The thesis examines the process of social change among Tharaka agao (healers) in the Meru District of Kenya: it analyzes the rationale of the social and cultural processes involved for an existing occupation to become a recognized professional activity in modern Kenya. The thesis argues that a radical redefinition of professional 'jurisdictions' is required in the medical field. The concept of 'jurisdiction' is discussed here in metaphorical terms in order to question the common assumption that professionalization in the Western-type is the only possible model of development for African healers. The first part of the thesis, after information related to the structural and cultural context of Tharaka, provides an overview of the Tharaka experience of management of illness, with an emphasis on health-seeking behaviour and the division of labour in health care. The second part establishes the cultural boundaries of the healing 'jurisdiction' of the Ugao and the mechanisms used to gain the claimed control over it: this is done by presenting and analyzing the ethnographic material which I collected during a period of apprenticeship with three Tharaka healers. The third part investigates the social dimension involved in the development of that 'jurisdiction', by examining group formation among healers and the problems generated within the emerging profession. It also considers the matter of integration of Tharaka healers within the local health care system through an analysis of their interrelationship with the biomedical personnel and the health care facilities. Finally, it discusses the problem of legitimation the whole process of professional development raises at the local and national level.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Duquesne University, 2007. / Title from document title page. Abstract included in electronic submission form. Includes bibliographical references (p. 196-206) and index.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1986. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 305-328).

Thesis (doctoral)--Rijksuniversiteit te Leiden, 1985. / Vita. Includes indexes. Bibliography: p. 357-372.

The study records thaumaturgic methods of curing and preventing illness and misfortune as practiced by curandeiros (curers, folk doctors) using an ethnographic-linguistic approach based on fieldwork in the Reconcavo area of the State of Bahia in Northeast Brazil. The Reconcavo is a fairly narrow strip of land surrounding the Bay of All the Saints with its social and economic focus at Salvador, the capital of Bahia State. The study is structured to give particular attention to an examination of the religious based on which these practices may be founded, to include condomble, a religion of African origin which became rooted in this area with the importation of slaves, principally from west Africa from the middle of the sixteenth century to the middle of the of the nineteenth; Catholicism as introduced by the Portuguese and other Iberian colonizers; indigenous religions and Spiritism. Points of similarity in curing methods that may have existed among African, Puropean and indigenous cultures represented in the Reconcavo are also examined in an attempt trace how some of these similarities may have fused in a gradual process of syncretism to produce corandeirismo as it exists in the area today. The study is concluded with an assessment of the extent to which curandeirismo is practiced in the Reconcavo and the likelihood of its survival. Proceeding from a brief historical survey of the Reconcavo and its colonization, development and economy, the writer examines the different religious currents brought by colonization and population movement, giving a resume of the main doctrines of Spiritism and an account of traditional Candomble to include an exposition of the patterns of belief on which the present Candomble de caboclo is based. He then discusses the persistence and evolution of African religion in Brazil, and the dual role of the priest and curer in African-based religion. Aspects of the curing process such as ritual beating, fumigation, bathing and symbolic purgation of evil are then examined, together with details of ritual procedure and the incantations which accompany many of them. Powders and herbs, their properties and uses are then analysed, the function and composition of amulets in preventing and curing illness is then studied, as is the use of curing prayers, a number of which are transcribed and annotated. The study is illustrated with maps and photographs. Herbs employed in the rituals discussed are listed in appendices, and there is a glossary of non-English terms.

In most African communities, the concept of disease goes beyond physical and mental pain. To many, societal imbalance, bad-luck, poverty and misery, misfortune, continuous unemployment and a host of others are treated as diseases. Despite biomedical attempts to explain and treat diseases, an ancient system of healing (traditional medicine) continues to thrive in Africa. The World Health Organization (WHO) has since recognized and encouraged governments to accept traditional medicine as an alternative healthcare; to adopt healthcare policies that will promote traditional medicine. Despite this call for recognition, most governments are still reluctant to officially incorporate traditional healing into healthcare policies. Countries which have recognized the relevance of traditional medicine face greater challenges on modalities to control and include traditional medicine into mainstream healthcare. This study is concerned with the role and contribution of African traditional medicine to healthcare, in an era of biomedicine. It provides a public and self assessment of traditional healers. The study also raises concerns on the need for healthcare policies that will enhance cooperation between traditional healing and biomedicine. Information was obtained through the use of questionnaires, in depth and face-to-face interviews with respondents. The actual field research was conducted in Qokolweni location in the King Sabatha Dalindyebo (KSD) district municipality of Eastern Cape Province, Republic of South Africa. Findings reveal that traditional healers handle and manage complex hospital diagnosed health conditions. It also reveals that perceptions on disease aetiology influence health seeking behaviour. It is therefore necessary to understand the efforts of traditional healers in order to formulate healthcare policies that would officially involve them in the mainstream healthcare in South Africa. It is noticeable that traditional healing is not only limited to Qokolweni. It occurs mutatis mutandis else wherein the Eastern Cape and in the whole of South Africa.

