Folk medicine practices: Women as keepers and carriers of knowledge

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Women sSmd,esInr Forum Vol 9 No 3 pp 243-24919% PrmledmGreatBntam

FOLK MEDICINE PRACTICES: WOMEN AS KEEPERS AND CARRIERS OF KNOWLEDGE SHARON

P 0 Box 924, Umrerstty

A SHARP M~ss~ssrppt 38677, U S A

Synopsis-Hrstoncally. women have played crucral roles m the care of stck famtly members, and thts pattern contmues today Women’s mvolvement m folk medtcme IS parttcularly noteworthy, yet there has been very httle study of thts toptc DIscusstons of folk medtcme frequently overlook and/or downplay women’s contrrbuttons Only recently have researchers focused on women and exammed the complextty and extenstveness of female healers’ knowledge and practices Studies of three areas m the United States where folk medrcme has flourtshed-the Ozarks. Appalachia and the South-provrde valuable mstghts about the malor roles women have played as mtdwtves herbalists and sptrrtual healers Intergenerattonal networkmg by women especially within km groups. has proven to be the most Important mechamsm for transmlsston of folk healing knowledge and beliefs m these locales InformatIon from studies I” the U S hlghhghts both the llmltatlons and the horizons exlstmg I” the exploration of women’s roles as keepers and carriers of folk medlcme tradlttons

INTRODUCTION Reliance on folk medicme seems an anachromsm m a world filled with sophlstlcated medlcal technologles and highly structured systems of medlcal care. yet ‘m many parts of the world. near and far. even m the centers of bustling cities, folk medicine IS a hvmg art and a normal way of life for mllhons of people’ (Morton 1974 13) In the United States this IS especially true m three areas (1) the Ozarks, a mountamous area m the central U S m portions of Arkansas, Illmols. Oklahoma, and Missouri. (2) Appalachia, a mountainous region rangmg from southcentral New York to central Alabama. and (3) other non-Appalachian areas of the South Folh medicme’s endurance m these areas has been documented extensively (Alkman 1977, Bolyard. 1981, Morton. 1974, Oakleaf, 1984. Randolph. 1947. Solomon & Solomon. 1979, Watson. ed . 1984) Evidence from these areas therefore. provides valuable insights about women’s roles as key practltloners of folk medlcme It IS these crucial but much-overloohed roles that are the focus of this paper Interestingly, recent studies of famlhal health have repeatedly shown the wife-mother to be the most influential person as far as health attitudes and behaviors. e g Lltman (1974). Pratt (1976) Some scholars have even noted that m many areas of health-related research ‘the word ‘parent” seems to be synonymous with the word * mother’ (McNeil &

Chabassol. 1984 119) Despite such strong evidence of women’s mvolvement m informal health care systems, there has been little focus m studies of folh medlcme on the role of women FOLK

MEDICINE-DEFINITIONS TRADITIONS

AND

The studv of folk medlcme has evolved as an area of study m anthropology sociology. and folklore studies The primary sources for the current mvestlgatlon are the latter, since the folklore framework provides umque mslghts mto tradltlonal customs and beliefs of a given group of people Nevertheless. ‘folk medlcme and I& practitioners have never really found a comfortable or consistent place m the generic orgamzatlonal scheme that hat characterized folklore scholarship smce Its mceptlon Most often m American folklore studies folh medlcme has been consldered a subdIvIsIon of the “mmor genre ’ called superstmon (Hufford 1983 306) Studies of folk medicme, furthermore have been hmlted by the approaches of researchers The study of folk healmg began with the collectlon and hstmg of cures and “behefs” (~hrd 306). and the catalogumg approdch still abounds Seriously lackmg are studies of folk medicine as an element m the social fabric and health system of an area (rbld 307) Various tradmonal approaches to categorlzatlon m the study of folk medlcme ha\e proven useful but

