anthrowithlee

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The Ainu are an Indigenous people of Hokkaido in Japan, and the Sakhalin and Kuril Islands of Russia. DNA evidence demonstrates that the Ainu are direct descendants of the Jōmon, an ancient people who inhabited Japan and the Russian Archipelago for at least 12,000 years. The garment being worn by the woman pictured, called an attush, was spun from the inner bark of an elm tree and salmon skin. Her necklaces of metal plates and glass balls, called rektunpe, were also designed to protect from spirits attempting to enter the body. Tattooing was common in Ainu culture, and was strictly reserved for women. The tattoo process would begin as one small spot above the upper lip when a girl was about six years of age. As they grow older, the tattoo is expanded as a line which curves towards the ears, which is later filled with colour. The pain experienced throughout this process was thought to help prepare the woman for the pain of childbirth. A completed lip tattoo represented that a woman had reached maturity, and helped to prevent spirits from entering the body through the mouth. The tattooing process was done with a traditional knife-like instrument called a makiri. Before the invention of this tool, razor sharp obsidian points were used which were wound with a fiber to control the depth of the incision. As the cutting intensified, blood was wiped away with a cloth saturated in nire, a natural antiseptic procured from hot ash wood or spindlewood. Dark black soot was then rubbed deep into the wound as the woman’s tattooist (usually her aunt or grandmother) sung a yukar, a portion of an epic poem which said: “Even without it, she is beautiful. The tattoo around her lips, how brilliant it is. It can only be wondered at.” Afterward, the tattooist recited a spell or formula as more pigment was laid into the skin: “pas ci-yay, roski, roski, pas ren-ren”, meaning “soot enclosed remain, soot sink in, sink in.”

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Click here to see the sources used!

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Cerasee brewed.

~ taken from google.

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Cerasee tea bags.

~ taken from google.

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The cerasee plant.

~ taken from google.

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Brief historic background on Folk/traditional Medicine.

Creolization has been a major influence on the development of the Traditional Knowledge System (TKS), the process can be found in the Caribbean, Latin America and North America, in which New and Old-World cultures collided and came to co-exist through colonization, forced transportation and chattel slavery (Picking et al, 2019). The practice of plants in religious ceremonies, rituals and as medicine (the extent of which is unknown) traces back to region’s earliest inhabitants – the Taino. Furthermore, a significant proportion of the Jamaican population has relied on different forms of traditional, several of which are deeply rooted in aspects of African religious practices, healing and spiritual protection (Picking et al). In addition to this, the extensive research on the use of plant-based medicine and surveys reporting the use of herbal teas has enabled the World Health Organization (2002) to estimate that around 80% of the population in developing counties use traditional herbal medicine for healthcare (Picking et al, 2011).

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How do Jamaicans view folk/traditional medicine: Cerasee Tea

In this study, eight individuals were interviewed, all being from various age groups ranging from 19-65. As stated by Picking et al (2019), historically, a vast majority of the Jamaican population has relied on traditional medicine (TM) and today, 73% of Jamaicans self-medicate with plant-based medicines. When asked, all of the participants reported that they were introduced to the use of cerasee by their parents who were also introduced to the herb by their parents as well and so on. The tea is infamously regarded as bitter, which the interviewees collectively emphasized and some jokingly expressed that it made their “trips to the bathroom” more frequent. So why would they subject themselves to this practice? They are of the belief that it works, most of interviewees stated that in minutes of drinking the cerasee tea their menstrual pains, stomach aches would be alleviated and fever would be reduced. Essentially they all shared the same sentiments with the exception of two participants.

One participant recalls her mother giving her cerasee tea to drink when she was younger. She states that she was sick but after having drunk the tea she did not feel any better than before. The participant continued to state that she drunk the tea a few times afterwards when she started to menstruate but now she uses painkillers and other non-traditional medicines. When asked if she would pass the tradition of this folk remedy onto her children she said no, as there she feels there are other ways deal with those ailments than “going through that.” Another participant revealed that she was introduced to cerasee tea as a means to purge/detox her blood from her great-grand mother. She continued to express that she really does not think it has any noticeable effect on her but she still indulge in the practice of drinking it from time to time.

