Hoodoo Medicine: Gullah Herbal Remedies

In relatively few pages, this book tackles an extraordinarily involved question: How does a culture develop its unique approach to healing? Author and medical anthropologist Mitchell provides us with insights by examining the medicinal practices of the Gullah people of the South Sea Islands who settled off the coast of South Carolina. The Gullah people are African-Americans descended from slaves who developed a distinct dialect and folk heritage due to their unique geographical isolation. Since as late the 1960s these islands were unreachable except by boat, so the Gullah learned to rely on herbal remedies for the treatment of illness, both physical and spiritual.