SHARONA

34-l

dl5o have created hmltntion5 For example one common dlstmctlon IS between natural folk medlcme (tredtmg IlIne through apphcdnon of herbs and other ndturdl materials) dnd mdglco-rehglou5 folh medlcme (usmg charms. spells psychic powers. witchcrdft. or holv dctions to influence dlsedse processes) (Solomon & Solomon. 1979, Yoder, 1972) Hufford notes however, that such schemes hmn dn understdndms of the processes of folh trddnion. ndmelq the meshing of ohservatmn5 dnd mterpretdtlons of those ohservatlons within 4 umficd SOCI~ qstem (lY83 30X) Says Hufford The mtepratmn of folh health 5)stems with the]] 5urroundlng culture has importdnt consequences for the ctudq 61 folh hedlers i-n Americd (r&i 308) This 1s p,uncularly true with regard to women 5 role5 and contrlhutlon5. and tor purposes of this mve5tlgation d hrodd rather than narrow delimtlon of folk medicine and folh healers serves as the ha515 for dlscus\mn HISTORICAL

VIEW OF WOMEN’S ROLES

HEALING

Women 5 roles d5 keeper5 dnd cdrrlers of hnouledgr dbout hedhng h,lvc deep root5 Anthropologicdl evidence cledrll mdlc,ltes thdt cdrlv in the evolution of human beings women assumed prlmar! responslhlhtl tor identlfymg gathering. preservrng and utlhzmg plants for both food and medlclndl purposes (Bouldmg 1976 113, Gough lY75 71 Slocum 1975 47) For a vnrlety of reasons women s roles hlstorlcalll ha\e been dssocidted with the near environment of hearth dnd home. with cdre of sick fdrnlly members d5 one of the prim+ parts of the trdditiondl femdle role Bouldmg pomt\ out thdt for centuries ‘middle-dnd lower-cl&s women herhdlists were the trdditiondl medicdi dnd hedlers prdctltloners for the masses of soclet) and were generally excluded ds women from the posslhlht> of getting formal medicdl degrees (1976 427) In the Mlddle Ages m Europe. for Instance. women were prohlhned from practlcmg medicine yet played central-but anonymous-roles as the health care providers m ‘famllq chmcs (161d 371) Knowledge of herbs dnd other aspects of hedlmg was expected of European women m the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. hut especIalI, during that time women were susceptlhle to accusations of witchcraft (Grlggs 1981. O&leaf 1983) Suspicions ran hrgh because healmg powers were thought to be hnhed with demomc spells dnd poisons. mIdwILes faced an even higher rlsh of witchcrdft accusdtlons (Oakleaf 1983) One scholdr dsserts thdt ‘id!, women healers m sixteenthand seventeenthcentury Europe were defined dnd labeled d5 witches because then practices were a thredt to the hierdrchles of dominance-of mdn over woman. priest over penitent dnd lord over pedsdnt

SHARP

(Ihld 80) Bouldmg (1976). Woloch (1984). dnd other scholars provide valudhle information dhout women s involvement in more formdlized dspect5 of medical care. hut the current dIscussIon IS hmned to folk healmg Women’5 responslblhty for hedlth care in the home and local commumt) . particularl) prior to the professlonahzatlon of medlcme has persisted throughout American hlstorl dnd will he considered m greater depth RECOGNITION OF \? OMEN’S HEALING ROLES A chdrdcterl5tic overlooking of women 5 roles in healing IS evident m Bauer s statement thdt medlcdl history teems with chromcles of the great men 01 ages pdst. who added to medical knowledge hit h! bit These pioneers were not dshdmcd to consider the folklore of their time, to e\dludte It m the hght of then own knowledge and experience to sift the true from the false (1969 26) Bduer recognizes that women passed down home remcdle\ through generdtions and concludes that ‘m the dd)b when doctors knew little more than the re5t of the people Grandma v,ds a prett). important factor 111 the family 5 hedlth (lY69 197) Unfortundtel> such statement> are fairly representdtl\e of the oler!oohing dnd!or doanpldvmg of women’\ hedling roles Descrlptlons of the hl\tory of medrclnr predictably overlooh women (Bouldmg. lY7h Woloch. 198-I) Even less recognized are the countless women who have served as folk hedlers m an Informal home-based sphere-especially m rural poor, Isolated areas Dounpld,mg of women 5 healing roles m the U S 15 apparent, for instance. in literature dhout NatlIe Americans Ackerhnecht argues that the medlcme man was. m fdct, an antagonist of the physician for centuries If there 15 any ancestor or colleague of the phlslclan m prlmltl\e society, it IS the lav healer usuallj a woman. the mldwalfe’ (1942 508-509) Nevertheless, many dlscusslons of Natl\e American medical practices take an opposite stance and focus on the crmcal roles of male healers. e g Vogel (1970) LIkewIse, dlscusslons of the MexicdnAmerican heritage of curanderrsmo (‘folk healmp ) sometlmes specifically mention only the curanderoc (males) and not the curanderas (females). though mention may he made of the purrerus. or mldwl\es e g Graham (1976) In such cases use of the collective term curanderos and of only masculme pronouns leads the ummtlated reader to assume that males were the sole practmoners Perhaps the most slgmficant and far-reaching explanation for the lath of recogmtlon of women 5 roles tn folk hedhng IS the previously mentioned tendenc) of folklorlst$ to focus more on ‘geography than history They are more interested m shoump

