Gathering and circulation of medicinal plants in a pluricultural context (Misiones, Argentina)

MARTINEZ, MARIA ROSA; POCHETTINO, MARIA LELIA; CRIVOS, MARTA; REMORINI, CAROLINA; SY, ANAHI

Estambul, Turquía

Congreso; IV International Congress of Ethnobotany (ICEB 2005); 2005

Yeditepe University

This investigation is developed in the communities Kaaguy Poty and Yvy Pyta of the ethnia Mbya- Guarani, settled in Kuña Piru Valley in the province of Misiones, Argentina. The environment of the area is the Paranaense forest characterized by its high biodiversity. The ethnic and cultural variability of the population that lives in Misiones stands out, which is a result of the migratory process that arrived at our country from Europe, Asia  and bordering countries at the end of XIXth  and principles of XXth  century. The contact situations in intercultural and interethnic contexts propitiate exchanges of knowledge and practices occur and consequently cause adjustments in the relationships between the Mbya and their environment. From this derives a wide range of alternatives regarding the obtaining and circulation of resources for therapeutic use. These plants are generally gathered from the wild, either for the consumption of the communities members or for the provision to other inhabitants of the zone. In the last years the commercial value of these resources has lead to an increase in the demand on the part of herbal establishments that provide medicinal plants to the national market. So, the gathering of medicinal plants by the Mbya grows as to include species which therapeutic uses are not known by the members of these communities. The gathered wild plants which are destined to commercialization are here presented, considering spaces of obtaining, ways of use and purposes. The traditional activities inserted in new contexts and regulated by market conditions are discussed.