Spiritual Flora of Brazil’s African Diaspora
Ethnobotanical Conversations in the Black Atlantic
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/jsrnc.v6i4.501Keywords:
Columbian exchange, ethnobotany, plant transfer, African diaspora, Candomblé, BrazilAbstract
Candomblé was introduced to Brazil by enslaved and free West Africans in the early nineteenth century. One dimension of the religion is a profound association between a pantheon of deities (the orixás) and a pharmacopoeia of magico-medicinal plants. This article explores the means by which the black diaspora was able to organize an African-inspired spiritual ethno-flora in the Americas. I argue that a cornucopia of esculent and medicinal plants had diffused back and forth across the Atlantic Ocean centuries before the arrival of most African slaves. Thus, while the primary rainforests of Africa and the Americas would have had little in common biologically, the increasing presence of exotic edible and medicinal cultivars and weeds contributed over time to their botanical similarity. This transatlantic ethnobotanical conversation greatly facilitated the ability of Brazil’s African diaspora to reconfigure their plant-based spiritual traditions in what was otherwise an alien floristic landscape.
References
Achaya, K.T. 1998. ‘Bounty from the New World’, in MacLeod and Rawski 1998: 259-82.
Adanson, M. 1759. A Voyage to Senegal, the Isle of Goree, and the River Gambia (London: J. Nourse).
Albuquerque, U. 2001. ‘The Use of Medicinal Plants by the Cultural Descendents of African People in Brazil’, Acta Farmaceutica Bonaerense 20: 139-44.
Alexiades, M. 2009. ‘Mobility and Migration in Indigenous Amazonia: Contemporary Ethnoecology Perspectives—An Introduction’, in M. Alexiades (ed.), Mobility and Migration in Indigenous Amazonia: Contemporary Ethnoecology Perspectives (New York: Berghahn): 1-43.
Alpern, S. 2008. ‘Exotic Plants of Western Africa: Where They Came From and When’, History in Africa 35: 63-102. Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/hia.0.0018.
Anagnostou, S. 2007. ‘The International Transfer of Medicinal Drugs by the Society of Jesus (Sixteenth to Eighteenth Centuries) and Connections with the Work of Carolus Clusius’, in F. Egmond, P. Hoftijzer, and R. Visser (eds.), Carolus Clusius (Amsterdam: Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences): 293-313.
Balick, M. et al. 2000. ‘Medicinal Plants Used by Latino Healers for Women’s Health Conditions in New York City’, Economic Botany 54.3: 344-57. Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF02864786.
Bancroft, E. 1769. Essay on the Natural History of Guiana, in South America (London: T. Becket & P.R. DeHondt).
Bennett, B., M. Baker, and P. Andrade. 2002. Ethnobotany of the Shuar of Eastern Ecuador (Advances in Economic Botany, 14; Bronx: New York Botanical Garden Press).
Brazeal, B. 2007. ‘Blood, Money and Fame: Nago Magic in the Bahian Backlands’ (PhD diss., University of Chicago).
Cabrera, L. 1971. El Monte (Miami: n.p.).
Camargo, M. 2005. ‘Estudo Etnobotánico da Mandioca (Maniot esculenta Crantz Euphorbiaceae) na Diaspora Africana’, in Anais do Seminário Gastronomia de Gilberto Freyre (Recife, Pernambuco: Fundacão Gilberto Freyre): 22-30.
Cañizares-Esguerra, J. 2006. Nature, Empire, and Nation: Explorations of the History of Science in the Iberian World (Stanford: Stanford University Press).
Cardim, F. 1939 [1584]. Tratados da Terra e Gente do Brasil (São Paulo: n.p.).
Carneiro, E. 1948. Candomblés da Bahia (Bahia: Editora Tecnoprint).
Carney, J., and R. Rosomoff. 2009. In the Shadow of Slavery: Africa’s Botanical Legacy in the Atlantic World (Berkeley: University of California Press).
Cartas Jesuíticas. 1933. Cartas, Informacões, Fragmentos Históricas e Sermões do Padre Joseph de Anchieta, S.J. (1554–1594) (Rio de Janeiro: Civilização Brasileira).
Ceuterick, M., I. Vandebroek, and A. Pieroni. 2011. ‘Resilience of Andean Urban Ethnobotanies: A Comparison of Medicinal Plant Use among Bolivian and Peruvian Migrants in the United Kingdom and in their Countries of Origin’, Journal of Ethnopharmacology 136: 27-54. Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2011.03.038.
Chambers, N. (ed.). 2000. The Letters of Sir Joseph Banks: A Selection, 1768–1820 (London: Imperial College Press). Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1142/9781848160262.
Chazdon, R.L., and F.G. Coe. 1999. ‘Ethnobotany of Woody Species in Second-Growth, Old-Growth, and Selectively Logged Forests of Northeastern Costa Rica’, Conservation Biology 13: 1312-22. Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1523-1739.1999.98352.x.
Clement, C. 1999. ‘1492 and the Loss of Amazonian Crop Genetic Resources: The Relation between Domestication and Human Population Decline’, Economic Botany 53: 188-202. Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF02866498.
Crosby, A.W. 1972: The Columbian Exchange: Biological and Cultural Consequences of 1492 (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press).
