Indigenous Knowledge System and Traditional Medicinal Practitioner

Abstract

Knowledge is widely recognized as the key resource for development. The basic component of any country’s knowledge system is its Indigenous Knowledge (IK). Over millennia, indigenous peoples have developed and sustained extremely practical systems of knowledge and behavior. Indigenous knowledge is not just confined to indigenous peoples, but all communities have developed their own body of knowledge over generations. The Tagin tribe is an indigenous group of people living at upper Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh. A study on practice of Traditional Medicine (TM) was carried out among these people based on the secondary literature collected from different libraries tribal research centers of India. The result documented 10 medicinal plants used by the Traditional Medicinal Practitioner (TMS) of Tagin tribe for use in traditional medicine. Fresh leaves, fruits, bark and stems are reported be used in TM for treatment of ailments like diarrhoea, jaundice, wound healing, fever, etc.