City, Utah, USA

    Elizabeth Anne Olson

  2. Department of Anthropology and Tropical Conservation and Development Program, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA

    John Richard Stepp

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Anderson, E.N. (2016). Traditional and Nontraditional Medicine in a Yucatec Maya Community. In: Olson, E., Stepp, J. (eds) Plants and Health. Ethnobiology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-48088-6_1

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