Customer Reviews

Healing Herbs of the Upper Rio Grand: Traditional Medicine of the Southwest

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Living in the Southwestern Chihuahuan desert, I am always on the search for sources of information regarding local flora and particularly ethnobotanical uses of plants. This is an excellent guide originally published in 1947 and edited by Michael Moore who I consider to be an expert on herbal uses of native southwestern plants. For anyone interested in this subject, a fabulous resource to have in your library!

Laura Curtin lived and worked among the curanderas and Native Americans of Northern New Mexico during the early part of the twentieth century. She fell in love with the plants and their lore, and later, at the prompting of a friend, decided to record them. Healing Herbs was first published in 1947, at a time when interest in traditional healing in Northern New Mexico was in decline. It helped preserve traditional information for a new generation -- when editor Michael Moore arrived in Santa Fe in the 1960s he found copies of Curtin's book as a prized possession in many traditional households. The book is unique in the literature of ethnobotany in that it was written essentially by an insider in the tradition, rather than by an observer doing interviews.

Has lots of into on healing herbs specific to this area. If you live in the area or are planning to visit, and are interested in herbology, this is a great reference to have.

I agree with the other reviewers--this is a fantastic book with excellent information. Too often, this kind of ethnobotanical information is lost over time, when the information is not passed down over the generations.

I rate the book three stars only as a cautionary to anyone looking for a book which will help them identify medicinal plants--this is not that book! There are some (Some!) black & white photos at the end, but there are no physical descriptions of any of the plants. Curtin does provide the Spanish, English, and Latin name for each plant, but overall, this book is for people who have already identified the plants, and now want to know what to use them for. Since some of the plants discussed are, for example, the garden onion and pinto beans, this may not be as much of a hardship as you might imagine. Her list of "herbs" is really quite complete.