Knowledge and Use of Plant Species by Mayan Indians of Chiapas, Mexico

本提案将通过以下方式描述药用植物的知识和用途： 墨西哥恰帕斯高地的玛雅人。 长期 研究的目的是产生一个详细的比较 被认为具有药用价值的植物物种的清单 高原地区的Tzeltal和Tzotzil土著人民， 确定那些因其 潜在的有益的特性;识别和描述在西方 生物医学术语民间病证， 植物被用于公认的民间疗法;为了发展文本， 准备和管理的录音和录像 植物衍生药物的公认的本土类别， 并出版一本多语种的插图地图集 英文、西班牙文、采尔塔尔文和采尔齐文的民族医学百科全书 比较了民族植物学知识的区域差异， 药用植物的差异分布 物种，民族医学和民族植物学命名法， 所治疗的病痛，以及制备和应用的方法。 这项研究将在国家的积极合作下进行 和恰帕斯州公共卫生服务的当地代表。 的 这项广泛研究的结果将有助于编纂的意义， 土著和非土著人民的传统医学知识 在这种知识的丧失受到严重威胁的时候， 快速的经济和社会变革。这种研究很重要 因为对自然界特定的民间系统的分析有助于我们 了解知识体系的一般情况。

This proposal will describe the knowledge and uses of medical plants by the Mayan peoples of the highlands of Chiapas, Mexico. The long-term objectives of the research are to produce a detailed comparative inventory of those plant species deemed to have medicinal value by the indigenous Tzeltal and Tzotzil peoples of the highland region, and identify those species that merit chemical evaluation because of their potentially beneficial properties; to identify and describe in Western bio-medical terms the folk syndromes of illness for which medicinal plants are employed in recognized folk remedies; to develop textual, audio- and video-taped recordings of the preparation and administration of plant-derived medications for the recognized native categories of affliction and disease; and to publish a multilingual, illustrated atlas and ethnomedical encyclopedia in English, Spanish, Tzeltal and Tzotzil that compares regional variation in ethnobotanical knowledge and uses of medicinal plants as reflected in the differential distribution of plant species, ethnomedical and ethnobotanical nomenclature, type of affliction treated, and methods of preparation and application. The research will be conducted with the active collaboration of state and local representatives of the Chiapas Public Health Service. The results of this broad study will serve to codify the significance of traditional medical knowledge for both indigenous and non-native peoples at a time when the loss of this knowledge is seriously threatened by rapid economic and social change. This type of research is important because the analysis of specific folk systems of nature helps us to understand knowlege systems in general.