Council of Indigenous Traditional Medicine Practitioners of Oaxaca (CEMITO)
Who are we?
The Council of Indigenous Traditional Medicine Practitioners of the state of Oaxaca (CEMITO) consists of more than 600 traditional medicine practitioners from 20 organizations representing different regions and indigenous language groups in the state; we are natives and neighbors from 211 towns and 109 municipalities.
Our therapists: 319 women and 316 men, are primarily from the 16 ethnic groups of Oaxaca, predominately Zapotecos from the mountain, valley and isthmus (three distinct language groups) and Mixtecos of the highlands, lowlands and coast (again three distinct language groups), but including Mazatecos, Chinantecos, Mixes, Lkoots or Huaves, Cuicatecos, Zoques and Chontales among others.
Our therapy specialists include parteras (mid-wives), hierbas (herbal treatments), curanderos (curers), adivinadores, pulsadores (diagnosis formed by taking the pulse), culebreros (treat bites and stings from poisonous animals and insects), chupadores (draw blood or foreign objects from the body with their mouth), hueseros (treat broken bones and dislocations), rezadores (treatment through prayer), sobadores (masseurs) and cantadores (music or singing therapy).
Our forefathers lived here long before the European discovery of America. Our knowledge has been passed down from generation to generation orally, and we were born with a talent for curing. We are recognized in our communities for the effectiveness of our therapy. Being an integral part of the culture, we have the responsibility to care for the health of our indigenous communities or anyone who requests our aid.
History of the organization:
We began to organize in 1985 thanks to multiple encounters, meetings, congresses, courses and workshops offered at local, regional and state levels in Oaxaca by the Instituto Nacional Indigenista (National Institute of Indigenous Peoples). From these meetings we became aware of our importance as a cultural force. Our first organization arose in 1989 in the region of the state known as the Mixteca Alta (Mixtec highlands) after we had participated in the first National Congress of Indigenous Medicine Practitioners in Oaxtepec, Morelos, México. We also attended the Consejo Nacional de Médicos Indígenas Tradicionales in 1991 held in the city of Tlaxiaco, Oaxaca, and participated in both the Second National Congress and the first Continental Encounter of Indigenous Traditional Medicine Practitioners held in 1992 at the Antiguo Palacio de la Medicina in the Santo Domingo plaza, located in the historic center of México City.
As of 1994 we began to form a state council which was transformed into a civil association to gain status as a legal entity in 1999. That year at the state congressional session we sponsored a consultative forum to gain official recognition of our medical practices, which we achieved in 2001 through decree # 341, approved September 15 in the official state record.
Reasons for Being:
Our first principal is the protection, preservation and development of our medicinal traditions in order to better the health of our indigenous brothers and whoever is in need in order to maintain an important cultural feature of our community origins.
Three out of every four Oaxaqueños comes from an indigenous community where there exists an enormous variety of natural resources, animals, plants and minerals, that in combination with prayers, songs and rituals form part of our culture and medicinal traditions. The services of the health care sector and private medical practices are often not available to our brothers, a great majority of whom live in the poverty that makes Oaxaca one of the poorest states in the Republic of México.
Additionally, many of our group of traditional medicine practitioners and mid-wives have been accused, fortunately less and less often, of witchcraft, charlatanism, responsible for birthing deaths or of being drug dealers for the use of sacred plants such as, for example, medicinal mushrooms or the seeds of the virgin.
For all these reasons, we organized to defend our culture, our traditional medical treatments, our health, our tastes and our rights, to try to improve and develop our treatments, protect our colleagues, and to research and teach our medical practices.
Our Mission:
Our mission is to improve the health of individuals and communities by offering the services, both curative and preventative, of our traditional medical practices, and through our groups and organizations, in accordance with our customs and culture, preserve, improve and develop our treatments and our indigenous culture.
Our Vision:
Our vision is to consolidate a network of authentic traditional medicine practitioners and mid-wifes in the state of Oaxaca so that organized, we can protect, preserve and develop the traditional indigenous medical practices of México and especially of the state of Oaxaca.
Our Objectives:
To attend, in accordance with our customs and culture, to persons who request help, treating them in a dignified and humane way in order to resolve the health issues of the community. Also, we seek to gain recognition and protection for our brother practitioners and mid-wives, their knowledge and the sacred places for future generations.
Our Principal Successes:
Who are we?
The Council of Indigenous Traditional Medicine Practitioners of the state of Oaxaca (CEMITO) consists of more than 600 traditional medicine practitioners from 20 organizations representing different regions and indigenous language groups in the state; we are natives and neighbors from 211 towns and 109 municipalities.
Our therapists: 319 women and 316 men, are primarily from the 16 ethnic groups of Oaxaca, predominately Zapotecos from the mountain, valley and isthmus (three distinct language groups) and Mixtecos of the highlands, lowlands and coast (again three distinct language groups), but including Mazatecos, Chinantecos, Mixes, Lkoots or Huaves, Cuicatecos, Zoques and Chontales among others.
