Ethnomedicinal Matrix

Book excerpt: While examining the relationship between health, culture and medicine in post-colonial India, the dominant perspective in sociological and anthropological literature conceptualizes medicine and culture as autonomous domains and views the relationship between the two in oppositional terms where culture (lay persons' beliefs and practices) is seen largely as impeding the progress of biomedicine (allopathic, modern medicine). In this conceptual scheme, all medical knowledge systems other than biomedicine is denied any valid medical status, clubbed as culture devoid of any cognitive content, and is seen as coterminous with religion and superstition. This perspective largely ignores the ground reality of the existence of ethno-medicine among Tribal communities. Tribal contributed tremendously to the development of indigenous medical systems in India. However, their contributions have not been documented and studied properly. This book makes a modest attempt to bridge this gap and offers a platform for debate and discussion towards safeguarding and development of Tribal medicine in India.