Women

as

Keepers and Carriers of Knowledge

the spatial extent of a behef or a custom than m plumbmg Its depths’ (Talbot, 1976 7) In addmon. a great deal of excellent hterature by ethnoblologlsts exists which offers httle or no mformatlon about the users and practlctloners of folk medlcme Examples of such hterature Include Bolyard’s (1981) volume on home remedies of Appalachia and Morton’s descrlptlon of folk remedies of the ‘Low Country’ of South Carolma (1974) Gaps m knowledge about the practltloners of folk medicine have been costly-particularly to women WOMEN HEALERS IN THE OZARKS, APPALACHIA, AND THE SOUTH In the extensive hterature on folk medlcme m the Ozarks. Appalachia, and the South there has been growing recogmtlon of women’s roles The Importance of the entire cultural mlheu m an understandmg of the healer’s role IS vltal. but the current dIscussIon attempts only to provide an overvlew hlghhghtmg the types of roles and slgmficance of the roles pidyed by female healers The reader 1s dlso referred to other literature for details about prdctlces behefs. and remedies employed m the hedlmg actlvltles Here the focus IS primarily on one characterlstlc of the practltmner-gender-and on the general nature of the female healer’s role

TYPES OF ROLES

By far the greatest recogmtlon of women’s roles as healers has been through research on mldwlfery. almost solely a femdle provmce (Maple. 1968 Wllhmson 1984) The practice of women attendmg to ‘women’s problems has hlstorlcal roots m antlqulty and female mldwlves practiced widely m the U S until the transItIon between 1760 and 1860 to obstetrics practiced by tramed male physicians (Donegan. 1975) In the Ozarhs. Appalachia. and the agrarian South however the practice of mldnlfery has persisted despite Its threatened status (Ldndy 1977, OahIeaf 1984) A great dedt Of literature exists descrlbmg dnd beliefs of mrdwlves

the

trammg

practices.

Freeman’s (1974) characterlzatlon of typIca mldulves m Arkdnsas captures many of the elements reflected m the hterature on midwifery In Arkansas granny mIdwIves’ or ‘granny-uomen the most common terms-were mainly mlddle-aged or older matrons who lived m rural commumtles, hdd little or no formal education were respected members of then commumtles. and felt some rehglous ‘callmg for their actlvltles (rbrd 101-103) In Freemdn s study most of the granny mtdwlves m the southeastern part of Arkansas were Black. but racial representation has varied by region m the

245

the Appalachian mIdwIves U S For example, portrayed m Wlggmton’s Foxfire 2 (1973) were predommantly Caucasian Other common characterlstlcs Included deslgnatron of the mIdwIfe by a famlhal name, such as ‘Aunt Bessle,’ and the mIdwIfe’s assumption of a maternal attitude toward the children she dehvered (Freeman, 1974 lOl103) MIdwIves typIcally worked on an emergency basis, accepted produce as pay, and performed hmlted cookmg and cleanmg chores for the expectant mother’s family (&d 103) Superstltrons surrounded the practices of the mIdwIves, but their methods centered around safe dehvery of the baby and mmlmlzatlon of the mother’s ~~1 Y Herbaluts Interest m women’s folk healing through the use of herbs and other plants for medlcmal purposes has grown m recent years Numerous studies exist that catalogue folk remedies but either do not mention or mention only briefly the practltloners who apphed them Abundant also are studies that mention m passmg only mothers, grandmothers, other female relatives, or female neighbors as the persons who used and passed on knowledge about remedies but make no comment whatever about the prevalence of women as practitioners, e g Campbell (1953). Cooke and Hamner (1976) In other cases women and men are both described as bemg herbahsts though women are noted to be somewhat more predommant. e g Alkman (1977), Meyer (1973). Mulhns (1973), Stuart (1976), Wlggmton (1972) Common. too, are studies that acknowledge but do not examme m depth women’s roles as herbalists In a study of Tennessee folk medicine, Ralchelson notes that ‘m general. they [the Informants] became aware of folk remedies from their female reldtlves m their famlhes and secondarrly from their male relations’ (1983 103) More specifically, ‘an adult fdmlly member, usually the mother or grandmother. was the repository of medlcal knowledge, essentially the carrier of tradltlons’ (lbd 104) In a catalogumg of recipes and remedies utlhzed by ‘white. mlddle-class, rural and small-town Alabama folk ’ Solomon and Solomon state that ‘some herb doctors and conJurers were male, and husbands knew remedies quite as well as then wives, but as a general rule it was the woman who possessed the secrets of folk remedies, devised and admmlstered medlcmes and cures and nursed the sick’ (1979 4. 126) Several recent mvestlgatlons stand out as examples of research actually scrutmlzmg women’s contrlbutlons as herbalists Shelley and Evans conducted mtervlews with residents of the Sequatchle Valley m the Cumberland Plateau of Tennessee and found that ‘references to persons

