Review
Pioneers in ethnopharmacology: The Dutch East India Company (VOC) at the Cape from 1650 to 1800
Abstract
The
earliest inhabitants of South Africa are believed to be the Khoi-Khoi
and San peoples, whose knowledge of economic botany is extensive. Their
ethnomedical practice, based on the plant species indigenous to the
region, is an oral tradition and particularly susceptible to disruption.
The culture of both peoples has during the past 350 years come under
increasing threat of extinction, resulting in the likely loss to science
of important ethnomedical knowledge. While written records of Khoi–San
traditional medical practice are preserved in English, they mainly cover
the period from 1800 onward. Earlier written records do exist, but do
not appear to have been adequately screened. The present study was
undertaken in order to complete the historical written record by
critically examining all potential sources of Khoi and San ethnomedical
information, for the years 1650–1800. These sources comprised journals
of exploratory expeditions, herbarium specimens, published academic
works and archival records associated with the activities of the former
Dutch East India Company (VOC) at the Cape. The results of the search
show that the VOC had a great interest in Khoi and San traditional
medicines and attempted to record this knowledge. The VOC archives in
particular represent a largely untapped source of ethnomedical
information with potential application in health care, new drug
development and intellectual property protection.
Keywords
- Dutch East India Company;
- Historical record;
- Khoi–San ethnomedicine;
- South Africa
- Corresponding author. Tel.:
+27 21 794 6000; fax: +27 21 794 7480.
Copyright © 2007 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