Our therapy specialists include parteras (mid-wives), hierbas (herbal treatments), curanderos (curers), adivinadores, pulsadores (diagnosis formed by taking the pulse), culebreros (treat bites and stings from poisonous animals and insects), chupadores (draw blood or foreign objects from the body with their mouth), hueseros (treat broken bones and dislocations), rezadores (treatment through prayer), sobadores (masseurs) and cantadores (music or singing therapy).
Our forefathers lived here long before the European discovery of America. Our knowledge has been passed down from generation to generation orally, and we were born with a talent for curing. We are recognized in our communities for the effectiveness of our therapy. Being an integral part of the culture, we have the responsibility to care for the health of our indigenous communities or anyone who requests our aid.
History of the organization:
We began to organize in 1985 thanks to multiple encounters, meetings, congresses, courses and workshops offered at local, regional and state levels in Oaxaca by the Instituto Nacional Indigenista (National Institute of Indigenous Peoples). From these meetings we became aware of our importance as a cultural force. Our first organization arose in 1989 in the region of the state known as the Mixteca Alta (Mixtec highlands) after we had participated in the first National Congress of Indigenous Medicine Practitioners in Oaxtepec, Morelos, México. We also attended the Consejo Nacional de Médicos Indígenas Tradicionales in 1991 held in the city of Tlaxiaco, Oaxaca, and participated in both the Second National Congress and the first Continental Encounter of Indigenous Traditional Medicine Practitioners held in 1992 at the Antiguo Palacio de la Medicina in the Santo Domingo plaza, located in the historic center of México City.
As of 1994 we began to form a state council which was transformed into a civil association to gain status as a legal entity in 1999. That year at the state congressional session we sponsored a consultative forum to gain official recognition of our medical practices, which we achieved in 2001 through decree # 341, approved September 15 in the official state record.
Reasons for Being:
Our first principal is the protection, preservation and development of our medicinal traditions in order to better the health of our indigenous brothers and whoever is in need in order to maintain an important cultural feature of our community origins.
Three out of every four Oaxaqueños comes from an indigenous community where there exists an enormous variety of natural resources, animals, plants and minerals, that in combination with prayers, songs and rituals form part of our culture and medicinal traditions. The services of the health care sector and private medical practices are often not available to our brothers, a great majority of whom live in the poverty that makes Oaxaca one of the poorest states in the Republic of México.
Additionally, many of our group of traditional medicine practitioners and mid-wives have been accused, fortunately less and less often, of witchcraft, charlatanism, responsible for birthing deaths or of being drug dealers for the use of sacred plants such as, for example, medicinal mushrooms or the seeds of the virgin.
For all these reasons, we organized to defend our culture, our traditional medical treatments, our health, our tastes and our rights, to try to improve and develop our treatments, protect our colleagues, and to research and teach our medical practices.
Our Mission:
Our mission is to improve the health of individuals and communities by offering the services, both curative and preventative, of our traditional medical practices, and through our groups and organizations, in accordance with our customs and culture, preserve, improve and develop our treatments and our indigenous culture.
Our Vision:
Our vision is to consolidate a network of authentic traditional medicine practitioners and mid-wifes in the state of Oaxaca so that organized, we can protect, preserve and develop the traditional indigenous medical practices of México and especially of the state of Oaxaca.
Our Objectives:
To attend, in accordance with our customs and culture, to persons who request help, treating them in a dignified and humane way in order to resolve the health issues of the community. Also, we seek to gain recognition and protection for our brother practitioners and mid-wives, their knowledge and the sacred places for future generations.
Our Principal Successes:
- Formation of 20 organizations of indigenous practitioners and mid-wives
- Formation of a state council
- Participation in local, regional, national and international congresses
- Gaining legal and constitutional recognition of traditional indigenous medicine in Oaxaca
- Organization of encounters, exchanges, forums, congresses, workshops and courses
- Have our own property in Oaxaca with almost ten traditional medicine centers, some with temazcal baths, botanical gardens, chapels, pharmacies, etc
Our Principal Problems:
- Lack of economic support and consultation
- The movement of our colleagues from the communities to the city of Oaxaca
- The lack of an office or development center in the city of Oaxaca
- The poverty of our brother traditional practitioners and mid-wives
- A lack of academic training in our organizations
- The advanced age of many of our practitioners and mid-wives
Our Major Plans:
- Continue working as CEMITO A.C.
- Consolidate our organizations
- Obtain a source of funding for our programs, projects and requirements
- Have our own state center for the development of traditional medicine, as well as a place for each practitioner to continue to work for the good health of their communities
- See that our children and future generations continue in our work
- Contribute to the decrease of birthing deaths and infant mortality in Oaxaca
- See our treatments and organizations gain legal recognition
- Succeed in gaining security, both financial and social, for our practitioners so they may have dignity and respect in their elder years.
- Continue to preserve and develop our culture as an indigenous community
We are grateful to the people that have opened the doors and windows of their hearts, whether they be institutions, municipalities or government organs, and continue to support us as have the Unidad de Medicina Tradicional de SSA, the Dirección General de Población de Oaxaca, the Secretaria de Asuntos Indígenes, the Comité Estatal Promotor por una Maternidad Sin Riesgos, the Dirección Nacional de Medicina Tradicional de la SSA. We beg the pardon of any others whom we may have missed.
Thank you all.
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