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Vania Smith-Oka
 

Traditional Medicine Among the Nahua: Contemporary and Ancient Medicinal Plants

Discussion

The plants collected in this study are used by the people for a variety of conditions, including common illnesses such as colds and stomachaches, gynecological ailments, broken or sprained limbs, culture-bound syndromes (including espanto, necaxantle, displaced organs, malos aires, etc.), and ritual cleansings.

Figure 7. Hamelia erecta Jacq. A medicinal plant identified by the shape of its leaves and flower. Classified as a xochitl.
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Knowledge about plants is spread throughout the population; this is especially the case for the plants used for common illnesses and conditions. Women (who tend to be the primary care-givers) can easily access the plants needed to heal themselves or a family member and use it in the appropriate manner. For problems that require a healing specialist, though the patient is very likely to know the name of the plant and be able to recognize it, the secret knowledge about its uses and medicinal powers will primarily be held in the hands of the healing specialists. Most healing specialists guard this deeper knowledge quite jealously from other healers since much of the aura surrounding their healing power comes from this knowledge.

Figure 8. Bursera simaruba (L.) Sarg. A medicinal plant identified by the color and texture of its bark.
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Plants are used extensively by the healing specialists. They are carefully chosen based on the symptoms and possible etiology of the illness that the patient has brought. Healing specialists have an intimate knowledge of plants that can be used medicinally and they apply this knowledge in prescribing and using the plants to heal. This knowledge is based on a complex, indigenous, Nahuatl classification system very similar to the Aztec taxonomy of medicinal plants (Gates 2000). The Aztecs divided plants into four classes, according to their uses: edible, medicinal, ornamental, and economic. However, within each of these larger classes the plants were also described by the way the five senses (touch, sight, smell, taste, and hearing) observed them and it was through these descriptions that the plant was then classified (Gates 2000; Hernández 1942). A very similar classification and taxonomy can still be observed in Amatlán (see Figure 7 and Figure 8, above; and Figure 9, Figure 10, and Figure 11, below).

Figure 9. Plumeria rubra L. A medicinal plant identified by the color of its flowers and the milky latex exuded when cut.
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Figure 10. Nopalea cochenillifera (L.) Salm-Dyck. A medicinal and edible plant grown in people's home gardens.
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Figure 11. Artemisia mexicana Willd. A medicinal plant identified by the color of its leaves; grown in people's home gardens.
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