246

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who had experience and knowledge of folk healing were usually referrals to males’ (1981 211) During the mtervlew process, however, the men served as links to their wives and other female relatives, who were. m fact, the persons knowledgeable about plant names and procedures for identlficatlon. collection, storage, and application of plants (&d 211) Evidence did not indicate herbal medicine to be an exclusive domain of women, but ‘the knowledge of herbal remedies and the responslbihty for transmitting such knowledge usually rested with females’-especially older females (~hrd 213) As Shelley and Evans point out, ‘The specific kmd of knowledge and extent of knowledge about medlcmal herbs has often been underestimated’ (~bld 213) Women versed in the medicinal value of plants needed knowledge of ‘( 1) ldentlfiable plant characterlstlcs and knowledge of the kinds of habitats m which the plants are found (2) when to collect and which part of the plant should be collected (3) drying techmques to prevent molding and to retain potency (4) preparation of herbal teas salves poltices and other externally apphed remedies and (5) which plants have curative propertles for USC against certam diseases or complJ]nts (Shelley and Evans. 1981 213-21-1) Shelley and Evans concluded thdt m Appaidchla adherence to and preferences for folk medicine dnd other health-related behefs and tradltlons are ‘to a large degree bept alive by women who see curing as part of their overall role as guardidns of the family’ (rbld IS) These researchers who aere imtially surprised about the extent of women \ involvement as folk healers altered therr research goals m order to delve mto women s roles Recent research on Black folk medicine provides additional important information about women as herbdhstsihealers Watson notes that research has revealed ‘a rather universal ldeahzdtlon of the older woman who knows about home remedies an idealization played upon m pharmaceutical companies’ advertising cdmpalgns (lY83d 55) In a stud) of elderly. rural Afro-Americans m Aiabdma Georgia Louisland MISSISSIPPI South Carolina and Vlrgnua Watson and colleague\ found that drugstores In predominantI> Bldch nelghborhoods often had a section set aside-and clearly sepdrated from the rest of the store-for dlsp1dy and sdle of folk remedies Males rather than females were the Older dispensers m such commercial settings females, however ‘operated folk remed) stores out of their homes. among members of then hinshlp groups and/or their immedidte neighborhood

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Older female practitioners also had more fdce-toface contact with their customers than did the operators of the “spiritual corners” [the store-based dispensaries]’ (~bld 56-=57) In summarizing findings about folk and modern medlcme m the rural southern United States, Watson describes two malor patterns that were found In addition to the pattern of strong parallel systems of tradltional and modern medicme Watson concludes ‘The second pattern observed was the persistence of older female members of kmshrp groups ds the principal agents or practitioners of the art\ of toll\ healing, especially m Mlsslss~pp~ and to d lesser extent in Louisiana grandmothers, mothers aunts, and in some Instances older fern& practitioners outside the kinship group uere reported In the latter Instances, some references were mdde to older American indidn women ([bud 57) Interestingly. prdctltloners remedies Sptruual

This

women were not only the mdlor but also the primary consumers of folh

healers

whose hedling fdlth wltchcrdft dnd psychic or supernatural powers Though superstltmns or belref system\ are InextrlcCibl\ combined with the dpphcatlon of herbdl cures dnd mldmlfery certnm approdches to hedhng focu\ on the splrltudl rather thdn materldl redlm Women deqmdted as wltche\. for example. dre believed to have demomc powers \shlch govern their medlcdl poNer5

categor?

