Norma Inés Hilgert

Dyeing plants and knowledge transfer in the Yungas communities of Northwest Argentina.

Dyeing Plants and Knowledge Transfer in the Yungas Communities of Northwest Argentina. In the Yungas region of the Salta province, Argentina, interest in the use of plant dyes has revived due to new market demands and the growth of rural tourism. In this study we compare the use of dyeing plants recorded between 1994 and 2000 with those used in 2007 and 2008. We also address factors currently involved in the acquisition and transmission of knowledge. We worked with 39 randomly chosen participants (of which 11 were artisans) in the first stage, and 32 artisans in the second stage. Information was gathered during semi–structured interviews and structured questionnaires. Eleven and 57 dye plant species, and 10 and 2 mordants, were registered in the first and second stage, respectively. The use of soft plant parts has increased, relative to the employment of roots and barks. Pastels predominate among the colors obtained. Mothers are the main transmitters of this knowledge; however, new mechanisms of knowledge acquisition and transfer are gaining importance. These results provide an alternative for the diversification and quality of existing crafts.AbstractPlantas tintóreas y transmisión del conocimiento en comunidades de Yungas del Noroeste Argentino. En las Yungas de la provincia de Salta, Argentina, ha resurgido el interés por el uso de tintes vegetales debido a nuevas demandas del mercado y al turismo rural. Se compara el uso de plantas tintóreas registrado entre 1994 y 2000 con las empleadas en el 2007 y 2008. Se analizan los factores que actualmente intervienen en la adquisición y transmisión del conocimiento. En una primera etapa se trabajó con 39 personas elegidas al azar (11 de las cuales eran artesanas) y en una segunda con 32 artesanas. Se realizaron entrevistas semiestructuradas y estructuradas. Se detectaron 11 y 57 especies tintóreas, 10 y 2 mordientes, en el primer y segundo período respectivamente. Ha aumentado el uso de órganos blandos en relación al de raíces y cortezas. Los colores obtenidos son pasteles en su mayoría. Se halló que las madres son las principales transmisoras de estos conocimientos, no obstante, actualmente cobraron importancia nuevos mecanismos de adquisición y transmisión. La aplicación de los resultados de este estudio puede proveer alternativas para la diversificación y la calidad de las artesanías actuales.

Medicinal Plant Diversity and Inter-Cultural Interactions between Indigenous Guarani, Criollos and Polish Migrants in the Subtropics of Argentina

Numerous studies highlight the importance of phytotherapy for indigenous and non-indigenous people in different parts of the world. In this work we analyze the richness (number of species), diversity (plant identity and the number of illnesses for which it is used) and similarity of plant species and illnesses treated with them, in order to contribute new data and insight into the importance of plant medicines to the local medical systems of people living in Misiones province, in the subtropics of Argentina. Three sympatric groups were compared: Guarani Indians, Criollos (mestizos) and Polish migrants. Quantitative scrutiny was focused on both primary and secondary sources. The similarity and diversity of medicinal plants and uses between groups was calculated by applying the Sørensen quantitative coefficient and the Shannon-Wiener index, respectively. In order to identify the characteristic plant species used by each group, the Cultural Importance and Prevalence Value (CIPV) was calculated based on the species Indicator Value (IndVal), which combines a species relative abundance with its relative frequency of occurrence in the various groups, and modified according to the type of the analyzed data. The important finding is a great variation in the number of species used by the study groups. Altogether, 509 botanical species were registered: Guarani (397), Criollos (243) and Polish migrants (137). For all groups, the use of native medicinal plants prevailed. The Guarani appear to be the local experts in use of medicinal plants. There is the significant difference in the number of treated illnesses by each taxon among three groups. Criollos and Polish migrants exhibit the greatest similarity in illnesses treated with medicinal plants. These groups share a corpus of knowledge related to illness nosology, and have a symptomatic approach to illness treatment. The Guarani have an etiological approach to illness diagnosis and healing, which may be viewed as a barrier to the exchange of knowledge about home medicine with other ethnic groups of Misiones.

What the Iberian conquest bequeathed to us: the fruit trees introduced in Argentine subtropic - their history and importance in present traditional medicine.

This contribution presents information about the history of introduction, establishment, and local appropriation of Eurasian fruit trees—species and varieties of the genera Prunus and Citrus—from 15th century in two rural areas of Northern Argentina. By means of an ethnobotanical and ethnohistorical approach, our study was aimed at analysing how this process influenced local medicine and the design of cultural landscape that they are still part of. As a first step, local diversity, knowledge, and management practices of these fruit tree species were surveyed. In a second moment, medicinal properties attributed to them were documented. A historical literature was consulted referring to different aspects on introduction of peaches and citric species into America and their uses in the past. The appropriation of these fruit-trees gave place to new applications and a particular status for introduced species that are seen as identitary and contribute to the definition of the communities and daily life landscapes. Besides, these plants, introduced in a relatively short period and with written record, allow the researcher to understand and to design landscape domestication, as a multidimensional result of physical, social, and symbolic environment.