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Plants with Histories: The Changing Ethnobotany of Iquito Speakers of the Peruvian Amazon

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Abstract

Plants with Histories: The Changing Ethnobotany of Iquito Speakers of the Peruvian Amazon. This paper describes the first ethnobotanical study carried out with speakers of Iquito, a critically endangered language of northeastern Peru. The work examines significant changes the pharmacopoeia has undergone, developing a new measure, the Index of Plant Novelty (IPN) that combines oral history, linguistic, comparative ethnobotanical, and botanical data. Research was carried out in 2009 and 2010, with structured interviews and collection of 87 botanical voucher specimens in 39 botanical families. The study results suggest that no one single factor can fully explain the patterns of borrowing in the pharmacopoeia of San Antonio, although data show some support for previously proposed hypotheses that such borrowing fills gaps in the pharmacopoeia or that edible and ornamental plants are often adopted for medicinal use. However, this process must also be understood within the context of colonization by mestizo settlers, which has given higher prestige to uses and species from outside. A comparison between oral history data and the linguistic and comparative data suggests that the Iquito informants interviewed have underestimated the extent to which their current pharmacopoeia has been borrowed.

Resumé

Plantas con Historias: Cambios en la Etnobotánica de Hablantes del Idioma Iquito de la Amazonía Peruana. Este artículo describe el primer estudio etnobotánico con los hablantes del idioma Iquito, una lengua en bastante peligro de extinción que se habla en el noreste del Perú. El estudio analiza los cambios significativos que han ocurrido en la farmacopea, desarrollando una nueva medida, el índice de la novedad botánica (IPN), que combina la historia oral, la evidencia lingüística y datos comparativos etnobotánicos y botánicos. La investigación se llevó a cabo en los años 2009 y 2010, con entrevistas estructuradas y la recolección de 87 muestras botánicos, de 39 familias. Los resultados del estudio sugieren que no hay un solo factor que puede explicar los préstamos en la farmacopea de San Antonio, aunque los datos muestran cierto apoyo a las hipótesis previamente propuestas que las nuevas usas llenan los vacíos en la farmacopea o que las plantas comestibles u ornamentales se adaptan para uso medicinal. Sin embargo, este proceso también debe ser entendido en el contexto de la colonización de los colonos mestizos que ha dado más prestigio a los usos y las especies de afuera. Una comparación entre los datos de la historia oral y los datos lingüísticos y comparativos sugiere que los informantes Iquitos entrevistados han subestimado la medida en que ellos y sus antepasados han prestado los usos medicinales de las plantas.

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Acknowledgements

This research was sponsored by a grant from the National Science Foundation (0754434). I would like to thank members of the community San Antonio de Pintoyacu, especially Hermenegildo Díaz Cuyasa, Jaime Pacaya Inuma, Ema Llona Yareja, and Ligia Inuma Inuma.

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  1. Ethnobotany Department, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Kuskokwim Campus, Bethel, AK, USA

    Kevin Jernigan

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Jernigan, K. Plants with Histories: The Changing Ethnobotany of Iquito Speakers of the Peruvian Amazon. Econ Bot 66, 46–59 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12231-011-9184-x

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