prdctices sixteenth-

uere of

mcludes

dre dssocldted

women

with

mdgic

Odhledf reports thdt dnd seventeenth-century

liable to be dccused

reasons

ranging

from

In the Ozarks dS in Europe. women

of wltchcrdft commi5blon

for

d vdriet!

of

crimes to sexudl mlsbehnklor (1%-i Z-75) With regdrd to medlcal prdctlces though rnldwlbes were often accused of ha\lng superndturdl powers because ot their knowledge and use of herbs to Induce abortlons and’or reduce pain durmg chIldbirth It any susp1c1ou5 circum%mces surrounded d birth the midulfe rnn the rlsl\ of being dccuced of usmp occult powers to cause death or deformIt (rhrd 7677) Not all wltchcs however uere seen ds bdd aitches In the Ozarhs the belief persist\ that come women dre good or ‘white notches (not referring to race) whose supernatural pouers dre dpphed solel) to benefit others (~hrti 77) Faith healers represent another distinct cdtegor! of spiritual healers dlthough it 15 true thdt mo\t healers m the locales under con\lderdtmn \le\\ed theu Involvement and effectl\eness In term\ of religious fdith Students investigating 4ppdldChidn folhlore

reported

finding

fdlth

healer5

who

mini+

Women

as Keepers

and Carriers

tered to three major categories of health problems burns, bleedmg that IS not from a natural cause and disease characterized by ‘thrash ’ a chlldhood pamful bhsters m dnd around the mouth (Wlggmton, 1973 346-347) Methods of treatment varied ‘but all of the healers admitted that dn essential part of the treatment was a certam verse from the Old Testament Each Illness has Its own appropriate verse, and the verse IS never uttered out loud’ (rbrd 347) Evidence from Wlggmton and other Invest]gators clearly shows that women have been faith healers. but the extent of women’s mvolvement has not been assessed adequately Available data suggest that women and men are equally likely to have fulfllled the faith healer role In the southern U S another Important spnnual healer has been the Voodoo queen or voudoolenne (Brandon. 1976, Kllhon and Waller. 1972) Voodoo, or Hoodoo. IS a rehglon whose tenets are derived from a fusion of ‘deeply rooted Afrlcamst behefs and colomal French Cathohclsm’ and founded on an Afrlcdn me m which a prtestess became an oracle through handhng a snabe (Watson, 1984b 3-4) A predommant rehglon m Ham. Voodoo has had many followers m America especially m Lotuslana, Georgia. and MISSISSIPPI smce the mid-eighteenth century and especially among Blacks (Jbd 3) The Voodoo practitioner. or conjurer, invokes supernatural forces through such actions as castmg spells usmg malevolent charms. and glvmg medlcatlons (Brandon. 1976, Kllhon and Wailer. 1972, Watson, 1983b) Some researchers discuss the roles of both women and men m Voodoo with no clear mdlcatlon of a predommance of either, e g Brdndon (1976), others mention both sexes but discuss males roles more. e g Jackson (1976). a few mdlcate a more promment role for women According to one researcher ‘Voodooism seems to have been a matriarchy almost from its first days m Lomslana The only men of Importance were the witch doctors Women seem to have made up at least eighty percent of the cultists. and it was always the female of the whne race who entered the sect When white men were present It was usually because they sought handsome yellow girls rather than for reason of any belief m the Zombl’ (Tallant. 1946 31) Certamly, one of the most widely recogmzed Voodoo practmoners m Lotuslana was Marie Leveau. a Voodoo queen who practiced m New Orleans. carrymg on her Haman family’s tradmon of practice (Brandon, 1976 226. Jackson. 1976 264) Voodoo practmoners. furthermore. were among the healers reflected m Watson’s fmdmg that women predominate m the practice of folk medlcme m the South (1984~)

