Medicine

Utilomar (Guettarda speciosa - Rubiaceae)

Some Marshallese medicines and their treatments are common knowledge. Other medicines and treatments are less well known. One who wishes to know more about these traditional medicines may be taught by a relative or inspired by a dream. Some knowledge about the medicinal use of plants are private, and known by only a few people. For example, the contents and method of preparation may be known by many people, but not the time for picking fruit or leaves.

It is common for medicinal formulae to utilize several plant species (and sometimes earth, coral, or other non-plant materials). When a plant is said to be "used for" a particular illness, it is likely be one of a number of ingredients and the medicine in which it is used may be only part of a complex regimen of treatment.

Much of Marshallese medicinal practice focuses on the treatment of mothers and their babies. For more information, see Traditional Medicine of the Marshall Islands: The Women, The Plants, The Treatments, by Irene J Taafaki, Maria Kabua Fowler, and Randolph R Thaman (IPS Publications, University of the South Pacific, 2006; see http://www.ipsbooks.usp.ac.fj).


Kiden (Tournefortia argentea - Boraginaceae)


Meria (Plumeria rubra - Apocynaceae)

Kōņņat (Scaevola taccada - Goodeniaceae)


Kaar (Premna serratifolia - Verbenaceae)

Nen (Morinda citrifolia - Rubiaceae)

 

 

invisible hit counter