This thesis investigated the integration of pharmacological and phytochemical data of medicinal plants from the Cree of Eeyou Istchee in Northern Quebec. Data from these 17 plant extracts were assessed for patterns of biological activity and chemical signals that could be explained by taxonomic or plant organ groupings. The Squamish medicinal plant Oplopanax horridus (Sm.) Miq. was also assessed for enzyme inhibition activity across multiple extracts and for bioactive compounds using an untargeted metabolomics approach. A comprehensive data set was assembled documenting the relative activities on the 17 plant extracts in 69 cell-free and cell-based bioassays covering activity on glucohomeostasis, effects of hyperglycemia, and capacity for enzyme inhibition. Multivariate analysis suggests that the leaf part extracts are particularly associated with antioxidant and antiglycation activities, while another discrete group of extracts associate strongly with other sets of glucohomeostasis assays. The activity of extracts on enzyme inhibition appears to be the factor most strongly driving the majority of activity patterns, likely because extracts that interact strongly with more metabolic enzymes will have more effects on other targets in the body. The phytochemical profiles of the Cree medicinal plants were assessed in two ways. First, spectroscopic and chromatographic data for the plant extracts was compared to a database of phytochemical standards using a proprietary Waters software, UNIFI, to match known signals of chemical standards to unidentified peaks in the plant extracts. Second, similarly collected spectroscopic data for the Cree plant extracts was processed using the software MZMine for multivariate analysis in R, revealing the chemical diversity of the bark extracts in relation to the fruit and leaf extracts. Additionally, marker signals were determined for major sample groupings, and the capacity for this analytical approach to be used to tentatively identify unique compounds was demonstrated. Through bioassay guided fractionation of the O. horridus inner bark extract using the CYP 3A4 inhibition assay, the DCM subfraction midway through the non-polar elution on open column chromatography was determined to be the most potent. This fraction contained 10 major peaks on HPLC-DAD analysis. The hot water extract was found to have negligible activity on CYP 3A4 inhibition. Together, this research provides the first integrated look at the pharmacological and phytochemical data from across the Cree anti-diabetic medicinal plants in a statistical way, as well as providing a first look at O. horridus for inclusion in the anti-diabetes project.

Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in the Department of African Languages in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2004. / lolu lucwaningo loluphatselene nenhlonipho nemitselel,a yayo esiveni semaSwati. luhleleke ngetehluko letisihlanu kantsi lugcile kakhulu kumaSwati latfolakala ngekhatsi eveni lase5watini. 5ehluko 1. Sendlalela lucwaningo ngekuchaza ngenhlonipho jikelele, sivete tinhloso telucwaningo, tindlela tekucwaninga kanye nemkhawulo welucwaningo. Sigcina ngekuveta umlandvo wemaSwati kafishane. Sehluko 2. Siveta inhlonipho letfolakala kuletindzawo letilandzelako; emphakatsi, etikolweni, emasontfweni kanye nasemihlanganweni. Siphindze sivete inhlonipho legcanyiswa bantfu labadvuna nalabasikati ngekwehlukana kwetigaba taboo 5ehluko 3. Sichaza kabanti ngenhlonipho yesive semaSwati, siphindze sibuke inhlonipho legcama etibhimbini nasemikhosini lemikhulu yesive lehambisana nemasiko nemihambo yemaSwati lengiyona isekele sive. 5ehluko 4. Sibuka kuteka kanye nalamanye emasiko esiSwati lapho kufike kugcame inhlonipho yawo, lokufaka ekhatsi kufa nemisimeto lephatselene nako. Siphindze sibuke tinanatelo nelulwimi ngeligalelo letinalo ekugcamiseni inhlonipho kanye nekuyifundzisa kulabasakhula. 5ehluko 5. Sisongela ndzawonye konkhe lokutse kwacwaningwa ngako kulolucwaningo. Sibuye siphawule ngalokutfolakele elucwaningweni, siphindze sivete netincomo.

Dissertation submitted in fulfilment for the Degree of Master of Education in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Zululand, 2001. / This research study examined the prospect and scope for traditional medicine in the South African education support services. The first aim was to assess teachers' perceptions of the need for traditional medicine practices in the school. The second aim was to investigate the problems experienced by learners which require traditional medicine practices as solutions vvithin the school. The third aim was to determine the procedures that can be followed in order to provide traditional medicine to meet the learners' needs. The fourth aim was to provide certain guidelines regarding traditional medicine intervention vWthin a school. The fifth aim was to find whether teachers' perceptions of traditional medicine in schools are influenced by the teachers' characteristics. Lastly, to find out whether there is any agreement among ranks assigned by the respondents to: <job opportunities amenable to creation through the use of traditional medicine. ❖ Afflictions amenable to treatment by traditional medicine. A Likert scale was constructed to measure the areas indicated by the aforementioned aims of study. The quantifying instrument was administered to a representative sample of teachers. Sixty six completed questionnaires were analysed. The Chi-square Test and frequency distribution methods were used to analyse data. The important findings revealed that teachers endorsed scale items on positive rather than negative perceptions.

The study examines the socio-demographic characteristics of Traditional Medical Practitioners in Ghana. Their attitudes towards collaboration with biomedical practitioners, their associations, and regulation is also discussed. Data for the study was obtained from a Survey of Traditional Medical Practitioners in Ghana.