Connecticut Museum of Natural History holds talk on ethnobotany November 7, 2010 - dailycampus.com
On Sunday, the Connecticut Museum of Natural History held a lecture on ethnobotanical medicine featuring Dr. Felix Coe, an associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at UConn.
Ethnobotany is the study of the use of plants by indigenous peoples for medicine and food. It is important, according to Coe, because 70 percent of the drugs we use to treat our illnesses have botanical origins.
Coe, who is from Nicaragua, spoke about the use of plants by one particular tribe, the Rama in eastern Nicaragua. He lived with and observed Rama shamans who practiced traditional medicine. The Rama use 249 different plant species, the majority for medicine. The chemicals produced by these plants are often highly toxic.
For example, alkaloids, which are a common plant product used by the Rama, are a family of chemicals that includes nicotine, cocaine and morphine.
"You can break a cocaine habit faster than a nicotine habit," said Coe, who added that nicotine was used as a pesticide by the Rama. The Rama, as well as other groups, use several methods to turn the plants into medicine.
But this knowledge that indigenous peoples have used for centuries is under threat. Settlement and deforestation is encroaching on the homelands of many groups and pushing them into cities. Many of these peoples are losing their culture. Because of this, the knowledge of these medicines, as well as the plant species themselves, is disappearing. With this loss of culture comes the loss of potential cures for diseases among other uses.
The destruction of indigenous cultures is occurring all over the world. For example, in a report issued by the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, it was mentioned that 90 percent of the worlds languages are estimated to become extinct over the next century. The vast majority of these languages are spoken by indigenous peoples.
The lecture was part of a series presented by the Museum of Natural History. The museum, which is located at UConn between the Co-op and Buckley, hosts several lectures this semester, the next of which comes on Dec. 12.
Sheri Collins, the Program Coordinator and Collection Manager of the Connecticut State Museum of Natural History, said attendance at the museum is increasing and attributes it to some of the topics the museum has selected.
"Just learn a little bit more about the world," Collins said when asked why students should visit the museum. Students have the opportunity to learn something completely outside their major by attending these lectures, she said.
Ashraf Islam, a 5th-semester physiology and biology double major who attended the lecture, enjoyed the topic chosen by the museum.
"It was informative and entertaining," he said. "It helps us focus on the thing that matters, the current state of the world."
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