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||Laboratories of Ethnobiology
Research Activities
My research over the last five years has been devoted to long-term ethnobiological research among the Highland Maya of Chiapas, Mexico. In addition to this work, I continue to be engaged in research on language evolution (especially the nature of sound symbolism) and the development of pedagogical materials for use in teaching Tzeltal Maya.The research on Maya ethnobiology has two major foci: 1) medical ethnobotany (in collaboration with Elois Ann Berlin) and 2) etnnobotanical survey of the Central Chiapas Plateau. This research is on-going and has received generous support from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the US Department of Agriculture, El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, and the University of Georgia Foundation, Graham Perdue Professorship.
Medical Ethnobotany: We are making pogress on what is now called La Herbolaria Tzeltal-Tzotzil [Tzeltal-Tzotzil Herbology]. This extensive record of the ethnopharmacopoeia will document the complex indigenous formulary of Highland Maya herbal remedies. Each ethnomedical formula discovered to have wide distribution throughout the Highlands will be included in this encyclopedic treatment of Maya herbal medicine. A standard form of presentation (in Tzeltal, Tzotzil, and Spanish) will be followed throughout, providing information on illness treated, ingredients of formulary, culturally attributed relative “strength” of the medication, action of the remedy, details of modes of preparation and application, and conditions for care of patient when undergoing medication, if applicable. It is envisaged that a statement on pharmacological properties of the remedy, based on a survey of the literature and, eventually, experimental data derived directly from bioassay work will be included. In addition to this regional survey, we aim to make available popular manuals on Tzeltal and Tzotzil ethnomedicine and ethnobotany to be used in the Maya communities of the Highlands of Chiapas. The first volume in this on-going series, Manual Etnomédica y Herbolaria de Oxchuc, has recently appeared and has been well received by local Maya communities (see publications of Laboratories of Ethnobiology). Comparable volumes are envisaged for other municipalities within the highland region...
Ethnobotanical Survey of the Chiapas Central Highlands:The ethnobotanical complexity of the Highlands of Chiapas is as great as anywhere in Mexico, and perhaps all of Central America. This is due to the convergence of remarkable cultural and linguistic diversity in one of the most biologically rich regions of the earth with an estimated inventory of 6000 species of vascular plants. It is a major challenge to describe this diversity in a volume that makes a major scientific contribution and at the same time addresses the important need to make these data available to the native peoples of the area. The developing is a major challengeEtnoflora de los Altos de Chiapas will not be organized as a traditional floristic monograph although all basic information usually contained in regional flora will be included in its several volumes. Standard botanical descriptions will be provided for each species but all descriptions will be also appear in at least two of the three major languages of the region, Tzeltal, Tzotzil, and Tojolabal. Dialectal differences will be noted (when known), especially as regards regional variations in plant nomenclature. For those species with medicinal value, the most commonly attested formulae associated with preparation, application, dosage, and general behavioral restrictions during treatment will be included. All species will be accompanied by a botanical illustration prepared by our Tzotzil botanical illustrator, Nicolás Hernández Ruíz (see sample illustrations on website).
Language Evolution and Sound Symbolism: My work on sound symbolism is seen most recently in the papers “Evidence for Pervasive Synesthetic Sound Symbolism in Ethnozoological Nomenclature” In Current State of Studies in Sound Symbolism. (1994), L. Hinton, J. Nichols, and J. Ohala (eds.). and “Words for Tapir and Squirrel in South American Indian Languages” In Glaco Sanga and Marta Maddalon, Venice Round Table on Nature Knowledge (2000) and “Size-sound symbolism in the fish nomenclature of the world” (paper presented at the Venice conference on Animal Names and Sybmolism, October 2003). This research forms part of renewed research into the role that sound symbolism plays in language evolution. One of my immediate projects is to work with researchers here at UGA involved with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and magneto-encephalography (MEG) studies with the specific aim of aim of developing experimental techniques that will allow us to examine brain activity related to tasks involving sound symbolic language and thought. This work will be carried out as part of my involvement in the new Biological and Health Sciences Institute at UGA. The basic hypotheses underlying this work have been proposed independently in recent studies by by S. K. Ramachandran & E. M Hubbard “Synaesthesia: a window into perception, thought, and language” (Journal of Consciousness Studies, Vol 8 No 12, pp 3-34, 2001,) and “Hearing colors, tasting shapes:” Scientific American, Vol 288 No. 5, pp. 52-59, 2002).
Nutritional and Health Status as indicators of adaptation in the Peruvian Amazon: During the decade of the 1970s I participated in interdisciplinary research in Amazonian Peru where my work focused on the adaptive strategies of two American Indian populations, the Aguaruna, Huambisa, and Peruvian migrant colonists. I was particularly interested in understanding their use of natural resources for food and medicine and reflected in their nutritional and health status. In an era when national governments were promoting colonization of the Amazon by land-poor highland peasants, there was an urgency among anthropologists to gain some understanding of indigenous interactions with their environments. Beyond broader theoretical issues, there were two general goals: 1) to document the biological diversity of the region 2) to understand the role of indigenous populations as stewards of that diversity. A long-term aim of these endeavors was to ameliorate the negative impact of resettlement and development projects on the indigenous peoples of the region as a result of the destruction of tropical forest ecosystems.The scientific basis of cultural systems of knowledge: Since the 1980s I have participated in a series of research projects among the Highland Maya of Chiapas Mexico. This work has included dietary studies with special emphasis on non-cultivated food resources. However, the primary focus has been on the Highland Maya ethnomedical system.
The anthropological endeavor in relation to folk medical systems has historically been fractional. For the most part, small pieces of exotica have been broken off from the larger body of knowledge and subjected to cultural analysis. I believe that folk systems represent complex bodies of knowledge that are based on an understanding of the human body and the insults that produce illness and disease, as well as appropriate palliative and curative responses that are grounded in culture and tested in biology. My work with Brent Berlin (see selected publications) has been devoted to study of the Highland Maya ethnomedical system to test these propositions, focusing specifically on the ways that the Highland Maya utilize medicinal plants for the maintenance of health and the curing of disease.
Human Variation and Health: The Hispanic/Latino population of the State of Georgia has more than tripled in the last 10 years. They are joining the ranks of the African American minorities and other underserved populations of the State. Among the health problems that both of these groups face are rapidly rising cancer rates. I have been invited to participate in a collaborative research project that forms part the University of Georgia's Cancer Center of Excellence to address these issues. It is our goal to enrich the new Center by wedding the theories and methods of social science with those of biomedical science, focusing specifically on ethnic and minority populations. Our own work will provide ethnographic descriptions of Hispanic/Latino and African America populations by county-wide survey, focusing on language, culture, ethnicity, socio-economic profile, health status, knowledge, beliefs, and behaviors related to various cancer risks, screenings, as well as treatment options. We will interface with health care providers and institutions to make recommendations and to facilitate and promote culturally and ethnically appropriate health care. Our approach will include research and training with many opportunities for both graduate and undergraduate students to participate.
