© Kamla-Raj 2008 Ethno-Med., 2(1): 1-27 (2008)

Gaddis’ Folk Medicine: A Source of Healing

Veena Bhasin

Department of Anthropology, University of Delhi, Delhi 110 007, India

KEYWORDS Sickness and health; traditional medical knowledge; medical pluralism; modern education; technology;biomedicine

ABSTRACT Patients seek cures from a variety of medical systems. In the traditional medical systems, medicaltraditions partly cover other sectors of social life. In contrast to traditional health care system, the official healthcare system is based on Western science and technology. Gaddis employ different ways in case of sickness.Traditional medical knowledge is coded in to household cooking practices, home remedies; ill health preventionand health maintenance beliefs and routines. Like other rural parts of India, health care in Bharmour among Gaddisis characterised by medical pluralism. Among Gaddis, the health care includes self care, consultation with traditionalhealers- chela; and /or primary health care. Spirit possession is acknowledged as an illness among Gaddis. The causeis a spirit, the effect is spirit possession and the cure is controlled spirit possession. Among Gaddis, deities and evilspirits possess men as well as women. It is believed by Gaddis that traditional medical system is competent ofrestoring health of the body (herbs) or the mind (chela). Modern education, technology, biomedicine has notthreatened the traditional therapeutic healing as there are no alternatives. The integration of the two systems isconceptual. These systems just co-exist, side-by-side. To dismiss traditional medical systems as ineffective or weakis to overlook their relevance and benefits in the contexts of their socio-cultural systems. At the same theshortcomings of modern medical systems: their technical complexity, rising costs, curative rather than preventivefocus, and limited accessibility for large population sectors can not be overlooked.

INTRODUCTION

The study deals with the concept of diseaseand sickness, the different methods of treatment,the official health policies over the years amongthe Gaddis of Bharmour, Himachal Pradesh. Thereport gives an account of the ecological,historical and sociocultural factors thatcontribute to the health perceptions of Gaddis, atranshumant tribe of Bharmour, Chamba districtin Himachal Pradesh and the ways and meansthey employ to counteract suffering of humanand animal population. This document deals with‘practiced medicine’ of Gaddis and its culturalmodels which patients and healers generate anduphold together in Bharmour. It includes patients,their care providers and healers for yieldingsustained curing and healing practices, skills andunderstanding. ‘Practiced medicine’ as explainedby Khare (1996) is “an operative cross culturalanalytical concept” which can be used in thestudies of medicine in India. Practiced medicinein India allows us to see better how Indiamanages not only multiple traditional and modernmedical approaches, languages, therapeuticregimens, and material medica, but it also leadsus to a sustained moral, social and materialcriticism from within. As India undertakes theissues of availability, affordability, equity, anddisruptive justice in medical care, its practiced

medicine raises issues of “critical consciousness”for state supported medicine.

The health-sickness process is a tangibleveracity for all people all over the world. Bothlay people and health professionals tend tocombine their society’s health belief systems withknowledge gained through first hand experience.Therapeutic knowledge, related practices andexperiences are defined by social and culturalcontexts in which they occur. It provides know-ledge and understanding of the diverse culturaltraditions in medicine health care. There arediverse and varied notions of causality involvedin any one system, but there are different rangesof phenomenon identified as diseases. Thesehave been called as “cultural diseases” byObeyesekere, because “they are created, at leastpartly, by cultural definition of the situation”(Obeyesekere, 1976: 207).

The earlier anthropologists gave an accountof ‘indigenous’ practices of healing and theirassociation with the causal conception ofsickness and health as part of a particular worldview. All cultures have shared ideas of whatmakes people sick, what cures them of theseailments and how they can maintain good healththrough time. This cognitive development is partof the cultural heritage of each population, andfrom it empirical medical systems have beenformed, based on the use of natural resources.

