Cultural Anthropology

Despite the rapid advances of modern medicine, a large portion of developing countries points to herbal remedies as to curing ailments and other sicknesses needing medical attention. People around the world have been using herbal remedies since humans have existed on earth. They have used herbs, plant, and roots during their healing rituals in curing both physical and spiritual illnesses. Countries such as Africa, Asia, and the Mariana Islands still use traditional treatment as their primary healthcare. Guam, one of the most developed islands in the Mariana Islands, has been using traditional remedies since the Spaniards conquered the ancient Chamorros. Ancient Chamorros used plants found around the island to cure the sick and identified the people who used traditional remedies as suruhanus for men and suruhanas for women. They have come to believed that suruhanus or suruhanas as the doctors we have today. Other than the suruhanus and suruhanas, ancient Chamorros also had another type of healers: the makahna and kakahnas. Makahnas and kakahnas, believed by the Chamorros, are shamans who had the connection between in both physical and spiritual worlds, and had magical powers. Reading about these healers had caught my interest in doing an in dept research about the suruhanus of Guam, especially after stumbling upon Ann M. Pobutsky’s “Suruhanas: A Profile of Traditional Women Healers in the Village of Umatac, Guam.” Although stumbling to a chapter based on traditional healers was just pure coincidence, I have come to a decision of researching about these people. Doing this research had helped me identify the major factors leading to a sense of spiritual and ritual identity of Guam. It had aided me to recognize the cultural uniqueness...

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...rding to Linda Ortiz, massages the womb of a pregnant woman to insure that the baby is the correct position for birth. Other than aiding with births, suruhanas is also practice giving medication for abortions. Pobutsky writes the different methods the female herbalist use for women having difficulties with labor. One gives medicine, while the other has a recipe for douche. The third could regulate a woman’s menstrual period. Pobutsky paper concludes that female herbalist functions the same way as male herbalists, but they are more specialized in the ailments and problems of women (Ann M. Pobutsky: Suruhana).

Being a suruhanu or suruhana, based on the suruhanu system of curing described by Patrick MaMakin, is knowledge is passed down from a suruhanu relative. Pobutsky notes in her paper that only two of the female herbalist used the suruhanu system. The