The initial goal was to find treatments for the three most recurrent illnesses of the Pataxó Hã-Hã-Hãi people, from the Caramuru/Paraguassu Indigenous Land, in southern Bahia: worms, diabetes, and hypertension.
This is how the research by ethno-botanist Hemerson Dantas dos Santos Pataxó Hãhãhãi began, who—as his name indicates—belongs to the ethnicity and is a PhD candidate at the Institute of Environmental, Chemical, and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the Federal University of São Paulo (Unifesp).
Later, within the formal scope of academic research, Hemerson expanded his study and cataloged 175 medicinal plants used by his people. The intention was to recover ancestral knowledge about the use of these plants, lost over time.
Among the various discoveries during the research, Hemerson found that, curiously, many of the medicinal plants used are exotic species, introduced later to the territory.
For the researcher, this demonstrates the fragmentation and forced displacement of the original population, accompanied by environmental devastation, actions by land grabbers, and the installation of large farms.
The history of the indigenous land, the territory of Hemerson’s research, is indeed tumultuous. Also known as Caramuru/Paraguassu Indigenous Land, it spans 54,105 hectares. In 1926, it was designated an indigenous reserve by the then Indian Protection Service (SPI).
In the 1940s, with the expansion of cocoa cultivation, the lands were invaded by farmers, expelling much of the indigenous population from the area. In the 1970s, the Bahia government even extinguished the reserve and granted property titles to the invaders.
Conflicts
In the early 1980s, the National Indian Foundation (Funai), after a long legal battle in the courts, managed to have the lands recognized again for the indigenous people, which did not prevent land conflicts in the region to this day.
“Much of the forest cover has been lost today, turned into pasture. And with that, many of the plants mentioned by the village elders were very difficult to locate and others have even disappeared,” said Hemerson, commenting on the main difficulties he faced during the research.
“When they returned in the 1980s, many things had changed, the whole landscape, so there was no more forest, now only pasture, the plants were lost. So, what was interesting, which he (Hemerson) mentions a lot, was to come into contact with this knowledge about those plants from the past, from the elders, who knew the plants that existed in the forests before the expulsion in the 1940s, and to become aware that it was the knowledge of these elders,” added Eliana Rodrigues, the PhD candidate’s advisor in the research.
Regarding the study’s results proper, the researcher discovered 43 plants used to treat three illnesses—diabetes, worms, and hypertension. The most common for worms is mastruz. For combating diabetes, moringa, and for hypertension, the indigenous people resort to capim-cidreira.
Additionally, the investigation verified that 79% of the 175 plants researched have uses in accordance with findings from recent scientific literature.
Eliana highlighted that the work not only represents the recording of his people’s knowledge: “But it is also rescuing it.” According to Eliana, much of the past knowledge was lost, but much of what was preserved remains, as can be seen in the study.
“Hemerson is the world’s first ethnobotanical researcher,” said Eliana about the relations between the indigenous researcher and his research object.
Peoples and Plants
The term “ethnobotanical,” in fact, refers to the science that describes the relationship between different peoples and their plants. “It records knowledge about certain cultures regarding their plants and uses, for any purpose, such as medicinal, food, civil and naval construction, for anything,” explains Eliana.
Hemerson’s research findings are expected to result in a book about the research, another with recipes for the safe use of the plants, and an audiovisual. Additionally, a plant nursery was established in a village for use by the local population.
“They are already developing seedlings in the nursery to distribute them among the indigenous people who live in those nearby villages, in addition to Hemerson’s village,” added the advisor.
Source: Agência Brasil