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Good (1994) observed the emergence of culturalinterpretive or ‘meaning centered approach’ inmedical anthropology as a direct reaction to thedominance of the ecological perspective onhealth issues. On the other hand ecologicalanthropologists have treated disease as a partof nature and therefore external to culture.Klienman (1980) while stating that disease is notan entity but an explanatory model also drawson cross-cultural examples in order to focus onthe relationship between cultural context andhealing practices. Disease belongs to culture, inparticular to the specialised culture of medicine.In other words, from the cultural perspectivesdisease is knowable, by both sufferers andhealers alike, only through a set of interpretiveactivities. These activities involve an interactionof biology, social practices, and culturallyconstituted frames of meanings and results ofclinical realities. The various explanatory modelscomprise one or all of the five aspects: etiology,emergence of systems, pathophysiology,progress of illness and treatment (Klienman,1987). According to cultural anthropologistBrumann the problems attributed to the cultureconcept are not inherent in the concept, but area result of being misused (Brumann, 1999).Romanucci-Ross (1991), while defining medicalanthropology as “descriptions and analyses ofmedical systems which emerge from humanattempts to survive disease and surmount death,and are conceptualized as social responses toillness and the sick role within the variety of worldcultures”, points to a comparative element in addi-tion to focusing on processes of decision makinginvolved in social responses to suffering.

Afterward medical anthropologists in theirobservation of local medical systems cultivated‘an evenhanded view of medical pluralism (Leslie,1980). Medical knowledge, related practices andexperiences are defined by the social and culturalcontexts in which they occur. Csordas andKleinman (1990) classified the different theoreticalapproaches to healing (persuasive, structural,clinical and social support) revealing a variety ofloci from the diffused communities to Turner’s(1964) work on Ndembu to the highly specificapproach of Prince (1964) on Yoruba psychiatry.The definition of Lindenbaum and Lock (1993)of medical anthropology as the “study of thecreation, representation, legitimization, andapplication of knowledge about the body in bothhealth and illness” points to body as a cultural

artifact and as the specific subject and researchsite of medical anthropology. Presently, the focusof medical anthropologists is on the body, power,phenomenology and political economy, to dealwith plural healing system and social relationsof health management. It provides knowledgeand understanding of the diverse culturaltraditions in medicine and health care.

Basically, there are two systems of health carein the developing world: one is traditional andthe other is Western in derivation. Traditionalmedical systems are embedded in local communitiesand vary from community to community accordingto structure and organisation of the society. Theconcept of traditional medicine is a conventionalterm used by medical scientists to refer to theempirical medical systems used in differentcultures all over the world. Traditional medicineinclude all kinds of folk medicine, unconventionalmedicine and indeed any kind of therapeuticmethod that had been handed down by thetradition of a community or ethnic group. Themedical traditions in the traditional system arediverse in their historical background, theoreticallogic and practices, their contemporary socialrealities and their dynamics. Both lay men andhealth professionals tend to combine theirsociety’s individual models of beliefs referred as‘explanatory model’ (Kleinman, 1980). Explanatorymodels provide a structure within which indivi-duals sort out their health problems and under-stand illnesses, injuries and disabilities.Klienman (1984) grouped healing practices in tothree comprehensive sectors:- (i) professionalsector, which includes both biomedicine andthose alternative such as osteopathy andchiropractic which are professionally organisedin the United States; (ii) the folk health care sectorthat includes specialists who are neitherprofessionalised nor bureaucratized; and (iii) thepopular sector includes all the things whichpatient and his relatives do to cure sickness,using their own concepts of what facilitates ordelays healing.

Traditional or local medicine still remains animportant source of medical care in the developingcountries even though it is not officially recognisedby the government health care programs (Kleinman,1980). The World Health Organization (WHO)estimates that 4 billion people, 80 percent of theworld population, presently use herbal medicine,low-cost, locally available treatments, for someaspect of primary health care. It persists in urban

3GADDIS’ FOLK MEDICINE: A SOURCE OF HEALING

as well as rural settings despite the availability ofallopathic health services. In traditional medicalsystems worldwide, afflictions that beset body andmind can be explained in both naturalistic and supernaturalistic terms.

