Author: Natasha Duarte

Contributed by Rajeev Goyal When the foothill region, known as the “Chure Bawar” or “Little Himalayas,” was first settled, Amrit Bahadur Rai founded the Sawitri Primary School in Yangshila village in 1969, and served as its first headmaster and teacher. Today, Amrit Baaje (“Grandfather Amrit”), as he is known, is also the most knowledgeable medicinal plant expert of Yangshila. He can be found living in a two-story home constructed of...

Contributed by Karim-Aly Kassam Indigenous peoples have the right to their traditional medicines and to maintain their health practices, including the conservation of their vital medicinal plants, animals and minerals. Indigenous individuals also have the right to access, without any discrimination, to all social and health services (United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, 2007, Article 24, Section 1). Sovereignty is...

Contributed by Alain Cuerrier and Sarah-Lan Mathez-Stiefel This issue of the ISE Newsletter focuses on ethnomedicine, sometimes used as a synonym for traditional or indigenous medicine. Ethnomedicine usually refers to the health beliefs, knowledge and practices derived from indigenous cultures, as opposed to the conceptual and practical frameworks of biomedicine or modern medicine, a misnomer since ethnomedicine is still a modern tool in many...