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Papago Indian fields located in southern Arizona and northern Sonora, Mexico are examples of a food production strategy that was developed within the constraints of a water-limited environment. Although only a small percentage of the fields cultivated at the turn of the century remain in cultivation, extant fields are vestiges of an agricultural tradition that has persisted in arid lands for centuries. An examination of the documentary history of non-Indian observations of Papago agriculture and water control from 1697 to 1934 reveals numerous practices and features that are no longer apparent within or around remaining fields. Yet by learning from oral historical accounts of elderly Papago, and analyzing O'odham lexemes (native Papago terms) which guide farmers' management of fields, it is possible to gain a sense of folk science which Papago developed to successfully farm without permanent surface water reserves. Selected concepts from the folk science of the Papago are used as a point of departure in understanding the ecological processes which function within their fields. Standard field ecology methods were adapted to empirically test certain hypotheses relating to these ecological processes. Results include confirmation that Papago fields are situated in a variety of physiographic positions, and that ‘ak-ciñ arroyo mouth' farming is a misnomer. Papago crops exhibit many of the same drought-escaping adaptations as wild summer desert ephemerals for seed production during the brief summer rainy season, which varies from year to year in the date of its initiation. These adaptations greatly contribute to crop success. There are no significant differences in the diversity of herbaceous plants found in Papago fields compared to the diversity found in adjacent, uncultivated environments. Of the many nutrients analyzed in cultivated and uncultivated floodplain soils, only potassium was significantly richer in fields than in uncultivated floodplains; other differences were statistically insignificant. Floodwashed organic detritus, rather than the floodwaters themselves, appear to play the major role in renewing field soil fertility in certain localities. It is concluded that indigenous concepts which have long guided the management of traditional agricultural systems are of heuristic value in understanding how these farming systems function ecologically.

Revision of thesis (Ph. D.)--Columbia University, 1958. / Published for the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research. Includes index. Bibliography: p. 165-173.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 343-355). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

M.Sc. / Scientific relevance: Qualitative and quantitative data is presented that give a new perspective on the traditional medicinal plants of the Khoisan (Khoe-San), one of the most ancient of human cultures. The data is not only of considerable historical and cultural value, but allows for fascinating comparative studies relating to new species records, novel use records and the spatial distribution of traditional medicinal plant use knowledge within the Cape Floristic Region. Aim of the study: A detailed documentation and quantitative analysis of medicinal plants of the Kamiesberg area (an important Khoisan and Nama cultural centre) and their medicinal traditional uses, which have hitherto remained unrecorded. Materials and methods: During four study visits to the Kamiesberg, semi-structured and structured interviews were conducted with 23 local inhabitants of the Kamiesberg, mostly of Khoisan decent. In addition to standard methodology, a newly developed Matrix Method was used to quantity medicinal plant knowledge. Results: The Kamiesberg is an important center of extant Nama ethnomedicinal information but the knowledge is rapidly disappearing. Of a total of 101 medicinal plants and 1375 anecdotes, 21 species were recorded for the first time as having traditional medicinal uses and at least 284 medicinal use records were new. The relative importance, popularity and uses of the plants were quantified. The 97 newly documented vernacular names include 23 Nama (Khoekhoegowab) names and an additional 55 new variations of known names. The calculated Ethnobotanical Knowledge Index (EKI) and other indices accurately quantify the level of knowledge and will allow for future comparisons, not only within the Kamiesberg area but also with other southern African communities of Khoisan decent. Conclusion: The results showed that the Kamiesberg is an important focal point of Khoisan (Nama) traditional knowledge but that the medicinal plants have not yet been systematically recorded in the scientific literature. There are numerous new use records and new species records that are in need of scientific study. Comparative data is now available for broader comparisons of the pattern of Khoisan plants use in southern Africa and the study represents another step towards a complete synthesis of Cape Herbal Medicine.

published_or_final_version / Botany / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

