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Katie Nolan

Erin Rogers

Writing 1010

10 October 2017

Herbal Remedies of New Mexico

When my grandfather was nine, a nail stabbed straight through his foot. He stepped on it

while exploring his family’s chicken coop as young boys in New Mexico do, and like most

young boys in New Mexico in 1947, he did not go to the doctor. Instead, his little grandmother

put sugar on two pieces of bread, pressed them against each wound, and wrapped his foot tightly

with fabric. She reassured him that he was fine and had him drink some of her mystery medicine.

Not long after, he was: his wound healed, and he had no tetanus or lockjaw to speak of. When

my grandfather ate mothballs that he mistook for candy, he had to have his stomach pumped at a

hospital, but nevertheless still owes his quick recovery to his little grandmother’s medicine. No

matter the ailment- cut, cough, fever, stomach ache- she always had a solution in her medicine

book or cure inside one of her herb jars, waiting to be boiled down and drunk hastily at any

moment. My grandmother, also from northern New Mexico, has similar experiences from her

childhood of herbal remedies making their presence whenever pain or sickness occurred. I grew

up listening to these stories, their drama and intrigue recounted through bites of chile verde and

sopaipillas, the state dish of New Mexico. Herbal remedies are an important part of my

connection to my family, and I wanted to explore their influence on history and culture to

understand the lives of my grandparents and ancestors.

My family is not alone in their dependence on herbal remedies. They have been a crucial

part of New Mexican culture and medicine long before Spanish Conquistadors moved onto the
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region in the 1598 (Torrez). By that time, the Apache, Navajo, and Pueblo tribes had already

lived in the area for thousands of years and cultivated a rich catalogue of plants and herbs used

for healing and cooking. However, as the region changed hands from Spanish, Mexican, and

ultimately American rule, its culture transformed too, and the herbal remedies my grandparents

relied on as children are a unique blend of each of these medicinal traditions (“Herbs, Plants, and

Healing Properties”). For example, important plants like yerba buena are native to the New

Mexico, but the important spice anise was brought to Spain by the Moors and consequently

spread to the region during colonization (Chavez 6). This concoction of different influences

reflect the larger cultural mishmash of New Mexico.

Cultural contact often turns into cultural clash, and there was plenty between the native

people of New Mexico and European settlers. Many indigenous people converted to Catholicism,

adopted Spanish names, and lived in Spanish settlements, but nevertheless tension persisted

(Chavez 50). Spanish oppression of native people is perhaps less obvious or cruel than in other

parts of America, but it still existed, and herbal remedies played their part in an unexpected way:

witchcraft. Most european settlers in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries were fully steeped in

religion, superstition, and fears of witchcraft. Spanish residents were very afraid of indigenous

healers and medicine men, who they believe had entered into compact with the devil. Settlers

often accused native people of of bewitching, controlling, and sometimes killing other Spanish

with powerful decoctions of herbs and plants, a felony punishable by death. Tibo J. Chavez

recounts in New Mexican Folklore of the Rio Abajo a trial of this exact nature. Melchor Trujillo,

an Indigenous resident of Albuquerque, New Mexico, was accused of bewitching Bicente Garcia

and his wife with potions and idols. Many Spanish settlers testified that the Garcias had died, but

were reanimated upon the touch of Trujillo. They recounted that he appeared to have complete
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control over them and to “enjoy and gloat over the sufferings of these poor souls” (Chavez 63). It

is unlikely that Melchor Trujillo was actually in compact with the devil, and he claims he was

attempting to heal the Garcias using native herbal remedies, but it is hard to tell due to the

amount of translational issues, and that all the records of this case that survive are from Spanish

perspectives exclusively (Chavez 64). The frenzy with which the Spanish settlers accused him

suggests that there was great mistrust by the Spanish toward the Indigenous people whose land

they shared. Although my heritage exists because of contact between two unique cultures, New

Mexican history is a story of thievery and discrimination as much it is diversity and

dissemination.

During his trial, it was suggested that Trujillo gave the Garcias Peyote, a hallucinogen

derived from a small cactus native to northern New Mexico that is very similar to LSD (Chavez

64). Peyote was used largely by indigenous people for religious purposes in what is now northern

Mexico, so it is not unlikely that a New Mexican medicine man may have it in his arsenal

(Shonle 54). This offers a possible explanation as to the Garcia’s behavior and to the Spanish

settler’s reaction. If I was a religious, seventeenth century catholic I would probably think LSD

was the work of the devil too. Luckily, after his hectic and convoluted trial involving many

witnesses and mistranslations, Trujillo was released on the condition that he turn in his herbs and

idols, which was pretty mild compared to the threat of death (Chavez 67).

Melchor Trujillo’s trial was a result of the social tension and discrimination in Spanish

settlements, but can also be explained by the physiological effects of the herbs he may have used.

Learning about this interdisciplinary explanation sparked my interest in whether or not other

herbal remedies have one foot in the social realm and the other in the scientific as well: was it

just the placebo effect that made my grandfather’s stomach feel better, or was it really something
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in his little grandmother’s concoctions that improved his health? Herbal remedies were the only

source of medicine for most of New Mexican history, so surely some of them have scientifically

verifiable effects, right? As it turns out, yes.

One of the most important herbal remedies in New Mexico is Oshá. It is a small plant in

the parsley family that is used almost exclusively by hispanics and indigenous people in the

southwest (and a few furry friends, but I’ll get to that), due to its isolation to dry climates and

high elevation. Beacause oshá is used for its roots and so cultivation must be done carefully to

avoid depleting the supply, all oshá available for commercial use is picked from the wild.

