Herbal & Healing Traditions of Enslaved Africans of the American South

1. Herbal & Healing Traditions of Enslaved Africans of the American South By Njeri Kai Jarvis RD/LDN/GC

2. Who, What, Where

3. The beauty of African American folk medicine • Oneness of Everything • “We Are each other’s Keeper” • Illness is Addressed on a Spiritual Level • Illness is divided into 3 Categories • Natural Origin • Spiritual Illness • Occult Illness • Pharmaceutical Medications are Thought to be Toxic

4. Illness Addressed on a Spiritual Level & Divided in to 3 Levels • Natural Origin Illness cause physical symptoms and can be cured with roots • Spiritual Illness, caused by sin or the devil, usually causes misfortune and physical symptoms and requires the laying on of hands, • Occult Illness can be physical or lifestyle related and a person who has been crossed or hexed cannot fully recover until the spell has been removed. A hoodoo amulet or hand is worn as protection (Mitchell, 1999).

5. Western and African Healing Divide The Beauty of European / Western Medicine • Commonalities • The Divide • Obeah / Voodoo / Conjure • Lack of use of Obeah / Voodoo style healing did not find its way into the broader Western healing arts for numerous reasons • racism, many doctors deemed it quackery; • it was outlawed for the Enslaved Africans to utilize in the Carribean in the 1764 due to it being deemed as a source of inspiration for liberation for the Enslaved African among other things. • Also, because the Obeah / Voodoo practitioners kept their art secret from whites. • Finding Common Ground

6. Consider This • Belief in Monotheistic Religions vs more liberal stances on religion

7. Conjure / Voodoo / Obeah / Santeria Conjour in the America’s • Canboulay/ Candomble / Santeria -  (Yoruba Faith & Catholicism) ........Brazil/Uruguay/Argentina • Canboulay/  Candomble  - (Yoruba Faith & Catholicism) .........................Columbia • Santeria/  Lucumi - (Yoruba Faith & Catholicism)...... ...............................Cuba • Voodoo/ Vodun / (Yoruba & Fon and Kongo Faith & Catholicism)............Haiti • Shango/ Obeah / (Yoruba Faith & Catholicism) ........................................Trinidad • Pocomania/ Rastafarian/ (Yoruba Faith & Anglicanism) ...........................Jamaica • Christianity / Obeah (Yoruba Faith & Anglicanism)  ...........,,,....................Barbados • Christianity.................................................................................................St. Vincent • Christianity.................................................................................................St. Lucia • Christianity (Some Yoruba & AME)............................................................The U. S. A. • www.howard.edu (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. (2017) Candomble

8. Conjur

9. Hidden in Plane Sight • Conjure had to be hidden, and it was often hidden in plain sight: • via children’s stories • Brer Rabbit and Tar baby • Menial Tasks / Chores • Harriet Tubman was a Christian conjure woman • Denmark Vesey of South Carolina - founder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church Harriet Tubman

10. Conjure Herbs Anise Seed Life Everlasting • Anise seed –psychic vision oils and the ability to ward off the evil eye. • Celery Seed - used to make a psychic vision oil • Hyssop – adds power to all types of conjure work. • Life Everlasting - can be added to all healing works. • Solomon’s Seal root – root for wisdom, power and protection in all conjure works. • Spanish Moss – for good or evil conjure work • Apple tree – for truth, luck and wisdom • Motherwort – used in all works dealing with children. • Self-Heal - used in all matters of health • Bay Leaf - shows up a lot in formulas for African American conjure work • Turpentine - shows up a lot in Southern African American herbal tradition. Celery Seed Hyssop Solomon Seal

11. Herbs Used by the Enslaved African of the American south Asafateda • Asafeteda • Turpentine (Pine Tar) • Quinine (Cinchona calisaya) • Sassafras • Garlic Sassafras Cinchona calisaya Motherwort Garlic Bay Leaf Pin Tar Spanish Moss

12. Tools to Incorporate into Western Medicine • 3 Part Focus for Dividing Illness • Vision Work • Herbs as Preventive Therapies • Cermonies as Prescriptions • Animal Totems • Developing Family Materia Medicas and Pharmacopeas and eating together

13. Tools Continued…. Ceremonies, Vision Work

14. Developing a Family Materia Medica & Eating Together

15. Integrating tools into Western Medicine • Centers for Medicare and Medicaid • Reimburse Herbalists • Private Insurers • Reimburse Herbalists • Coverage for Supplements and Herbals • Look to West African Models currently in use

16. Obstacles Inhibiting Integration • Exploitation is the current economic foundation that permeates all aspects of Western and American Culture due to capitalism as its base • Religious Obstacles • Negative connotations given to ritual outside of church Religion

17. References Amjad, Hassan MD (Sourced 10/12/2017). African-American Ethnomedical Botany and Plantation Medicine. Country Doctor and Natural Medicine Newsletter. http://www.jmcnaturalmedicine.com/book-7-ethnobotany.html (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. Bailey, W Cornelia. (2000). God , Dr. Buzzard, and The Bolito Man: A Saltwater Geechee Talks About Life on Sapelo Island, Georgia. New York, NY. Anchor Books/Random House Inc Bankole-Medina, K. (2017). Slavery and Medicine: Enslavement and Medical Practices in Antebellum Louisiana. Washington, DC. Liberated Scholars Press. Casas, Starr. (2017). Old Style Conjure: Hoodoo, Rootwork & Folk Magic. Newburyport, MA. Weiser Books Covey, Herbert C. (2007). African American Slave Medicine. Plymouth, United Kingdom. Lexington Books McTeer, JE. (2014). Fifty Years As A Low Country Doctor. Bloomington, Indiana. Jemco Publishing. Mitchell, Faith. (1999). Hoodoo Medicine: Gullah Herbal Remedies. Columbia, South Carolina. Rodney, Walter. (1972). How Europe Underdeveloped Africa. Baltimore, MD. Black Classic Press Schiebinger, Londa. (2017). Secret Cures of Slaves: People, Plants, and Medicine in the Eighteenth-Century Atlantic World. Stanford, California. Stanford University Press

18. References • Charleston City Paper. (Accessed October 2017). https://www.charlestoncitypaper.com/charleston/chef-bj-dennis-delves-into-his-peoples-gullah-geechee-past-to-inspire-his-future/Content?oid=4202012 (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.http://unityfirst.com/2013/the-kingdom-of-oyotunji-african-village-in-sheldon-south-carolina-survives/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. • iscover South Carolina. (Accessed October 2017) http://discoversouthcarolina.com/articles/how-rice-built-a-lowcountry-legacy (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. • Howard University. www.howard.edu (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. (2017) • University of North Carolina. http://www.docsouth.unc.edu/imls/porcher/porcher.html (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. • Personal Communication • Alamayaho, Hiwot – Amara of Ethiopia. Personal Communication. November 7, 2017 • Demissie, Bethelhem – Amara & Oromo of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Personal Communication, November 7, 2017 • Mensah, Abigail – Ga of Accra Ghana. Personal Communication, November 7, 2017. • Ndidi – Igbo of Nigeria, Personal Communication, November 8, 2017 • Tumasang, Michael – Ngemba of Camaroon, Personal Communication, November 8, 2017 • Makau, Kayiji – Lunda of Congo, Persaonal Communication, November 8, 2017