This ethnographic overview documents the contemporary values of American Indians regarding Fajada Butte. The study defines which Indian tribes have traditional or historic cultural ties to Fajada Butte and Chaco Culture National Historical Park (NHP). The study was funded by the National Park Service on September 15, 1992, and was managed by the New Mexico State Historic Preservation Office. The ethnographic overview is focussed on two broad issues: (1) Fajada Butte and its significance to American Indian people and (2) the traditional use of plants and their cultural significance to American Indian people. An additional goal of this study is to contribute information about to the process of general tribal -park consultation including Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. This study documented that 11 tribes and pueblos have cultural relationships with Fajada Butte and Chaco Culture NHP. American Indians feel a contemporary identification with the Fajada Butte and Chaco Culture NHP. There are three main ways for expressing this identification (1) direct descent ties, (2) tribal ties, and (3) ethnic ties. No tribal or pueblo representatives expressed knowledge of living families who are direct descendants from the people of Chaco; however, many of them stated that Chaco people were their direct ancestors. All tribes and pueblo representatives who participated in the on -site visit claimed tribal or pueblo ties to the people of Chaco. The research also was concerned with the plant life of the area both on and around Fajada Butte. This study documented the American Indian traditional use placess around Fajada Butte and elsewhere in Chaco Canyon. All Indian representatives expressed the desire that the park continues to protect these plants from disturbance and emphasized the need to have a park-wide ethnobotanical study.

Ph.D. (Botany) / The most well-known tonic plants in South Africa have been used traditionally for the treatment of a great variety of ailments but aspects of their ethnobotany and chemistry remain poorly studied. Possible relationships between their ethnobotany and pharmacology are mostly speculative. In this study, literature reviews of the ethnobotany of these plants were combined with phytochemical screening studies and bitterness taste testing results in order to establish constituent patterns which may contribute to a scientific rationale for the claimed tonic (stimulating) properties of these plants. The tonic concept and definitions of terms associated with it are often used incorrectly and ambiguously. An analysis of literature on the traditional healing systems across the globe was used to establish the historical and cultural aspects relevant to tonics. This analysis revealed that sickness/illness is usually considered to be a result of imbalance in many cultures, whether this imbalance is between the patient and the environment or due to a lack of homeostasis in the body. In several healing cultures substances or mixtures of substances are used to rectify these imbalances through proposed effects on several bodily systems concurrently. According to some cultures, as in Eastern and Indian traditional medicine, tonic plants are considered superior to other medicinal plants in that they impart health, strength and a general sense of well-being, as well as being prophylactic. This definition of a tonic plant is consequently broad, but excludes plants merely used as multipurpose medicines. Where these tonics exhibit a specific mode of action, further classification is required, i.e. as bitter, adaptogenic, alterative, adjuvant or stimulant tonics. The South African traditional tonic plants studied were Agathosma species (Rutaceae), Aloe species (Asphodelaceae), Arctopus species (Apiaceae), Artemisia afra (Asteraceae), Balanites maughamii (Balanitacae), Dicoma species (Asteraceae), Harpagophytum procumbens (Pedaliaceae), Hypoxis hemerocallidea (Hypoxidaceae), Muraltia heisteria (Polygalaceae), Sutherlandia species (Fabaceae), Vernonia oligocephala (Asteraceae), Warburgia salutaris (Canellaceae), Withania somnifera (Solanaceae) and Ziziphus mucronata (Rhamnaceae). A detailed compendium of medicinal applications was compiled following a thorough, in-depth scrutiny of the historical and medicinal ethnobotany of each of these species. Such ethnobotanical data is important in understanding the cultural aspects of healing in southern Africa, and provides valuable direction and focus with regards to the phytochemical and pharmacological research of these plants.