Chavez refers to the plant as the wonder drug of New Mexico and speaks of its effectiveness and

versatility (21). It is used to treat ailments of the lungs such as coughs, bronchitis, and influenza,

and to improve respiration for endurance running. The roots have strong antibacterial and

antiviral powers that make it ideal for storage and travel as well as treating wounds and

preventing infections (Herbal Encyclopedia). Additionally, oshá stimulates the immune system

and can be taken to prevent an impending cold or headache (Native Medicinal Plant Research

Program). Interestingly, the herb is often referred to as “Bear Medicine” by native tribes because

“bears respond to the herb like cats do to catnip” (Herbal Encyclopedia). Bears don’t just eat

oshá, however. They roll in it, grind it into a paste with their paws to wash their faces with it, and

spray themselves with it to prevent parasites. Males are even known to dig up the root and give it

to females during courting. Bears are an important symbol in native medicine because they use

plants for healing, and any medicine associated with them is known to be especially important

and effective (Herbal Encyclopedia). Although oshá cannot be domesticated and will probably

not be hitting shelves in the pharmacy aisle anytime soon, its positive effect on the body is

obvious, so much so that even bears figured it out!

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Another important plant native to New Mexico is the Yucca, a large shrub with delicate

white flowers and tough green leaves, which has a unique use in terms of health: the roots

contain small compounds called saponins which form a lather when mixed with water, creating

natural soap (Armstrong). In New Mexico the mashed root is called amole, and amole shampoo

was known to leave hair soft and shiny and to be especially effective in fighting dandruff.

Commonly referred to as the soap plant, soaproot, and soapweed, amole was used all over the

southwest to prevent illness and infection (Ethnobotany of the Navajo).

Back to my grandfather’s foot, and the sugar-bread method his little Grandmother used to

treat it. Although it seems unpleasant and unlikely, sugar can actually be used as a tool in healing

wounds. In a recent study, a group of researchers from the University of Wolverhampton found

that high concentrations of sugar limit bacterial growth, and pressing sugar against a sloughy or

necrotic wound is a highly effective method for preventing infection. The researchers recruited

twenty two patients and treated their wounds with white granulated sugar, measuring the healing

process over twenty one days. They concluded: “All wounds were clean/debrided in a mean of

11.13 days. Pain and malodour reduced markedly. Patient and staff surveys revealed

overwhelming support for the sugar therapy” (Murandu). My great great grandmother didn’t

need to read a research abstract to know how to treat my grandfather, however. The crucial

information was passed down to her from her grandmother, and was probably the result of trial,

error, inventiveness, and a little bit of desperation. No matter how it was discovered, sugar

treatment must have saved many New Mexican lives, or at least made some young boys feel

better in the meantime.

Herbal remedies epitomize what it means to be New Mexican. They have been an

important part of the oral tradition of the region for as long as it has existed. Generations before
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me must have listened eagerly to stories of herbal remedies while stuffing their faces with

sopaipillas, just like I do every family reunion. The remedies come from a synthesis of different

cultures and speak to the beauty and pain of that convergence, and are a symbol of

resourcefulness, versatility, and independence in the face of isolation. Because of New Mexico’s

history switching hands between countries, my family relies less on our nationality to tie us to

our roots, and more on traditions. This makes it hard to explain my ethnicity to people, because I

never know what to say. I know I am American, but am I Spanish? Am I Mexican? Am I Native

American? I really don’t know. What I do know is that I grew up eating New Mexican chile,

attending New Mexican catholic mass, and learning about New Mexican herbal remedies. It is

our practices that tie us together, not our country.

In the end, the story of herbal remedies is one of intersection between culture, people,

medicine, language, religion, and fields of study. They prove that nothing exists in a vacuum,

and are an important lesson to anyone, not just New Mexicans, of how big, complicated, and

beautiful our world is. And of course, I am grateful that my Little Great Great Grandmother had

all those jars of herbs on hand, because they kept my grandfather healthy and safe, and I may

owe my life to the herbal remedies of New Mexico.

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Works Cited

Armstrong, Wayne P. “Soap Lilies in California: Bulb Plants Used for Soap and Food.”

Wayne’s World. 11 Jun. 2004. Web. 15 Oct. 2017.

Chavez, Tibo J. New Mexican Folklore of the Rio Abajo. Portales: Bishop Printing Co., 1972.

Print.

Elmore, Francis H. Ethnobotany of the Navajo. Santa Fe: The University of New Mexico Press,

1944. Print.

“Herbs, Plants, and Healing Properties.” Legends of America. Web. 16 Oct. 2017

“Ligusticum porteri (Osha).” Native Medicinal Plant Research Program. The University of

Kansas. Web. 15 Oct. 2017

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Murandu, M., Webber M., Simms M., Dealey C. “Use of granulated sugar therapy in the

management of sloughy or necrotic wounds: a pilot study.” Journal of Wound Care 20.5

(2011): 206. PubMed.org. Web. 15 Oct. 2017.

Nolan, Leonard. Personal interview. 16 Oct. 2017

“Osha.” Herbal Encyclopedia: Common Medicinal Herbs for Natural Health. Clover Leaf Farm.

Web. 15 Oct. 2017.

Shonle, Ruth. Peyote, the Giver of Visions. Arlington: American Anthropological

Association, 1925. Print.

Torrez, Robert. “Colonization of New Mexico in the 16th Century.” New Mexico History.

Office of the State Historian. Web. 16 Oct. 2017