Interspecific medicinal knowledge and Mahout-Elephant interactions in Thongmyxay district, Laos
The mahouts and the elephants of Thongmyxay district in Laos form an original hybrid community composed of humans and an animal species represented by both wild and domestic animals (elephants). We investigated in particular the interactions between mahouts' observation of elephants and their o...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Laboratoire Éco-anthropologie et Ethnobiologie
2022-12-01
|
| Series: | Revue d'ethnoécologie |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/ethnoecologie/9705 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1832095879753891840 |
|---|---|
| author | Jean-Marc Dubost Eric Deharo Sysay Palamy Chithdavone Her Chiobouaphong Phaekovilay Lamxay Vichith Sébastien Duffillot Sabrina Krief |
| author_facet | Jean-Marc Dubost Eric Deharo Sysay Palamy Chithdavone Her Chiobouaphong Phaekovilay Lamxay Vichith Sébastien Duffillot Sabrina Krief |
| author_sort | Jean-Marc Dubost |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The mahouts and the elephants of Thongmyxay district in Laos form an original hybrid community composed of humans and an animal species represented by both wild and domestic animals (elephants). We investigated in particular the interactions between mahouts' observation of elephants and their own medicinal practices (human and ethnoveterinary), which have been the subject of two previous publications. Based on this material, supplemented by data collected on the status of domestic village elephants and interviews with four local healers, we discuss here with a multispecies approach combining ethnographic data and ethological knowledge, the modalities of construction and possible exchanges of medicinal knowledge between the two species.Elephants have a status characterised by a double hybridity: wild and domestic on the one hand (with ontological circulations from one state to the other), and animal and human on the other. The part of humanity attributed to the elephants is reflected in particular in the self-agency that is recognised in their ability to heal themselves when they are suffering, which leads to the therapeutic use of their dung by Mahouts. The mahouts include in their ethnoveterinary care of the elephants plants that they see the elephants use when they are ill. The medicinal uses they make of some of these plants in their households are more consistent with their observations of these elephant behaviours than it is with the use of the same items by local healers, suggesting a transfer of medicinal knowledge from elephants to mahouts.Since some of the village elephants in Thongmyxay are still periodically released and come into contact with their wild counterparts, the domestication space forms an interface between humans, wild elephants and the forest, and we discuss conversely the possibility of knowledge transfer from mahouts to village elephants through the ethnoveterinary care they receive.This knowledge which is precious for the health and well-being of people and elephants in Laos is threatened by the reduction of the forest cover sheltering the resources used, and by the relocation of village elephants to tourist centres. Thus, emerges the need to think the conservation of the intangible heritage represented by the knowledge of hybrid communities in terms of interspecific heritage, implying that along with the preservation of the ecosystems that host the resources involved in this knowledge, care must be taken to maintain their access to all the populations (human and animal) that use them. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-149b4566d5184266984f09aa4fb9308b |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2267-2419 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | Laboratoire Éco-anthropologie et Ethnobiologie |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Revue d'ethnoécologie |