of Knowledge

247

WOMEN’S NETWORKS AND THE TRANSMISSION OF KNOWLEDGE Brief mention should be made of the means by women m the Ozarks, Appalachia. and the South have become folk healers Intergeneratlonal transmlsslon of knowledge, particularly wlthm the kmshlp group. has been crucial grandmothers and mothers have been the teachers and the granddaughters/daughters the pupils or apprentice\ Although the knowledge of home remedies has been shared with male family members rather than kept secret, women have remained the chief reposnorles of knowledge and the skllled practmoners One notable carlanon of this pattern IS found among Afro-Americans In the Low Country of coastal South Carolina. where much of the bnowledge transmitted through generations of females can be traced back to the practices of women assigned to be for the slave quarters on plantations ‘nurses’ (Morton 1974 1615) Women who serve entne communmes often describe then ablhtles as ‘gifts of God,’ especlally for faith dnd other spnitual healers In some cases exphcn belief systems govern the patterns of transmission of knowledge Appalachidn fdlth healers. for example, usually report that they can teach then skills to others. but only to two persons of the opposne sex not related to them by blood (Wlggmton, 1972 347, Yoder. 1972 206) For either females or males m the areas under conslderatlon the mechamsms of learning typIcally mvolved Informal contacts rather than formal apprentlceshlps Nevertheless. mtergeneratlondl transfer of knowledge between women remams a key to the survival of many folk medlcme prdctlces m the U S whvzh

GAINING

PERSPECTIVES ON WOMEN’S CONTRIBUTIONS

A better understanding of women s roles m folh medlcme reqmres that certain barriers to hnowledge be recogmzed and overcome Information on practices m the Ozarks, Appalachia and the South provides convmcrng evidence that women’s crmcal roles have long been overlooked In addmon folklorists often assume that women’s roles m folh medlcme are of a low status merely ‘granmes” or ‘old wives” medicine (Yoder. 1972 199) Barriers to knowledge appear to Include the followmg factors (1) Women’s roles as healers have been widely assumed to be d mere extension of wives’ duties, one facet of women’s roles Consequently. female practmoners have often been taken for granted (2) Female healers have been much more likely than male healers to practice as nonprofesslonals 1 e to define themselves as Informal practmoners.

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to expect httle or no remuneratton, and to operate wrthm the home or commumty settmg These charactertsttcs do not ftt the male model of medical knowledge, practtce, and advancement (3) Operatmg wtthm the sphere of home and commumty. female healers are more hkely to be underreported m folklonsts’ studies As Shelley and Evans (1981) found, an underesttmatton of women’s roles IS hkely tf nuttal reports are not carefully mvesttgated In a srmtlar vem, Hufford notes that m fieldwork one must not rely merely on d ‘star be a much less mformant.’ who may, m fact effecttve bearer of tradmon than others who seem to play less obvtous (but more crucial) roles m the health system of a grven area (1983 307-308) (4) The history of medtcal practtces. hke many other areas of history. ‘has been wrttten as If rt were the history of Western man’ (Bouldmg. 1976 4) Women’s contrtbutlons as healers indeed constttute part of what Bouldmg terms ‘the understde of history’ (rhtd ) When women’s contrtbutlon5 are considered wtth regard to health care m the U S . the only assessment IS often m terms of women’s progress m breaking into the male-dommated medlcal professlon Such treatment 15 true even of much femmlst hterdture (5) Studies of women s contrlbutlons to folk medlcme are doubly handicapped by the fact that It IS poor. uneducated rural females who are more hhely to be mvohed ds practitioners HtstorIc‘il. soctologicdi and even anthropologicdl ddtd regdrdmg hfe pattern5 for such nomen m the U 5 drc often limited For 1 arlous redsony fernmist scholar\ too tend to focus less on the verb types of females who have contributed most to folk medlcme-poor. dhterate. and,or rural residents Recogmtlon of such barrlcr\ cdn ledd to neM evaludtlons of rrscdlch endedvors and reshdplnp of resedrch que5tiom in order to tap \+omen 5 euperlences more fully

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perspectrve promises to provtde valuable mstghts about a neglected but rich dred m the study of folk medtcme-women’s contrtbutrons

