Book
Curing among the San Blas Kuna of Panama
University Microfilms International • Ann Arbor, Michigan • Published In 1997 • Pages:
By: Chapin, Mac.
Abstract
This dissertation is an ethnographic account of the belief system surrounding disease and curing among the Kuna Indians of the San Blas coast and islands of Panama. The work attempts to describe the system in its own terms '…and to interpret its meaning by attending to the various symbolic, ritual, and social contexts in which it finds expression' (p. xvi). Basically this study strives to understand Kuna theories of disease, its causation, and cure. It is also a key work on cosmology as well as medicine, and tries to correct many confused statements and errors appearing in some of the older literature on the Kuna. The ethnographic data in the text relevant to curing is loosely organized around the progression of events from the initial discovery of the illness, the diagnosis of the disease itself, and the establishment of ways to restore the individual to health. The final chapter of the work is concerned with cultural and social change among the Kuna, with particular emphasis on the island of Ustuppu during the past 70 years.
- HRAF PubDate
- 1999
- Region
- Middle America and the Caribbean
- Sub Region
- Central America
- Document Type
- Book
- Evaluation
- Creator Type
- Ethnologist
- Document Rating
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- Analyst
- John Beierle ; 1998
- Field Date
- 1967-1972, 1975-1976
- Coverage Date
- 1967-1976
- Coverage Place
- San Blas coast and Islands, Panama
- Notes
- by Norman Macpherson Chapin
- UM 8319716
- Includes bibliographical references (p.570-580)
- Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Arizona, 1983
- LCSH
- Cuna Indians