H
aving kidney problems? Just find a “menguilie” plant, boil it, and drink the tea three times a day.
This was one of the facts I learned from a fascinating lecture given by C. Ray Brassieur, a professor of anthropology at ULL. The presentation, titled “South Louisiana Traditional Healing Practices,” was held a few days ago at the Jeanerette Museum. The venue was packed.
Folk healing, or ethnomedicine, is certainly not limited to our area, but here, it took on unique characteristics. The French, Spanish, Acadians, and African-Americans all brought to Louisiana their own knowledge on this subject. To it, they added what they learned from the indigenous Native Americans, particularly the use of medicinal herbs and plants.
Brassieur explained that “… all cultures have health and healing systems and that traditional knowledge is passed down generation to generation.”
The local folk healers, or “traiteurs,” generally use prayers that are rooted in Catholicism to help people afflicted with different ailments. These healers regard themselves as vessels of the Almighty, who provides them with their healing powers. And when needed, plants and poultices are also utilized.
Usually no payment is expected or given for these treatments.
“If someone is hurting … the traiteur will help that person and cross any racial or ethnic barrier,” Brassieur said.
Before the advent of modern medicine, many people in rural Louisiana sought out traiteurs for all but the most serious diseases. This custom continued well into the twentieth century.
A linguist and researcher from St. Martinville, Charles Bienvenue compiled a great deal of information about folk healers and their practices. These studies were done in the 1930s mainly in French-speaking black communities along the Bayou Teche.
Bienvenue conversed in Creole French with these traiteurs while observing their healing rituals. He paid particular attention, however, to the curative plants that grew locally.
He discovered, for example, that copal leaves were used to alleviate headaches. Teas made from goat weed and mallow root eliminated chills and whooping cough respectively. Snake bites were dealt with by binding a string with nine strands, some black tobacco and salt near the wound.
Other treatments included bitter melon or gourd to control stomach cramps and utilizing okra to stop vomiting. Some plants were combined to treat illnesses and even shots of whiskey were often prescribed.
Brassieur remarked, “Different traiteurs used different approaches to cure ailments. This was all part of a complex healing system.”
Additionally, edible plants and vegetables like beets, corn, garlic, and sweet potatoes were relied upon much like supplements are used today.
Even though the number of active traiteurs has declined, their use of medicinal plants has opened up new levels of research. Botanists and other scientists are currently investigating the curative properties of these plants.
After the presentation I found it exciting, and even reassuring, to realize that “old time” folk healing is collaborating with modern medical research.
Another attendee at the lecture agreed.
“As a pharmacist…it’s terrific to see how the traditional is linking up with the contemporary,” Leigh McGowan admitted.
One day, could we be told that the cure for some terrible disease has been discovered in a plant from south Louisiana?
O.J. GONZALEZ is a native and resident of Jeanerette. He graduated from USL in printmaking and photography and his photographs have appeared in publications in Louisiana, Alaska, Canada, New Zealand and England.