Extracting tradition: Nature, culture, and power in the ethnobotany of Belize

This work describes the complex sociocultural interactions between several herbal healers in Belize and the North American ethnobotanists and writers who seek them out and celebrate them. One key figure in this is the North American alternative health specialist and author Rosita Arvigo, who has published a popular account of her studies with the widely respected Maya healer, Elijio Panti. Her books promote the idea that she alone respected Panti's work enough to be considered his protege and true heir of his craft.; In Chapter One of this dissertation, Arvigo's work is contextualized through ethnographic encounters with several healers who work with Arvigo, many of whom dispute her claims. An analysis is offered of the literary traditions centered on cultural authenticity, "salvaging" vanishing cultures, New Age practices, North American healing visions of "the Indian," and ethnobotany. These are contrasted with evidence of the diversity and hybridity of local healing traditions in Belize. Also, the local discourses for and against Arvigo are analyzed in terms of their representations of culture and claims of authenticity.; In Chapter Two, a comprehensive overview of botanical discovery and plant-derived medicine in Belize is offered, with such practices contextualized in the overall role of botany in European imperialism and exploration. Several representative texts from the 19th and 20th centuries are analyzed in terms of the cultural ideologies of nature and culture upon which they are premised.; Chapter Three offers detailed portraits of fourteen healers and herb collectors, with extensive excerpts from field notes and recorded interviews. These are presented and analyzed in light of the themes explored in the previous two chapters.; The final chapter then takes a pragmatic turn, with a review of Intellectual Property Rights and other frameworks for valuing local knowledge when it is the subject of scientific research. These ideas, as they are tentatively implemented on a global scale, are considered with reference to the particulars of herbal healing in Belize and the research that has been carried out there.