Reclaiming our herbal heritage

Culture Matters

“We’re running out of drugs to combat increasingly deadly bacteria. The drugs we have are losing their effectiveness, meaning infections that were previously easily controllable could in some cases now become deadly...We’re now in a battle against the bacteria, almost like we were just a couple of generations ago.”

– Marc Montgomery, journalist

A RECENT documentary, The Nature of Things, showed scientists walking knee deep in water, slipping up hills in the middle of a jungle and sniffing plants. They investigated everything from the mouths of alligators to the fur of jungle sloths and the mysteries of deepest caves. The reason? To discover new sources of medicine to treat human diseases, in an increasingly alarming race against time and mutating bacteria in our bodies.

As I watched, I wondered if we should tell these eminent researchers what our ancestors already knew; that the cure for almost every ailment is quietly growing all around us – in backyards, across communities and at the edge of our oceans. Except the sad truth is that we are really not in a position to educate them, as many of us are not even aware of the value of the plants around us.

Decades ago, the knowledge of our healing herbs was almost completely erased by marketers of synthetic drugs. The real “tief head” here is that we were told by their efficient promotional and lobbying machinery that our natural approach to medicine was superstition, even as they used our plants to create modern medication. They got us to forget our traditions and convinced us that what we needed to do was purchase their medicine instead.

But think about it. Do you recall elderly people regularly having colds, or needing to go the doctor for anything? I certainly have no such memories. Of course, for some, their humble circumstances meant that paying for a doctor was out of the question, so they had to rely on the earth.

But there were midwives who knew about the herbs to “clean out” a woman after her pregnancy. There were leaves to boil for belly pain, spices to drink for the cold, or use in combination with other natural materials for body aches. And yes, there was bush to deal with negative energy as well.

Remedies that came from the earth were first seen as far back as ancient Egypt and with indigenous cultures such as the Mayans of Central America, or the Tainos from the Caribbean. In olden traditions from India and China, there were Hindu texts such as the Charaka-samhita which revealed hundreds of herbs for healing, or acupuncture founded in the Chinese understanding of ying and yang – balance.

In the early 1900s the American Medical Association (AMA) invented a seal of approval for drugs. To get the seal, it seems drug manufacturers simply had to advertise in AMA journals. Remarkably, there was apparently no obligation to prove the drugs were effective until the 1960s.

Eventually, the AMA became extremely powerful and wealthy, dominating the industry. This extends into a 21st century global narrative, where our failing health is bigger business than we realise, with the greatest losers of the lobbying game being the poorest people on the planet.

A 2016 report by Transparency International on the state of the pharmaceutical sector found that “...genuine commitment to anti-corruption policies by heads of governments, senior government officials and regulatory agencies is currently absent in many countries. In some contexts... malpractice was...hampered by a tacit acceptance of corruption.”

In terms of antibiotics, one perspective is that doctors may recommend drugs that do not work properly because they were defective to start with, and then try to rectify this with antibiotics. This cycle increases the chances of the bacteria in our bodies becoming more resistant to the drugs being administered.

As a further insult, earlier western dismissals of natural approaches to healing have now changed in light of the earnings to be gleaned from ancient philosophies of care. So, as TT and other developing nations continue to destroy millions of dollars in marijuana, how do we feel to see so-called marijuana entrepreneurs in the western world profiting from what Bob Marley once called “the healing of the nation?”

Soursop, pawpaw, coconut, moringa...our solutions are right here. As we face increasing lifestyle illnesses such as depression, obesity and hypertension, will we also seek healing and financial benefit from our earthly gifts? We need to answer quickly, as time and mutating bacteria wait for no one.

Dara E Healy is a performance artist, communications specialist and founder of the NGO, the Indigenous Creative Arts Network – ICAN