Dalziel, J.M. 1948. Useful Plants of West Tropical Africa (London: Crown Agents for the Colonies).
de Acosta, J. 1970 [1604]. The Natural and Moral History of the Indies (trans. E. Grimston; The Hakluyt Society, 61.2; New York: Burt Franklin).
Dean, W. 1987. Brazil and the Struggle for Rubber: A Study in Environmental History (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
de Barros, J.F.P. 1983. ‘Ewé O Osányin: Sistema de Classi
Adanson, M. 1759. A Voyage to Senegal, the Isle of Goree, and the River Gambia (London: J. Nourse).
Albuquerque, U. 2001. ‘The Use of Medicinal Plants by the Cultural Descendents of African People in Brazil’, Acta Farmaceutica Bonaerense 20: 139-44.
Alexiades, M. 2009. ‘Mobility and Migration in Indigenous Amazonia: Contemporary Ethnoecology Perspectives—An Introduction’, in M. Alexiades (ed.), Mobility and Migration in Indigenous Amazonia: Contemporary Ethnoecology Perspectives (New York: Berghahn): 1-43.
Alpern, S. 2008. ‘Exotic Plants of Western Africa: Where They Came From and When’, History in Africa 35: 63-102. Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/hia.0.0018.
Anagnostou, S. 2007. ‘The International Transfer of Medicinal Drugs by the Society of Jesus (Sixteenth to Eighteenth Centuries) and Connections with the Work of Carolus Clusius’, in F. Egmond, P. Hoftijzer, and R. Visser (eds.), Carolus Clusius (Amsterdam: Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences): 293-313.
Balick, M. et al. 2000. ‘Medicinal Plants Used by Latino Healers for Women’s Health Conditions in New York City’, Economic Botany 54.3: 344-57. Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF02864786.
Bancroft, E. 1769. Essay on the Natural History of Guiana, in South America (London: T. Becket & P.R. DeHondt).
Bennett, B., M. Baker, and P. Andrade. 2002. Ethnobotany of the Shuar of Eastern Ecuador (Advances in Economic Botany, 14; Bronx: New York Botanical Garden Press).
Brazeal, B. 2007. ‘Blood, Money and Fame: Nago Magic in the Bahian Backlands’ (PhD diss., University of Chicago).
Cabrera, L. 1971. El Monte (Miami: n.p.).
Camargo, M. 2005. ‘Estudo Etnobotánico da Mandioca (Maniot esculenta Crantz Euphorbiaceae) na Diaspora Africana’, in Anais do Seminário Gastronomia de Gilberto Freyre (Recife, Pernambuco: Fundacão Gilberto Freyre): 22-30.
Cañizares-Esguerra, J. 2006. Nature, Empire, and Nation: Explorations of the History of Science in the Iberian World (Stanford: Stanford University Press).
Cardim, F. 1939 [1584]. Tratados da Terra e Gente do Brasil (São Paulo: n.p.).
Carneiro, E. 1948. Candomblés da Bahia (Bahia: Editora Tecnoprint).
Carney, J., and R. Rosomoff. 2009. In the Shadow of Slavery: Africa’s Botanical Legacy in the Atlantic World (Berkeley: University of California Press).
Cartas Jesuíticas. 1933. Cartas, Informacões, Fragmentos Históricas e Sermões do Padre Joseph de Anchieta, S.J. (1554–1594) (Rio de Janeiro: Civilização Brasileira).
Ceuterick, M., I. Vandebroek, and A. Pieroni. 2011. ‘Resilience of Andean Urban Ethnobotanies: A Comparison of Medicinal Plant Use among Bolivian and Peruvian Migrants in the United Kingdom and in their Countries of Origin’, Journal of Ethnopharmacology 136: 27-54. Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2011.03.038.
Chambers, N. (ed.). 2000. The Letters of Sir Joseph Banks: A Selection, 1768–1820 (London: Imperial College Press). Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1142/9781848160262.
Chazdon, R.L., and F.G. Coe. 1999. ‘Ethnobotany of Woody Species in Second-Growth, Old-Growth, and Selectively Logged Forests of Northeastern Costa Rica’, Conservation Biology 13: 1312-22. Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1523-1739.1999.98352.x.
Clement, C. 1999. ‘1492 and the Loss of Amazonian Crop Genetic Resources: The Relation between Domestication and Human Population Decline’, Economic Botany 53: 188-202. Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF02866498.
Crosby, A.W. 1972: The Columbian Exchange: Biological and Cultural Consequences of 1492 (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press).
Dalziel, J.M. 1948. Useful Plants of West Tropical Africa (London: Crown Agents for the Colonies).
de Acosta, J. 1970 [1604]. The Natural and Moral History of the Indies (trans. E. Grimston; The Hakluyt Society, 61.2; New York: Burt Franklin).
Dean, W. 1987. Brazil and the Struggle for Rubber: A Study in Environmental History (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
de Barros, J.F.P. 1983. ‘Ewé O Osányin: Sistema de Classi
Published
2013-02-15
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Voeks, R. (2013). Spiritual Flora of Brazil’s African Diaspora: Ethnobotanical Conversations in the Black Atlantic. Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture, 6(4), 501-522. https://doi.org/10.1558/jsrnc.v6i4.501
