Atividade dos raizeiros na Cidade de Goiás : uma prática para subsistência econômica ou manutenção de uma cultura popular?

Abstract

Raizeiros represent a cultural group that learned not only to cultivate plants and exploring them in the field, as well as using them to make medicines. Such way of using plants with medicinal principles is known as popular medicine, which is opposed to traditional medicine due to, among other factors, from the cultural tradition reference it represents. In the city of Goiás the presence of several root and plant traders is quite representative medicinal products, or even from people, who, even though they don't sell them, prescribe to their friends and neighbors, the use of medicinal plants as medicines against various types of illnesses. The present work aims to analyze the activity of the city of Goiás-GO in the economic and mainly cultural spheres, seeking understand how the relationships between subjects occur with this knowledge that represents the folk medicine. Interviews were carried out with twenty-two root producers, addressing themes such as the origin of this knowledge, its practical use, possibility dissemination of this knowledge and what this activity represents in your family income. Interviews were also carried out with doctors, health pastoral agents and patients, who were asked about the importance of practicing medicine popular, whether doctors approve or disapprove of this habit and what doctors think patients when diagnosed by root doctors and doctors. In a way In general, it was observed that the practice of popular medicine is well accepted by Vilaboense society, in addition to representing a double role in the lives of the raiseiros, one being economic and the other cultural. In terms of culture, there is a clear concern of the rooters with the perpetuation of the knowledge of popular medicine, low cost and considered efficient, in addition to being considered ecological medicine, a since the activities carried out by the roots have an environmental nature, strong importance for the preservation of the Cerrado biome. On the other hand, the rooters They are also traders, and seek profits to supplement their income, or even, maintain themselves through income generated from the trade of plants and roots medicinal.