essay

The shaman who defeated etsá sickness (smallpox): traditional Huichol medicine in the twentieth century

People of the peyote: Huichol Indian history, religion, & survivalAlbuquerquePublished In 1996 • Pages: 208-231

By: Casillas Romo, Armando, Chávez, Carlos.

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This ethnolinguistic study looks at ways the Huichol classify disease and employ remedial therapeutics. It shows that the Huichol use suffixes and prefixes that convey specific states of malaise or illness, be they physical, mental, or spiritual. These are used in conjunction with words identifying the nature or origin of several categories of illness. Huichol healing methods involve the use of a range of herbal medicine in combination with practical therapeutics of shamans and the direct participation of the gods, the ancestors, patients’ families, the patients themselves, and potent places and objects. (For non-English terms see Schaefer [1996] "Glossary." For references cited see Schaefer and Furst [1996] "Bibliography.")
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Theory of disease
Morbidity
Shamans and psychotherapists
Medical therapy
Revelation and divination
Prayers and sacrifices
Animism
Cult of the dead
Pharmaceuticals
Ethnoanatomy
cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Huichol
HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
2016
RegionThe area the document pertains to
Middle America and the Caribbean
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
Northern Mexico
Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
essay
Evaluation
Creator TypesThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
Physician
Anthropologist
Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
4: Excellent Secondary Data
5: Excellent Primary Data
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
Teferi Abate Adem ; 2015
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
no date given
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
1965-1970
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
southern Sierra Madre Occidental (Nayarit, Jalisco, Durango, and Zacatecas), Mexico
NotesAdditional notes
Armando Casillas Romo, M.D., in collaboration with Carlos Chávez
for bibliographical references see document 23: [Schaefer and Furst]
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
95032453
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Huichol Indians