Border Medicine: A Transcultural History of Mexican American Curanderismo

<p>Mexican<br>American folk and religious healing, often referred to as curanderismo, has been a vital part of life in the Mexico-U.S.<br>border region for centuries. A hybrid tradition made up primarily of indigenous<br>and Iberian Catholic pharmacopeias, rituals, and notions of the self, curanderismo treats the sick person with<br>a variety of healing modalities including herbal remedies, intercessory prayer,<br>body massage, and energy manipulation. Curanderos,<br>"healers," embrace a holistic understanding of the patient, including body,<br>soul, and community.<br>Border Medicine examines the ongoing<br>evolution of Mexican American religious healing from the end of the nineteenth<br>century to the present. Illuminating the ways in which curanderismo has had an impact not only on the health and culture<br>of the borderlands but also far beyond, the book tracks its expansion from Mexican<br>American communities to Anglo and multiethnic contexts. While many healers treat Mexican and Mexican<br>American clientele, a significant number of curanderos<br>have worked with patients from other ethnic groups as well, especially those<br>involved in North American metaphysical religions like spiritualism, mesmerism,<br>New Thought, New Age, and energy-based alternative medicines. Hendrickson<br>explores this point of contact as an experience of transcultural exchange.<br>Drawing<br>on historical archives, colonial-era medical texts and accounts, early<br>ethnographies of the region, newspaper articles, memoirs, and contemporary<br>healing guidebooks as well as interviews with contemporary healers, Border Medicine demonstrates the notable<br>and ongoing influence of Mexican Americans on cultural and religious practices<br>in the United States, especially in the American West.</p>