Traditional Medicine Among the Nahua: Contemporary and Ancient Medicinal Plants

Project goals

The aim of this research was to determine how the classification of medicinal plants and the practicing of rituals by the Nahua healing specialists of Amatlán fit into the larger complex of Aztec medicine. Information obtained can shed light on the roots of this traditional medicine and whether it will continue to survive in the face of great pressures from the increasingly global world.

A further goal was to respect the indigenous and local knowledge of the people of Amatlán regarding their medicinal plants. In order to protect their local knowledge, I have taken active steps in this report to minimize the amount of information regarding their actual uses of these plants. Though I have included the scientific names of the plants collected and, in some cases, also the local names, I have tried to avoid mentioning what each of these plants is specifically used for as well as the parts used and their preparation. The healing specialists themselves do not share much of their esoteric knowledge with other people, especially other healers, and therefore they asked that I protect their knowledge in my own work.

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