Dissertation Research: Cultural and Biological Significance of Indigenous Ethnomedicine in Kalimantan, Indonesia

这个项目涉及一位来自夏威夷大学人类学学生的论文研究。 学生将研究印度尼西亚加里曼丹传统社区的民族医学和民族植物学知识的性质。 结合文化和生物人类学和自然科学的方法，学生将与当地土著居民进行结构化和非结构化的采访，收集药用植物的凭证标本，并对植物进行植物化学分析。 有待检验的一个主要假设是，具有强烈化学感受特性（鲜艳的颜色，苦味，辛辣的香气）的植物将被象征性地解释和青睐的药物。 其结果将是一个深入的土著系统使用天然森林项目在愈合的图片，并将作为一个宝贵的案例研究的一种形式的知识，是在消失的危险沿着其热带森林栖息地。 我们知识的进步将有助于当地规划者设计文化上适当的保健服务，并将成为另一个案例，以提高我们对如何向对健康因果关系和治疗有不同理解的传统民族提供生物医学保健服务的一般理解。 最后，像这样的研究总是有可能发现一种新的有价值的疾病治疗药物。

This project involves the dissertation research of an anthropology student from the University of Hawaii. The student will investigate the nature of the ethnomedical and ethnobotanical knowledge of a traditional community in Kalimantan, Indonesia. Combining methods from cultural and biological anthropology and natural science, the student will conduct structured and unstructured interviews with local indigenous people, collect voucher specimens of medicinal plants, and do phytochemical analysis of the plants. A major hypothesis to be tested is that plants with strong chemosensory properties (bright color, bitter flavor, pungent aroma) will be symbolically interpreted and favored for medicines. The results will be an in-depth picture of the indigenous system for using natural forest projects in healing, and will serve as a valuable case study of a form of knowledge that is in danger of disappearing along with its tropical forest habitat. The advance in our knowledge will be useful to local planners in designing culturally appropriate health services, and will be an additional case available to improve our general understanding of how to deliver biomedical health services to traditional peoples with different understandings of health causality and treatment. Finally, there is always the possibility that a study such as this will discover a new and valuable drug treatment for disease.