TRADITIONAL MEDICINES AMONGST INDIGENOUS GROUPS IN RORAIMA, BRAZIL: A RETROSPECTIVE

Abstract

Surveys of medicinal plants and fungi among five indigenous groups in Roraima, Brazil, were identified in the 1990s but not published.  Most of the 52 species reported here were unknown in the literature for the same medicinal purpose when the data were collected, but 25 years later this has changed. Some of the ‘repeated’ data were collected in Roraima, but most were recorded elsewhere. It is likely that some of the traditional knowledge will have been lost by now, with old informants not passing their knowledge to younger generations. More work should be done on recording indigenous knowledge in Roraima, preferably by indigenous people. Efforts to recuperate traditional knowledge will benefit indigenous culture health and livelihoods.