An Ethnographic Investigation of Medicinal Foods of Santal and the Role of Santal Women in Preserving Traditional Medical Knowledge System

Abstract

The Santal traditional knowledge system is deeply rooted in their connection to nature, cultural heritage, and community values. This knowledge exists across all domains of scientific disciplines like environment and ecology, agriculture, medicine, ethnopharmacology, etc. The Santal traditional knowledge system significantly impacts the social and economic aspects of Santal society. The present study was conducted in the village Kathikund in the Dumka district of Jharkhand in May during summer. The researcher has tried to document a few medicinal plants commonly used as medicinal food by the Santal people. Traditional medicinal system offers extensive documentation of the connection between food and medicine. The researcher observed medicinal herbs by participating in the kitchen garden, indicating an in-depth understanding of medicinal herbs from the kitchen garden. Local healers from the village were contacted to assist in identifying commonly used medicinal plant species in Kathikund. The main goal was to identify the commonly cultivated medicinal plant species in kitchen gardens and assess their medicinal properties and applications. The research employed standard ethnobotanical methods, including participant observation, free listing, interviews, and plant identification exercises. Santal women possess excellent knowledge in food processing and preservation to achieve adequate food supply for the family members. Among Santal, drumstick leaves (moringa oleifera) are consumed in their daily dietary form of soup, leaf mixed with pulses(dal), rice porridge, or it is observed dried chutney. During summer, Moringa oleifera leaves are dried and packed in a glass jar to use in their daily diet. It is observed that the Santal women are responsible for preserving the leaves of drumsticks as a source of food security for the household. Santal tribal women are totally dependent on natural resources available in their vicinity, and they try to utilize indigenous methods to obtain food ingredients. The researcher also collected herbarium specimens for fifteen medicinal plants identified and submitted at the Dept of Botany SKM University (Dumka).