The method of research was that anthropologists conducted fieldwork in Central and South America between the indigenous people of Tzeltal Maya (Chiapas, Mexico, 1995), Kamayurá (Mato Grosso, Brazil, 1999), and Uru-Chipaya (Bolivian Andes, 2004). They gathered information from shamans and healers about epilepsy beliefs and about traditional cures and treatments.
In 1995, we visited the 250-strong Mahosik community with a Spanish-Tzeltar interpreter. Tzeltal people call epilepsy (meaning "person that breathes anxiously or shocking") tub tub ikal. It usually reaches a person in adulthood and stays in his blood. This disease is caused by the spirit of an animal who attacked the man when a man takes up the fight with good and bad souls. It is believed that every man has a protective animal. These protective animal souls live on top of the sacred mountains and share their destiny with men. Such animals include jaguars, cougars, eagles, and other animals, depending on the social rank of the man. But the protective animal of evil tries to teach the protective animal of healthy man the secrets of witchcraft. This good and bad spiritual animal struggles with epilepsy. Although there is no effective antidote for epilepsy, a combination of plants is commonly used: kaxlam tunim (similar to wild cotton) and cheneh pox soil. The dry plant and its seeds are mixed and then diluted in cold water for a week. Unfortunately, we were unable to identify the plants.
Kamagra people live in two small villages in Brazil. Their traditional "health care" consists of a shaman and a wizard. One heals with plants, the other with words. In the Kamakura community, epilepsy is called teaware, which is revenge for the spirit of the tattoo (mama's) after it is killed by a hunter. The disease is treated by having two roots, time, and wewurú (certain plants and animals could not be classified, so they were recorded under the names they used). These are kneaded and diluted with water. Some shamans say even withdrawing food is a good treatment option. Some people believe that the prognosis for epilepsy also depends on how seriously the patient adheres to their diet, where fresh fish, chicken, meat, and alcohol should be excluded.
Uru-Chipaya live 4,000 meters high in the Bolivian mountains. For anthropologists, this native group is a living relic. Since their language is spread by word of mouth, no written form has perpetuated it. This language, which is never "described," is called piquing. In 2004, chipaya shamans and healers were interviewed.
The Chipata people gave epilepsy the name Tukuri and associate it with witchcraft. According to them, this disease enters people’s noses and heads like the wind. (“Tukuri enters due to a bad desire and remains inside the bones, the muscles or sometimes in the head”)
Shamans claimed to have 10 patients with epilepsy, of which we interviewed only 3, and we believe there were those who had secondary generalized or generalized tonic-clonic seizures. Unfortunately, no EEG examination was performed.
From the reports, many known types of epileptic seizures could be distinguished: major seizure (“the worst attack occurs when a person falls down to the ground like a dead person.”), Atonic seizure, oculogyria seizure (an acute dystonic reaction affecting the eye-moving muscles. , conjugated bulbous deviation, which most often occurs after administration of Torecan, and memory loss after a seizure.
One of the shamans even reported a death after a seizure: "the subject is subjected to a seizure attack while working on the farm. He takes care of his lambs, and then suddenly falls, falls asleep, and dies."
Indigenous people believe that epilepsy is caused by either physical violence or some family problem. One shaman claimed that the cause of epilepsy was that a father had beaten his son so hard with a stick until he fainted. His son will have seizures because he has brain damage. And another native woman thought, “She has epilepsy because when she“ spins ”all night (women usually work until midnight in a primitive loom, from which then traditional chipaya dresses are made), then I go to bed at four in the morning. he comes and goes into my mouth and into my nose. I will have a fit because I have worked too much. " From this it can be concluded that sleep deprivation may have been the trigger for him. Epilepsy in children is thought to improve only if the behavior of the mother of the sick child changes. If the mother does not apologize, one of her children will suffer from epilepsy. They can apologize in two ways: if the family has a lot of cattle, they have to make an animal sacrifice. The neck of the cattle is cut off and the blood spilled from it is used to cure a child with epilepsy. Another way to apologize, in case the family has no cattle, will be several days of crying and apologizing will heal the child.
But chypaja natives do not just perform ritual animal sacrifices (willancha). There is also a cure for epilepsy when more dried insects and bird blood are used. Some say winged ants (curupancho) should be eaten, "the insects that come out in the rainy weather." Insects are collected, dried, and ground. boil with hot water and then filter. The patient should drink from it every night, Thursday and Friday, for 3 weeks. These days are magical, sacred, ceremonial days for the natives. Similarly, even the butterfly or cave has a healing effect. The third method of treatment is done with the help of the bird of aspen, which also appears in the rainy months. This bug must be fully boiled, along with its wings, and fed with epilepsy. They even use a pigeon to have their head cut off and their blood eaten.
From all of this, we can conclude that these Native American cultures have developed an oral spread of knowledge about epilepsy based on magical-religious traditions. Because they have no religion, they do not consider this disease to be of demonic origin (perhaps some animal spirit is the cause of the disease). Some plants used by shamans have toxic, anticonvulsant effects (i.e., anticonvulsants).
It is true that in many natives, epilepsy is frightening because there is no cure for it, but it still did not seem to be clearly stigmatized. No negative social attitudes towards people with epilepsy (rejection, discrimination, exclusion) were found.
Source: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/6323474_An_Anthropological_Study_about_Epilepsy_in_Native_Tribes_from_Central_and_South_America
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