Available online 1 July 2016
- a Museum of Natural Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 2, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
- b Cooperative Extension Service, University of the Virgin Islands, Kingshill, St. Croix, USVI
- c Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology, Universitetsparken 2, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
- Received 16 May 2016, Revised 21 June 2016, Accepted 1 July 2016, Available online 1 July 2016
Abstract
Ethnopharmacological relevance
Hidden
in the documents of the dark past of the trans-Atlantic slavery are
gems of ethnomedicinal observations, supported by herbarium specimens,
which tell of the traditional medicine of a by-gone slave society in the
Caribbean. In the context of the former Danish West Indies (now US
Virgin Islands), we identify pre-1900 medicinal plants and their
historical uses, and trace their status in the traditional medicine of
St. Croix today (2014). By a combined historical and ethnobotanical
approach we assess the scale of loss and preservation of traditional
medicinal knowledge on St. Croix, and explore the drivers involved in
the disappearance of knowledge in the oral tradition of medicine.
Materials and methods
Names, uses and identities of 18th and 19th
century medicinal plant uses in the Danish West Indies were derived
from manuscripts and publications of Von Rohr (1757/58), Oldendorp
(1777), West (1793), Benzon (1822), Riise (1853), Von Eggers (1876;1879)
and Berg and Eggers (1888). The presence of the plant species in the
pre-1900 Danish West Indies was confirmed by review of herbarium
specimens in the University of Copenhagen Herbarium (C). The same
species were collected on St. Croix in 2014 or their ecological status
discussed with local specialists. Semi-structured interviews supported
by photographs and specimens were conducted with six medicinal plant
specialist on St. Croix, to document and compare contemporary names and
uses of the historically used medicinal plants.
Results and discussion
The
historic ethnomedicinal sources revealed 102 medicinal uses of 64 plant
species. Thirty-eight (37%) of the pre-1900 medicinal uses were traced
in interviews, while sixty-four uses (63%) appear to be forgotten,
discontinued or otherwise lost. Thirteen species appear to have entirely
lost their status as medicinal plants on St. Croix, while 32 species
(50%) have lost uses while retaining or gaining others. While 20% of the
lost medicinal plant uses can be explained by biodiversity loss, and
others likely have become obsolete due to advances in public health and
scientific medicine, 33 of the 64 lost medicinal uses of non-rare
species uses fall in the same categories as the preserved uses (fever,
stomach, wound, laxative, pulmonary, intestinal, pain, anthelmintic,
blood purifier, eye-inflammation). We therefore argue that at least half
of the known pre-1900 medicinal plant uses have become culturally
extinct for other reasons than to biodiversity loss or modern
obsoleteness.
Conclusions
The
present study utilized knowledge from an oral medicinal tradition,
documented in the context of a colonial society. Without doubt, basis
for further similar studies exists in the more or less accessible
archives, herbaria and collections of former colonial powers. Such
studies could directly benefit the descendants of the original
intellectual property holders culturally and economically, or serve as
stepping stones to integrate, or re-integrate, lost medicinal plant uses
in both local and wider evidence-based contexts.
Graphical abstract
Keywords
- Historical materia medica;
- Ethnopharmacology;
- Danish West Indies;
- US Virgin Islands;
- Slavery
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