Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice: An Ethnobotanist Searches for New Medicines in the Amazon Rain Forest by Mark J. Plotkin, Mark J. Plotkin (Photographer)
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(Paperback - Reprint)
- Pub. Date: August 1994
- 352pp
- Sales Rank: 42,980
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Product Details
- Pub. Date: August 1994
- Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)
- Format: Paperback, 352pp
- Sales Rank: 42,980
- ISBN-13: 9780140129915
- ISBN: 014012991X
- Edition Description: Reprint
Synopsis
"Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice" has been called "one of the greatest adventure stories ever told." Author Mark Plotkin, chief ethnobotanist for Conservation International, has spent much of the past 15 years tracking the shamans of the northeast Amazon. Their knowledge of healing plants may hold the cure to some of today's most devastating diseases. This book is a critically acclaimed account of his apprenticeship to these powerful wise men, a gripping journey into a wild and wonderful world seldom glimpsed by outsiders.
Annotation
"Fascinating and highly readable account of an ethnobotanist's research on medicinal plants and hallucinogens among the Trio and Oyana of Suriname/Brazil and the Yanomamo of Venezuela. In view of the declining importance of shamanism and loss of plant knowledge due to rapid cultural change, author encourages research promoting the patenting of indigenous knowledge of medicinal plants, which may also serve as an important revenue source for indigenous-based cultural survival programs"--Handbook of Latin American Studies, v. 57.
Publishers Weekly
Ethnobotanist Plotkin details the alternative medicines he discovered during an apprenticeship to the shamans of the Amazon rainforests. (Aug.)
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A riveting recount!by Anonymous
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June 01, 2009: Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice was an extremely riveting story of Mark Plotkin's journey through the Amazon. He recounts his expedition from his first visit to South America in search of Guyana's Black Caiman with Russ Mittermeier to subsequent visits to Suriname that lead Plotkin into the depths of the Amazonian interior. From the locals Plotkin begins to learn and record the many plants that the natives use for medicinal purposes. In order to continue to catalogue the different species and uses then compare them to other native villages Plotkin travels to different communities over a ten year period, creating friendships and bonds with medicine men and villagers alike. Throughout the pages of this entrancing narrative Plotkin's story illustrates a race against time-the Amazon is being overdeveloped and as the Indians abandon their culture for a new western material world their knowledge of the rain forest and the value of the flora fades with them.
Mark Plotkin's recount of his adventures in the Amazon is definitely one worth reading. I picked this up as extra credit for an Anthropology class and couldn't put it down. Each page contains a wreath of fascinating information and is narrated in a humorous and easily comprehended fashion. I definitely recommend this book for anyone with an interest in culture and the ways in which civilizations have evolved and adapted to new and old influences.Delightful, Magical Journey, Not to be Missed!by Anonymous
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November 11, 2002: In this extrodinary text, Mark Plotkin carefully examines culture and medicine while reminding us to be ever so watchful of the disease called Afluenza. A great book for the informed or the casual reader, Mark Plotkin gives a stunning magical view into a deep jungle world that sadly may not be here long. I could not put this book down! I have introduced this book in my college level courses and my students love it. More importantly for the rest of us, they are inspired to action by it!
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