REFERENCES Ackernecht

Erwin 1942 Problems of prlmltlce medlclne Bull Hfsrorr Med 11 (5) XW509 Alkman L 1977 Narure s Healrng Arts From Folk Medrcme to Modern Drugr Ndtlonal Geogrdphlc Soclet!. Washmgton. D C Bduer. w W 196’) Potlonr. Remedrey and Old WILL\ Tales Doubleday, New York Bolyard. Judtth -1981 Medlclnal Plan/c and Home Remedrer of Appulachla Charles C Thomas Sprungfield Illlnots Bouldmg Ehse 1976 The Undertrde of Hutor\ A V/e], of Women Through Twne WestvIew Pres? Boulder Colorado Brandon Ehzabeth 1976 Folk medlclne m French Loursrana In Hand Wayldnd ed Amencarl Folh Medwne A Stmposlum pp 215-234 Unlver5tty of Callforma Press Berkeley Campbell Mane 1953 Folh remedres from south Georgia Tennessee Folklore Sot Bull I9 (1 pdrt 1) 1-3 Cooke R C dnd E D Hdmner 1976 Rcmedlc\ Tolnessee Folhlore Sot Bull 42 (2) 65-69 Donegdn Jane 1975 Man-mtd\\lfer]: and the dellcdcl of the sexes In George Carol ed ‘Remember rhc

Gough

CONCLUSION Women’s contrlbuttons to folk medlctne have long been overloohed or downpldyed Within the home sphere women hale tradItIonall) been responsible for care of the sick and ample evidence exists thdt thts pattern persists m the U S Recent evtdence suggests thdt thl5 is partlcularlq true in folk medlcme practices, and prime examples of women 7 mvolvement come from regions of the U S m which folk hedhng has flourished-the Ozarks, Appdlachla. and the South Women hdve played kttdl roles as the prImdry keepers dnd carriers of complex systems of knowledge regarding folk medlcme dnd mtergeneratlonal networkmg between women has served as the primdry mechanism for transmts5ton of rich and varied heritdge\ m the healing art5 Addltlonal study formuldted from d feminist

K

lY75 The orlyln of the tmll\ In Rtltcr Tobc,ard au Atlrhropolog\ of M’om~tr ed pp 51-76 Month11 Re\le\\ Pres\ Neu \r orb Graham Joe I976 The role of the cu!arldero In thr Mexican folh medlclne s\\tem m \he\t Texds In H‘ind Wa\ land ed Amerrtatl Folk Medltrrle A J~mposclw~~ pp 175-190 Um\erslt! of Cahformd Pre\\ Berhele\ Grlgs Barhdrd lY81 Grre?? Phtrrnlcrt I A Hrtror\ II/ Herbal ,Medrrlnc The \ Ihlng Pre\\ Neu Y orh Hand W’a\ldnd ed lY76 Alncrrccrrl Folk hledrcrrlc 4 71 ~?I,I~V”VI Llm\erslt\ of Cahfornld Pre\, Berhelc\ Hufford, Dd\ld 1983 Folh hedler\ In Dor\on Rlchdrd ed Hundhooh of Amerrcarl Folklore pp 30&3 I i lndlana Lnnerslth Pres\ Bloomington Jdchqon Bruce 1976 The other kind of doctor Conjure dnd mdyc m Black AmerlCdn folh medlclne In H‘tnd Wayland ed Amerrcan Folk Medrtrtte A Svmpotrum pp 259-272 Um\erslt! of Cdllforntd Pre55 Berhelck Ktlhon Rondld dnd Chdrtes Wdller 1972 A Treatrr,\ ot Georgur Folklore Cherokee Pubh\hlng Compdn\ Atldnt,t Rd\nd

Women

d5 Keepers

dnd Cdrrlers

Land\ Dd\Id ed 1Y77 Culrurc Dftetrse and Heallnq h~dcmlllan New Yorh Ldnd\ D 1977 Role addptatlon tradltlondl curer\ under the impdct of western medvxne In Ldndy Ddwd ed Cfrlrlrrr Dfseme. crud Heolrrlg pp 468480 Mdcmllldn New Yorh Lttmdn T J 1973 The fdmll\ cl\ d bdslc unit in health dnd medlcdl car‘ d 5oc1dl hehd\lordl o\er\xw \ocrcr/ &I Med 8 (9~10~ 40%51Y

of Knowledge

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Solomon Jdck and OhrId Solomon lY7Y Crackkn Bread a/1(/ Atfid~rv Unwer~lt~ of Aidhdmd Pres\ Uniberslt) Aldbdllld

Somerville Wlkon ed lYI(I A~~ul~chraiAfn~nccr~~uProteerlltlgs of the 1980 Appulac hrntr Studies C onfererm Appaldchldn Consortium Press E.251 Tennessee Sldte Unlverslt\ Johnson Clt\ Stuart Jesse 1976 Remedtc\ that stdnd out in memor! Acr~r~trX~ Folhlorc Ret 22(3) 50-63