The Mexican American Experience, a radio program produced by the Longhorn Radio Network, includes interviews, music, and informational programs related to the Mexican American community and their concerns. Program summary: Host Rosa Linda Fregoso explores the traditions of Curanderismo, or folk healing, within the Chicano community, and discusses its origins and scientific and spiritual basis with Dolores Estrella, a curandera, and with anthropologist Dr. Bernardo Ortiz de Montellano and psychologist Dr. Juan Chavira. Curanderas rely on a knowledge of herbs and rituals that blends ancient European and Spanish practices. Ortiz explains that while many academics believe curanderismo is based on superstition, the remedies are actually rooted in a very sophisticated understanding of botany. He explains that several recent scientific studies have proven that certain herbs do have the medicinal properties curanderos claim. He also discusses Aztec understandings of disease and cures. After the conquest, Europeans tried to suppress Aztec medicine because it was tied to religious ritual, and Ortiz explains some of the ways Aztec managed to preserve their knowledge. He also argues that in some parts of Mexico, folk healing is the only form of health care available. Fregoso then speaks with Chavira, who explains that a wide cross-section of Chicano society depends on curanderas for health care, especially those who cannot afford to see a doctor. Curanderismo is a form of traditional medicine that is rooted in the community and its resources and beliefs. Chavira argues that it treats both the spiritual and physical manifestations of illness. He then discusses how curanderas learn their craft. Fregoso then talks with Estrella who learned about healing from her grandmother. Chavira then explains some of the ways to distinguish between reputable and disreputable curanderas. Keywords: Anthropology, Aztecs, Bernardo Ortiz de Montellano, Card Reading, Catholicism, Chemistry, Colombia, Conquest, Culture, Curanderas, Curanderismo, Curanderos, Digitalis, Dolores Estrella, Flor de Manita, Folk Healers, Grandmothers, Hallucinogens, Healings, Health Care , Herbs, Hippocrates, Holistic Medicine, Humors, Indigenous Culture, Juan Chavira, Magic, Medicine, Migrants, Native Healers, Nature, Occult, Putomayo Region, Ritual, Spaniards, Spirituality, Superstitions, Traditional Medicine, Wayne State University, Witchcraft. Broadcast date: 1981-12-15.
Creator/Contributor:
Longhorn Radio Network (creator), Fregoso, Rosa Linda. (host), Ortiz, Bernardo (interviewee), Estrella, Dolores (interviewee), and Chavira, Juan Antonio (interviewee)
Date Created/Date Issued:
11/27/1981
Owning Repository:
Benson Latin American Collection, LLILAS Benson Latin American Studies and Collections, The University of Texas at Austin
sound recordings, grabaciones sonoras, radio programs, programas de radio, and Audio
Extent:
25 minutes, 8 seconds
Rights - Use and Reproduction:
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Language:
English and Spanish
Place of Publication:
Austin (Tex.)
Topic:
Mexican American women, Mujeres mexicano americanas, Aztecs, Traditional medicine, Mexican Americans--Social life and customs, Mexicano americanos--Vida social y costumbres, Ethnobotany, and Etnobotánica