African ethnobotany in the Americas
"'African Ethnobotany in the Americas' provides the first comprehensive examination of ethnobotanical knowledge and skills among the African Diaspora in the Americas. Leading scholars on the subject explore the complex relationship between plant use and meaning among the descendants of Africans in the New World. With the aid of archival and field research carried out in North America, South America, and the Caribbean, contributors explore the historical, environmental, and political-ecological factors that facilitated/hindered transatlantic ethnobotanical diffusion; the role of Africans as active agents of plant and plant knowledge transfer during the period of plantation slavery in the Americas; the significance of cultural resistance in refining and redefining plant-based traditions; the principal categories of plant use that resulted; the exchange of knowledge among Amerindian, European and other African people; and the changing significance of African-American ethnobotanical traditions in the 21st century. Bolstered by abundant visual content and contributions from renowned experts in the field, 'African Ethnobotany in the Americas' is an invaluable resource for students, scientists, and researchers in the field of ethnobotany and African Diaspora studies"--Provided by publisher
History
1 online resource (xii, 429 pages) : illustrations (some color), maps (some color)
9781461408369, 9781283640169, 1461408369, 1283640163
811840479
1. Introduction (Robert Voeks and John Rashford)Crops and Cultivators2. Seeds of Memory: Botanical Legacies of the African Diaspora (Judith Carney)3. Did Enslaved Africans Spark South Carolina’s 18th-Century Rice Boom? (Stanley B. Alpern) 4. African Origins of Sesame Cultivation in the Americas (Dorothea Bedigian)Handicrafts and Crafters5. By the Rivers of Babylon: The Lowcountry Basket in Slavery and Freedom (Dale Rosengarten)6. Gathering, Buying, and Growing Sweetgrass (Muhlenbergia sericea): Urbanization and Social Networking in the Sweetgrass Basket-Making Industry of Lowcountry South Carolina (Patrick T. Hurley, Brian Grabbatin, Cari Goetcheus, and Angela Halfacre)7. Marketing, Culture and Conservation Value of NTFPs: A Case Study of Afro-Ecuadorian Use of Piquigua (Heteropsis ecuadorensis, Araceae) (Maria Fadiman)8. Berimbau de Barriga: Musical Ethnobotany of the Afro-Brazilian Diaspora (James Sera and Robert Voeks)Medicinal and Spiritual Ethnofloras9. Trans-Atlantic Diaspora Ethnobotany: Legacies of West African and Iberian Mediterranean Migration in Central Cuba (Erica Moret) 10. What Makes a Plant Magical? Symbolism and Sacred Herbs in Afro-Surinamese Winti Rituals (Tinde van Andel, Sofie Ruysschaert, Kobeke Van de Putte, and Sara Groenendijk)11. Medicinal and Cooling Teas of Barbados (Sonia Peter)Ethnobotanical Continuity and Change12. Candomble's Cosmic Tree and Brazil's Ficus Species (John Rashford)13. Exploring Biocultural Contexts: Comparative Woody Plant Knowledge of an Indigenous and Afro-American Maroon Community in Suriname, South America (Bruce Hoffman)14. Ethnobotany of Brazil’s African Diaspora: The Role of Floristic Homogenization (Robert Voeks)
English