Mesoamerican Healers

Published by University of Texas Press 2001

Mesoamerican Healers

Edited by: Brad R. Huber and Alan R. Sandstrom

https://doi.org/10.7560/734548

Overview
Contents

About this book

Healing practices in Mesoamerica span a wide range, from traditional folk medicine with roots reaching back into the prehispanic era to westernized biomedicine. These sometimes cooperating, sometimes competing practices have attracted attention from researchers and the public alike, as interest in alternative medicine and holistic healing continues to grow.

Responding to this interest, the essays in this book offer a comprehensive, state-of-the-art survey of Mesoamerican healers and medical practices in Mexico and Guatemala. The first two essays describe the work of prehispanic and colonial healers and show how their roles changed over time. The remaining essays look at contemporary healers, including bonesetters, curers, midwives, nurses, physicians, social workers, and spiritualists. Using a variety of theoretical approaches, the authors examine such topics as the intersection of gender and curing, the recruitment of healers and their training, healers' compensation and workload, types of illnesses treated and recommended treatments, conceptual models used in diagnosis and treatment, and the relationships among healers and between indigenous healers and medical and political authorities.

Author / Editor information

Brad R. Huber is Associate Professor of Anthropology at the College of Charleston. Alan R. Sandstrom is Professor of Anthropology at Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne.

Reviews

This is an important book because there has been a need for an authoritative survey of medical practices in Mesoamerica. This has been an active research area, with widely dispersed reports, and this synthesis will fill a definite need. . . . The various authors are the recognized authorities in their field.

— Bernard Ortiz de Montellano

Since the literature on indigenous medicine in Mexico and Guatemala is rich but dispersed, this volume's value lies precisely in the comprehensive, authoritative, and updated coverage by the 14 contributing authors and the excellent bibliography.

— Choice

The book.... is an excellent textbook for broadening the scope of, for example, classes in ethnobotany and ethnopharmacy. At the same time, it is of course a very useful resource for anyone interested in medical anthropology.

— Journal of Ethnopharmacology

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
List of Tables Publicly Available Download PDF	viii
List of Figures Publicly Available Download PDF	x
Foreword Bernard Ortiz de Montellano Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	xiii
CHAPTER 1 Introduction Brad R. Huber Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
CHAPTER 2 Curers and Their Cures in Colonial New Spain and Guatemala: The Spanish Component Luz María Hernández Sáenz and George M. Foster Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	19
CHAPTER 3 Curanderismo in Mexico and Guatemala Its Historical Evolution from the Sixteenth to the Nineteenth Century Carlos Viesca Treviño Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	47
CHAPTER 4 Central and North Mexican Shamans James W. Dow Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	66
CHAPTER 5 A Comparative Analysis of Southern Mexican and Guatemalan Shamans Frank J. Lipp Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	95
CHAPTER 6 Mistress of Lo Espiritual Kaja Finkler Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	117
CHAPTER 7 Recruitment, Training, and Practice of Indigenous Midwives From the Mexico–United States Border to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec Brad R. Huber and Alan R. Sandstrom Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	139
CHAPTER 8 Maya Midwives of Southern Mexico and Guatemala Sheila Cosminsky Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	179
CHAPTER 9 Relations between Government HealthWorkers and Traditional Midwives in Guatemala Elena Hurtado and Eugenia Sáenz de Tejada Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	211
CHAPTER 10 Mesoamerican Bonesetters Benjamin D. Paul and Clancy McMahon Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	243
CHAPTER 11 Mexican Physicians, Nurses, and SocialWorkers Margaret E. Harrison Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	270
CHAPTER 12 Mesoamerican Healers and Medical Anthropology: Summary and Concluding Remarks Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	307
Glossary Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	331
References Cited Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	335
Contributors to the Volume Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	385
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	389

Language: English
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 419

eBook

Published: January 1, 2010
ISBN: 9780292797963