Since prehistoric times medicinal plants have been an invaluable source of medicinal preparations to mankind due to their respective chemical constituents. The family of the Mesembryanthemaceae is almost entirely endemic to southern Africa, and the subfamily Mesembryanthemoideae is a key source of previous reports of plants with traditional uses, both medicinal and culinary. In this thesis, phytochemical investigations were performed on a representative sample of the Mesembryanthemaceae genera and species, with emphasis on the subfamily Mesembryanthemoideae. The aims of this study were to record all ethnobotanical information on the medicinal and culinary uses of the Mesembryanthemaceae, and to isolate and identify alkaloids from selected taxa (especially those of medicinal interest) with specific emphasis on mesembrane alkaloids A review on the structural classification, biosynthesis and biological properties of the mesembrane alkaloids is presented in this dissertation. Experimentally, extracts of the 67 plants encompassing 15 genera and approximately 26 species which were investigated were prepared using one of two alkaloid extraction procedures, following which the extracts were screened for the presence of alkaloids by thin-layer chromatography. The extracts in which alkaloids were detected were analysed further using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Where possible, pure alkaloids were isolated from the crude alkaloid extracts and the pure compounds characterised using 1H and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Six of the mesembrane alkaloids as well as the tyrosine-derived non-mesembrane alkaloid hordenine were found to be distributed amongst the various genera and species of the Mesembryanthemoideae. The mesembrane alkaloids detected include mesembrine, mesembrenone, mesembrenol, mesembranol, 4’-Omethylsceletenone and 4,5-dihydro-4’-O-methylsceletenone. Within the genus Sceletium mesembrine, mesembrenone, mesembrenol, mesembranol and hordenine were identified. Mesembrine, mesembrenone, mesembranol and hordenine were also detected in Aridaria. The sceletenone derivatives 4’-Omethylsceletenone and 4,5-dihydro-4’-O-methylsceletenone as well as hordenine were identified as the major alkaloid constituents of the genus Aptenia. No alkaloids were detected in the species of Brownanthus and Prenia investigated in this study. Amongst the genera Mesembryanthemum, Phyllobolus and Psilocaulon, a random distribution of the alkaloid hordenine was observed. During the course of this study, the isolation and characterisation of 4’-O-methylsceletenone and 4,5-dihydro-4’-O-methylsceletenone from both Aptenia cordifolia and Aptenia lancifolia, as well as the non-mesembrane alkaloid hordenine from a number of species, was achieved. The two mesembrane alkaloids have been prepared synthetically, but this is the first report of the presence of the compounds in a natural source. / Prof. F.R. van Heerden

Orientador: Lin Chau Ming / Banca: Maria Christina de Mello Amorozo / Banca: Valdely Ferreira Kinupp / Banca: Izabel de Carvalho / Banca: Filipe Pereira Giardini Bonfim / Resumo: Mais de 3,3 milhões de pessoas no mundo estão expostas a malária. Os medicamentos utilizados no combate à doença já apresentam sinais de resistência. No Brasil 99% dos casos acontecem na Amazônia legal. É uma doença endêmica da região do Alto rio Negro, considerada uma região cultural sui generis, onde mais de 90% dos habitantes são indígenas, falantes de 23 línguas, e a floresta é preservada e pouco conhecida pela ciência acadêmica. É o primeiro trabalho etnobotânico sobre plantas antimaláricas na região. As negociações para obtenção de autorização de pesquisa foram intensas entre os anos de 2010 e 2013, a pesquisa de campo foi realizada entre setembro de 2011 e julho de 2012 e setembro a novembro de 2013 em cinco comunidades indígenas. Foram registradas 46 espécies utilizadas no tratamento da malária pertencentes a 24 famílias botânicas, a maioria nativa do domínio fitogeográfico da Amazônia. As percepções culturais acerca da doença foram registradas, assim como o nome de algumas plantas nas principais línguas da região e foi feito um estudo de fitonímia da Língua Geral Amazônica. Das 46 espécies 14 possuem estudos científicos comprovando sua atividade antimalárica e 25 podem ser consideradas interessantes para estudos científicos futuros. Apenas cinco espécies apresentaram consenso de uso. O grande número de espécies nativas utilizadas, os fatores históricos e as percepções culturais dos participantes a cerca da doença demonstram que há conhecimento local e sua aplicação, assim com a necessidade de proteção ambiental e cultural da área, e a urgência de programas que promovam a cultura medicinal local e auxiliem o entendimento intercultural / Abstract: More than 3.3 million people worldwide are exposed to malaria. The drugs used in combating the disease already show signs of resistance. In Brazil 99% of cases occur in Legal Amazônia. It is an endemic disease in the Upper Negro River considered a sui generis cultural region, where more than 90 % of inhabitants are native speakers of 23 languages, and the forest is preserved and unknown to science. It is the first ethnobotanical work on antimalarial plants in the region. Negotiations for obtaining research permission were intense between 2010 and 2013. And the fieldwork was carried out between September 2011 and July 2012 and September and November 2013, in five indigenous communities . 46 species are used to treat malaria were recorded belonging to 24 botanical families, most native of the Amazon phytogeographical area. Cultural perceptions of the disease were recorded, as well as the name of some plants in the two major languages of the region and a study of fitonímia in Língua Geral Amazônica was made. 14 of the 46 species have scientific studies proving its antimalarial activity and 25 can be considered interesting for future scientific studies. Only five species showed consensus in use. The large number of native species used and cultural perceptions of the participants about the disease demonstrate that there is local knowledge and its application as the need for environmental and cultural protection of these area, and the urgency of programs that promote the local medical culture and assist intercultural understanding. / Doutor