One of the most ethnically diverse countries in the world, Colombia is nestled in the northwest corner of South America. Nearly 70 languages and dialects are spoken in Colombia, many of which are indigenous, ethnic languages that may date back to the first inhabitants of the region around 12,000 BCE. Once a mostly agricultural society, Colombia experienced a large migration in the mid-1950s to urban centers and is now a majority urbanized country in Latin America. Along with the rural migration to cities, Colombians of all backgrounds brought with them the techniques of traditional healing in Colombia.
Passed down through ages, these traditional healing methods provide a substantive healthcare framework that can not only help further modern medicine, but this can then be used to give back to the indigenous people in Colombia for greater care in preventing and treating illness.
The History of Traditional Healing in Colombia
As in much of the world, Colombia’s history begins far before colonization by Western cultures. Beginning around 14,500 years ago, nomadic hunter-gatherers began to settle or at least begin living on the land southwest of modern-day Bogotá, in the Magdalena River Valley. In this land rich and fertile from the Amazon basin and Andes mountains, agricultural civilization grew and flourished there.
Then came the Spanish conquistadors and colonization, which brought exotic diseases to the people of the region. In that time when Columbus, Ojeda and Balboa are exploring and charting new lands for the crown of Spain, Colombians’ perspective on health was challenged, as disease prevention ingrained in their culture. The Colombians (named in honor of Columbus himself) practice many prescriptive health mores:
- the use of wearing amulets for health and safety,
- have positive rituals performed by the tribes and taitas (or, shamans) to ward off bad spirits that could cause illness, and
- other such social, nutritional and religious controls to limit exposure to sickness and disease.
Unfortunately, this does not spare the Colombians from massive loss of life and struggle as they coped with the newcomers.
Over the next five hundred years, Colombians have settled into a mixed ethnic culture. While the more spiritual components of their healing traditions have been overtaken by Catholicism, they still have practices that mix their ancient and modern spiritual beliefs together.
Components of Traditional Healing in Colombia
Historically, indigenous Colombians had many explanations for illness and disease. According to a paper published by the Human Genetics Institute from the Javeriana Pontifical University in 1993,
In the studied communities people believe disease happens as a result of combined natural and supernatural events. It is generally attribute to main sources: a) envy and hatred which embodied themselves in a curse given by a wizard; b) foreigners contamination; c) the loss of some of human shadows (they believe each person has four shadows that work in a similar way to energetic fields or anima); d) weather conditions like rainbow, rain, cold or heat; e) feminine bleedings; f) inadequate social and sexual behaviors; g) nature damages done by men. In most of the groups, blows, bites, and punctures are considered as accidents and therefore they are no related to supernatural causes.
From this paper, one learns that sicknesses are dealt with in escalating stages. For common ailments, herbalism and other household treatments are used, that were learned by trial-and-error over generations. If it is more serious, then the patient is brought to a midwife or healer, then to a taita. And, in modern times, if it is still more serious, the ill are taken to emergency services in the state health system. This means that the vast majority of ailments suffered by Colombians are treated and cured by traditional healing in Colombia, before allopathic medicine is used.
In this way, traditional healing in Colombia is quite common among other traditional medicines of other ancient global cultures. The uniqueness is the rich variety of medicinal plants in Colombia because of its proximity to the Amazon Rainforest. It is host to approximately 10% of the world’s biodiversity and 50,000 plant species, according to the Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine’s study, “Folk medicine in the northern coast of Colombia: an overview.” With around 30 distinct uses—including flu symptoms, gastro-intestinal issues, skin problems such as pruritus, respiratory inflammation, and other common ailments—of these freshly-sourced plants from the uncultivated region.
Some interesting plants and their uses are:
- The use of coca tea, made from coca leaves, as a medicinal tea for altitude sickness. It contains small traces of the alkaloid, cocaine, which is why it is illegal in the United States. (Fun fact: Coca-Cola used coca leaf extracts in its beverage recipe until 1903.)
- For skin irritation, inflammation and conditions (such as acne/pimples), the use of calendula (wild marigold) is popular. Not exclusive to Colombia, calendula is also the popular skin dressing treatment of American Civil War nurses for wounds.
- Another wildflower common to many regions of North and South American, dandelion is used for stomach irritations.
- Another stomach irritation cure and to help with skin burns and other skin maladies, aloe is the go-to medicine for traditional healers. Aloe vera is the most commonly known flowering succulent plant in the more than 500 species in the genus Aloe.
This is just a small sample of the 30 plus plants researched by interviewed over 1,200 Colombian traditional healers in the above study.
Integrating Traditional Healing in Colombia Today
In the research, it is highlighted that government health systems embracing cultural understanding and setting aside prejudice are two important factors in working to develop a greater understanding of how traditional healing in Colombia can benefit all.
Further from the group of researchers who studied and wrote, “Folk medicine in the northern coast of Colombia: an overview” above, they give insight into how traditional healing in Colombia can benefit modern medicine today.
The main goal of ethnopharmacology is to identify novel compounds derived from plants and animals for use in indigenous medical systems. This knowledge can be used in the development of new pharmaceuticals. Most of the literature in ethnopharmacology describes medicinal plants used by people who have lived in the same ecological region for many generations. Ethnopharmacologists seek ways to improve the ethnomedical systems of the people whom they study by testing indigenous medicines for efficacy and toxicity. Through this kind of work, ethnopharmacology has contributed to the discovery of many important plant-derived drugs.
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Do you have traditional home remedies that you use to cure minor ailments, similar to traditional healing in Colombia? Where did yours originate? Did they come from your ethnic or cultural heritage? Let me know in the comments!