| spelling | doaj-art-149b4566d5184266984f09aa4fb9308b2025-02-05T16:24:43ZengLaboratoire Éco-anthropologie et EthnobiologieRevue d'ethnoécologie2267-24192022-12-012210.4000/ethnoecologie.9705Interspecific medicinal knowledge and Mahout-Elephant interactions in Thongmyxay district, LaosJean-Marc DubostEric DeharoSysay PalamyChithdavone HerChiobouaphong PhaekovilayLamxay VichithSébastien DuffillotSabrina KriefThe mahouts and the elephants of Thongmyxay district in Laos form an original hybrid community composed of humans and an animal species represented by both wild and domestic animals (elephants). We investigated in particular the interactions between mahouts' observation of elephants and their own medicinal practices (human and ethnoveterinary), which have been the subject of two previous publications. Based on this material, supplemented by data collected on the status of domestic village elephants and interviews with four local healers, we discuss here with a multispecies approach combining ethnographic data and ethological knowledge, the modalities of construction and possible exchanges of medicinal knowledge between the two species.Elephants have a status characterised by a double hybridity: wild and domestic on the one hand (with ontological circulations from one state to the other), and animal and human on the other. The part of humanity attributed to the elephants is reflected in particular in the self-agency that is recognised in their ability to heal themselves when they are suffering, which leads to the therapeutic use of their dung by Mahouts. The mahouts include in their ethnoveterinary care of the elephants plants that they see the elephants use when they are ill. The medicinal uses they make of some of these plants in their households are more consistent with their observations of these elephant behaviours than it is with the use of the same items by local healers, suggesting a transfer of medicinal knowledge from elephants to mahouts.Since some of the village elephants in Thongmyxay are still periodically released and come into contact with their wild counterparts, the domestication space forms an interface between humans, wild elephants and the forest, and we discuss conversely the possibility of knowledge transfer from mahouts to village elephants through the ethnoveterinary care they receive.This knowledge which is precious for the health and well-being of people and elephants in Laos is threatened by the reduction of the forest cover sheltering the resources used, and by the relocation of village elephants to tourist centres. Thus, emerges the need to think the conservation of the intangible heritage represented by the knowledge of hybrid communities in terms of interspecific heritage, implying that along with the preservation of the ecosystems that host the resources involved in this knowledge, care must be taken to maintain their access to all the populations (human and animal) that use them.https://journals.openedition.org/ethnoecologie/9705multispecies culturesinterspecific knowledgeelephantsethnoveterinary medicinetraditional medicine |
| spellingShingle | Jean-Marc Dubost Eric Deharo Sysay Palamy Chithdavone Her Chiobouaphong Phaekovilay Lamxay Vichith Sébastien Duffillot Sabrina Krief Interspecific medicinal knowledge and Mahout-Elephant interactions in Thongmyxay district, Laos Revue d'ethnoécologie multispecies cultures interspecific knowledge elephants ethnoveterinary medicine traditional medicine |
| title | Interspecific medicinal knowledge and Mahout-Elephant interactions in Thongmyxay district, Laos |
| title_full | Interspecific medicinal knowledge and Mahout-Elephant interactions in Thongmyxay district, Laos |
| title_fullStr | Interspecific medicinal knowledge and Mahout-Elephant interactions in Thongmyxay district, Laos |
| title_full_unstemmed | Interspecific medicinal knowledge and Mahout-Elephant interactions in Thongmyxay district, Laos |
| title_short | Interspecific medicinal knowledge and Mahout-Elephant interactions in Thongmyxay district, Laos |
| title_sort | interspecific medicinal knowledge and mahout elephant interactions in thongmyxay district laos |
| topic | multispecies cultures interspecific knowledge elephants ethnoveterinary medicine traditional medicine |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/ethnoecologie/9705 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jeanmarcdubost interspecificmedicinalknowledgeandmahoutelephantinteractionsinthongmyxaydistrictlaos AT ericdeharo interspecificmedicinalknowledgeandmahoutelephantinteractionsinthongmyxaydistrictlaos AT sysaypalamy interspecificmedicinalknowledgeandmahoutelephantinteractionsinthongmyxaydistrictlaos AT chithdavoneher interspecificmedicinalknowledgeandmahoutelephantinteractionsinthongmyxaydistrictlaos AT chiobouaphongphaekovilay interspecificmedicinalknowledgeandmahoutelephantinteractionsinthongmyxaydistrictlaos AT lamxayvichith interspecificmedicinalknowledgeandmahoutelephantinteractionsinthongmyxaydistrictlaos AT sebastienduffillot interspecificmedicinalknowledgeandmahoutelephantinteractionsinthongmyxaydistrictlaos AT sabrinakrief interspecificmedicinalknowledgeandmahoutelephantinteractionsinthongmyxaydistrictlaos |