PP-E09

Traditions of Ethnomedicine among the Baiga Tribe of Chhattisgarh

Jitendra Kumar Premi and Dhanesh Kannouje

School of Studies in Anthropology, Pt. Ravishankar Shukla University, Raipur - 492 010, India

Corresponding author email: jitendra_rsu@yahoo.co.in

[Received 18 January 2016, accepted 29 January 2016]

Abstract: The practice of ethnomedicine among the indigenous societies is a complex multi-disciplinary system, constituting the use of plants, spirituality and the natural environment and has been the source of healing for people for millennia. Ethnomedicine refers to the study of traditional medical practice which is concerned with the cultural interpretation of health, diseases and illness and also addresses the health care seeking process and healing practices. Ethnomedicine is the medical practices which are practiced by a group of people who have their own distinct culture. They cure their diseases through their own wisdom and the vast Knowledge about biological substances. The Baiga tribe is one of seven Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) of Chhattisgarh. They mostly live in Kabirdham, Bilaspur and Surguja districts of Chhattisgarh. Interestingly their ethnic name "Baiga" means a magico-religious healer. The Baiga tribe is conventional local healer of their neighboring tribal and non-tribal communities. They have enormous traditional knowledge regarding remedies of various discases. Objectives of the present study are to explore the drugs and their preparation techniques of the Baiga tribe of Chhattisgarh and to conserve their traditional medical knowledge system through documentation. To achieve the above objectives one month fieldwork has been done at four villages of Boda gram panchayat of Bodala development blocks of Kabirdham district of Chhattisgarh. Interview guide, Case studies, Group discussions (GD) Focused Group discussions (FGD) are used for data collection from "Baiga"- the traditional healer of the Baiga ethnic group and their patients. The Baiga have remedy for complicated ill health conditions like Jaundice, Asthma, Snake bite, T.B., Bone fracture, Stone etc. Most of the drugs of the Baiga are made by specific parts of the various plants and they also used some parts of the animals for preparation of the medicine.

Keywords: Tradition, Ethnomedicine, Baiga, Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group, Chhattisgarh