Sociocultural aspects that delimit the differences between the ethnomedical systems of Chamula, Chenalhó and Oxchuc in the State of Chiapas

Abstract

There are diverse factors that have affected the transformations taking place in the short and medium term in the ethnomedical systems in the Los Altos region of Chiapas. Those especially worth noting are the changing forms of social and economic reproduction in the Mayan population, in response to increasing poverty; the persistent impact by religious groups; a politically conflictive climate; and migration. The process of change has varied in the three cases presented, depending on the differentiated impact from the elements identified. In the case of Oxchuc we can practically speak of the emergence of a system in which there are abundant elements of biomedical diagnostics and a focus on using medicinal herbology to address illness. In the case of Chamula and Chenalhó it is important to note that an ethnomedical system centered on ritual continues to predominate over other systems, although it has experienced significant transformations in recent decades. The purpose of this article is to define the sociocultural aspects that mark the differences among the cases presented.