When it came to the accessibility of the herb, four participants (three of which are a part of the Jamaican Diaspora) reported that they would still drink the tea if only they had access to it. When probed further, one of participants mentioned that even though she would still consume the tea (if only she had access to it) it is not a tradition she would necessarily pass on to her children. Her reason also being that there will likely be even more advance medicine available at that time. However, two participants reported that they actively sought out the plant. The participant currently living in New York expressed that “I will forever drink it,” and that she has even resorted to buying cerasee tea bags and says that whenever she comes back home to Jamaica she ensures that she drinks it at least once. She further, commented that as a teenager she experienced terrible menstrual pains and her mother would give it to her ease the pain, which she noted did work and continued to drink after she was diagnosed with diabetes. The participant also revealed that despite sharing this herbal tradition with her son that he no longer practices it and instead resorts to more non-traditional types of medicine.  

One interviewee states that she observed her parents and grandparents drinking cerasee growing up. She recalled her father giving her and her brother the brew as a means to detox their bodies. When she started to menstruate she recalls her mother alternating between giving her cerasee tea and another folk remedy tea known as dog’s blood to aid with menstrual pains. She comments that tea has been rather helpful for her and is a tradition she will most definitely pass on to her children. The last interviewee reported that her mother would give her cerasee tea for numerous reasons when she was younger – ‘wash-out,’ fevers, and to help with menstrual pains. After giving birth to her second child the interviewee revealed that during one of her regular check-ups, her doctor diagnosed her with diabetes. The participant states that after being diagnosed she remembered that her mother would drink the herbal tea herself to lower her diabetic level and as such she drinks it “every now and then” while also taking her diabetic medication as prescribed by her doctor. She commented that her eldest daughter seldom drinks cerasee tea even now as an adult but her youngest daughter “flat out refuses to even take a sip.”  

The fieldwork by Payne-Jackson and Alleyne provides a useful snapshot of healthcare provision and health behaviours in contemporary Jamaica as reported by Picking et al (2019). Jamaicans surveyed typically seeks the advice of a medical doctor for an initial diagnosis, but often follow a subsequent course of treatment combining the use of both pharmaceutical drugs and plant-based medicines. In the study done, it is noted that paramount to the development of the Traditional Knowledge System and Traditional medicine is the island’s abundant endemic and native flora and the introduction of significant numbers of plant species by the Taino, Spanish, Africans, British and Asians, giving rise to a settlement vegetation that is unique to Jamaica.

It can be concluded that the practice of folk or traditional medicine originated as a result of the region’s multicultural history. Furthermore, the practice of folk medicine is more prevalent among the older Jamaicans with little or no practice among younger Jamaicans. In addition, there are those individuals who combine the practice of folk remedies with modern medicine. Overall, what this research has illustrated is that the younger Jamaicans are more likely to consult modern medicinal practices than traditional ones.  

#anthropology #jamaican #cerasee #bushtea

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The Mother of Bush Tea: How relevant are Folk remedies to younger Jamaicans?

“Nature itself is the best physician – Hippocrates.”  Folk medicine or remedies is the treatment of ailments outside clinical medicine by remedies or simple measures based on the experience and knowledge passed down from generation to generation. The practice of folk medicine originates from “superstitions”, cultural traditions and the observed use of native plant-derived remedies; one such herb being Cerasee. The plant cerasee is native to Africa and the Middle East. When boiled, it is drunk to reduce fever and colds, menstrual and abdominal pains, diabetes and purges the body and blood (Grant, 2016). Many Jamaican and Caribbean natives’ alike use cerasee for the various reasons aforementioned, thus, allowing one to make the conclusion that the practice of drinking cerasee tea has transcended generations. However, as a multitude of different detox tea flood the market in day and age of Instagram models and pharmaceuticals become more advanced, it poses the question of how relevant folk remedies such as cerasee tea really is?  Therefore, as the newer generations become more disenchanted with traditional practices it seems that use of folk remedies – in this case drinking of cerasee tea – is mainly practiced by older individuals with few retention among younger individuals.

#cerasee folkmedicine folkremedies bushtea Jamaican