The player will show in this paragraph
The Kenyah Leppo` Ke of Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo) rely heavily on plants grown and gathered for healing a wide range of health complaints. For the Kenyah, sensory evaluation of plants plays a critical role in the selection and use of botanical therapies. This lecture explores the biological evidence for sensory selection criteria of medicinal plants in relation to cultural understandings of modes of action and efficacy. The meaningful taste and smell qualities of bitterness, astringency and more, mirror widespread patterns of interpretation and use found in other plant-dependent medicinal systems around the world. Subordinate categories of the Kenyah sensory domain such as the property nglidah, accentuate the subtleties and sophistication of perception, interpretation and application that guide native therapeutic systems. Although harder to typecast, this elusive property that characterizes different species is in fact distinguished by a number of chemotaxonomic and pharmacological commonalities. The chemical constituents of less obvious sensory attributes has significant implications for the field of ethnobotany. In this episode key questions about Kenyah approaches to illness and healing are addressed. Medicinal taxa are discussed in terms of effectiveness. The theoretical framework that guided research in Kanyah communities is also discussed.
Production Credits
Presented by: Lisa X.Gollin
Themes and Content by: Isabella Abbott, Al Keali'i Chock, Will McClatchey, My Lien Nguyen, Tamara
Ticktin, and David Webb
Series Special Presentations and Content by:
Tony A.B. Cunningham, Catherine Davenport, Orou Gaoue, Lisa X. Gollin, Y. Han
Lau, Spencer Leinweber, Mark Merlin, Levon ‘ohai, Joseph Ostraff, Melinda
Ostraff, Orlo Steele, Clay Trauernicht, Art Whistler, Namaka Whitehead, and
Kawika Winter
Post Production Critique by: Al Keali'i Chock,
Momi Kamahele, Kiope Raymond, and University of Hawai`i at Manoa Botany 105
Students (Fall 2005)
Camera Work by: David Reedy, David Strauch, and
Michael B. Thomas
Video and Sound Editing by: Markus Faigle, David
Reedy, David Strauch, and Michael B. Thomas
Audio Production by: Will McClatchey and David
Reedy
Consulting by: Edo Biagoni, Kim Bridges, Pauline
Chinn, Valerie McClatchey, Hae Okimoto, Nelda Quinsell, and Ingelia White
Funding provided by: University of Hawai'i,
Department of Botany; University of Hawai'i, Information Technology Services;
University of Hawai'i, College of Natural Sciences; University of Hawai'i,
Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs; National Center for Academic
Transformation; and University of Hawai'i at Manoa, Chancellor
Inspiration from:
Isabella Abbott, Michael Balick, Brad Bennett, Brent Berlin, Paul Cox, Memory
Elvin-Lewis, Timothy Johns, Beatrice Krauss, Walter Lewis, Richard Evans
Schultes, Gail Wagner and the members of The Society for Economic Botany.
Video Options (39 min)
AVI (2008)
Quick Time (2008)
MPEG (2007)
Quick Time (2006)
If you are using Windows Media Player and are having difficulty viewing any of the videos above you might want to download the latest DivX Codec.
Readings
Standage, T. 2005. A History of the World in 6 Glasses. Walker & Company, New York
Audio (39 min)
Files