Feb 27 2021 116 mins 7
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About The Show
Today I’m interviewing Vera Duhart – she talks about her family’s Gullah Ancestry and the traditional African American herbalism called Hoodoo.
This interview is really a conversation between two friends and you’re listening in. It's another great interview and I learned so much. I was asked a question, what is herbalism? The listener knew about Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) but didn't know much more than that.
I explained herbalism is a general term and can be a part of folk, traditional and ancestral medicine using plant and naturally grown ingredients such as roots, bark, mushrooms, leaves, flowers, etc., for general health or treating illness. It's also been referred to as folk medicine, a system of knowledge, beliefs, and religious practices related to a particular culture or group.
Think of herbalism as a general term similar to the word medicine. We know there are specialties—orthopedics, neurology, GI, gynecology, etc.
Herbalism is similar – there is Traditional Chinese Medicine or TCM – originating in, yes, China. There is Ayurveda which originated in India. There is Native American etc.
Some traditions, such as western herbalism, are now a blend of many ancient traditions here in the United States. Native American, Shaker, Appalachia, with some old-world European influences.
Because of the intense European colonization, the indigenous people and their tradition(s) either have become extinct or what's left wasn't well documented, and researchers have spent decades filling in the gaps for the rituals and recipes.
Hoodoo Herbalism is one of those traditions that is slowly being lost. Thankfully there are some researchers who have done some research on Hoodoo and other slave medicine traditions.
Vera enlightens us on her Mother's traditions – she also blows my mind with an old recipe that has an ingredient that one would assume was for the spiritual part the healing ritual – but instead actually has healing properties.
Have you ever heard of using cobwebs in your herbal preparation? Well, as you hear neither did I. According to Vera, this was a common ingredient in her Mother and Grandmother's herbal tool kit.
Wanting to learn more, I did some research on this unusual ingredient. I first asked my fellow herbal colleagues at the Herbal Academy. This is an international group, and there are thousands of us attending classes. Using cobwebs for stomach wounds but using it for fevers, the answer was no.
Then I received a message from a woman on the other side of the world who gave me a link to a website mentioning a document from a doctor in 1860. This led me to the original publication called the Dublin Quarterly Journal of Medical Science. A European doctor, by the name of Robert Jackson, wrote about his research on reducing fevers in British Soldiers in the West Indies. One of his experiments was using cobwebs for the purpose to reduce fevers.
On page 259 section N Cob-webs in the section, Dr. Jackson writes that he met the late Dr. Gillespie of Edinburgh who mentioned the use of cobwebs for treating fevers in 1801 with some success. So he decided to do some research to prove Dr. Gillespie's claims.
During this time period, the British were at their height of the slave trade, and The West Indies, especially Barbados had the largest slave harbor in the islands. One can assume, these doctors learned about the benefits of using cobwebs to reduce fevers from the indigenous people on the islands.
Historically we know it was a common practice for researchers to claim credit for other people's work/ideas especially if they are people of color. This appears to be no different.
Reference Websites
Gullah Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gullah#:~:text=The%20Gullah%20(%2F%CB%88%C9%A1%CA%8C,culture%20with%20some%20African%20influence
Hoodoo (Spirituality) Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoodoo_(spirituality)
Sea Islands Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_Islandshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_Islands
Slave Medicine – Herbal Lessons From American History – https://www.motherearthliving.com/health-and-wellness/slave-medicine
Dr. Faith Mitchell on Hoodoo Medicine Website – https://herbsocietyblog.wordpress.com/2020/04/27/dr-faith-mitchell-on-hoodoo-medicine/
Roots of African American Herbalism: Herbal Use By Enslaved Africans – https://theherbalacademy.com/african-american-herbalism-history/
Tela Araneae.—Spider's Web – https://www.henriettes-herb.com/eclectic/kings/tela-aren.html
On Barbados, the First Black Slave Society –
Slavery in the United States Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_the_United_States
Curanderismo: Traditional Healing Using Plants – Course – https://www.coursera.org/learn/curanderismo-plants?fbclid=IwAR02WgbQAFzJEzYRDyieSXIKFiPA5-ABZT2vBWoDS5JVXhE9YtnbMM-aykA
Sketch of the History and Cure of Febrile Diseases, 1817 – Google scholar https://www.google.com/books/edition/Sketch_of_the_History_and_Cure_of_Febril/rloEm2H8ug0C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Sketch+of+History+and+Cure+of+febrile+disease&pg=PA1&printsec=frontcover
How diseases may soon be cured by spider’s webs –
Healing Benefits of Spider Webs –
https://www.nairaland.com/3614894/healing-benefits-spider-webs#53486594
Spider Silk: Wonder Material Used to Heal the Human Body –
https://www.discovery.com/science/spider-silk–wonder-material-used-to-heal-the-human-body
Book Recommendations
(Affiliate links)
Hoodoo Medicine by Faith Mitchell – https://amzn.to/3syuIlr
Folklore of the Sea Islands, South Carolina by Elise Clews Parson https://amzn.to/2ZUtVyT
Life Histories of Edisto Island, South Carolina: Interviews from the files of Federal Writers' Project 1936 to 1940 by Chalmers S. Murray and Margaret Wilkinson – https://amzn.to/3swq07Q
Working The Roots: Over 400 Years of Traditional African-American Healing by Michele E. Lee – https://amzn.to/3sy1SSb
African American Folk Healing by Stephanie Y. Mitchem https://amzn.to/3syvdfj
Cleansing Rites of Curanderismo: Limpias Espirituales of Ancient Mesoamerican Shamans by Erika Buenaflor, MA.,JD https://amzn.to/2Oa23Eh
Healing with Herbs and Rituals A Mexican Tradition by Eliseo “Cheo” Torres https://amzn.to/3q2ongD
Show Sponsor
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There are suggestions on themed gardens such as “A Harry Potter Garden”, “A Young Chef's Garden”, or a “Monarch Butterfly Superhero Garden” for budding Naturalists and places to either sketch or photograph your plants to remember their appearance for the next growing season.
You'll be amazed at how much you will learn by journaling about your garden!
Music
A special thank you to Gene Tullio for writing and producing this music. He has given me special permission to use this song for the show.
Gene's music can be downloaded from Amazon, iTunes, and Spotify. For more information please contact him at [email protected]
Album: The Dreamship| The Forge Of Life| Copyright 2018
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The post 15 Vera Duhart – Gullah Ancestry and Hoodoo Herbalism appeared first on Living and Lovin' Herbs.