In India, biomedicine has to compete with anumber of existing traditional systems and ideas.Patients seek cures from a variety of medicalsystems. The notion underlying the concept ofmedical pluralism supposes that medical systemsare distinct and bounded. There are differentways in which patients integrate the diversehealing notions in their own quest for cures.Religion, morality and emotion, frame or reflectthe integration of diverse healing practices atthe level of the individual and community. Thetraditional health system in India comprises oftwo social streams - local health beliefs andpractices relying on instantaneously availablelocal resources; and the codified organisedknowledge based on theoretical foundations(Ayurvedic, Siddha and Unani). Ayurveda is aqualified system of medicine that originated inIndia. Unani system is of Islamic origin, whichboth competes and corroborates with Ayurveda.These two medical systems include bothmedicine and surgery, and like westernbiomedicine, are well documented, practiced inauthoritative texts and taught in recognisedmedical schools. There is, of course in addition,the folk medical system, part of oral tradition, indiverse forms corresponding to the ethnic andecological diversity of India but using herbal andmagical therapies common to folk medicine allover the world. In the traditional medical systems,medical traditions partly cover other sectors ofsocial life. The beliefs and practices of health,knowledge and its transmission, refers as muchto the religions and the therapeutics, as to theeconomic, and the political fields.

In colonial times, authorities frequentlyoutlawed traditional medical systems. In post-colonial times the attitudes of biomedical practi-tioners and government officials have maintainedthe marginal status of the traditional health careproviders despite being the fact that among ruralpeople in the developing countries the traditionalmedicine serves an important function.Organisational relationship between modern andtraditional medicine can come in to being in fourdifferent ways—monopolistic, tolerant,parallel and integrated. Factors influencing thestatus of traditional medicine in policy making

are economic, cultural, national crises (war andepidemics) and international pressure to conservetraditional knowledge, which all otherwise willdisappear because of lack of documentation.Indian Medical Council Act formally establishedthe traditional system—Ayurvedic, Unani andSiddha-as official components of national healthcare in India with biomedicine existing incomplementary relationship. In Ladakh, a traditionalmedical system Amchi has been incorporated intohealth planning. It is based on Tibetan medicalsystem, and is holistic, cost effective and locallyavailable (Bhasin, 1997).

In contrast to traditional health care system,the official health care system is based onWestern science and technology. The state-supported modern medical system, which tendsto be synonymous with a monopolistic medical“establishment” and a doctor-dependent, hospital-based, curative health care model, does notgenerally recognise, cooperate with, or adjust tothe traditional medical systems (Good et al., 1979:141). Patients may accept some aspects of thescientific health care system as presented to themby a government physician, and they may supple-ment this with information gathered in consul-tation with traditional healers. The knowledge ofdisease theory and health care system of a societyenables us to cope more wisely, more sensitivelywhile introducing new medical system amongpeople who have known traditional systempreviously. Traditional disease causation ideasoften persist long after western innovations inhealth care have been introduced. The notionsof efficacy are guided by cultural, political andmoral values. The degree of importance attributedto efficacy varies from context to context. Theoutcome of prognosis is not subject to rationalretrospective evaluation. Its meaning lies in itsimmediate consequence.

AREA AND PEOPLE

In the Himalayas the domestication of animalsand transhumant way of life is common amongdifferent ethnic groups like Gujjars, Bakarwalsand Gaddis who keep buffaloes, sheep and goats.Gaddis, the transhumant sheep and goat herdersare one of the most important migratory tribes ofthe Himalaya. They are found on both sides ofthe Dhauladhar range in the state of HimachalPradesh. They are mostly found in the Chamba-Sirmaur regions, Himachal Pradesh. They are also

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settled in Mandi, Kangra and Bilaspur, but theirmain concentration is in Bharmour, Chambadistrict According to transhumant way of life,with Gaddis’ permanent homes at mid altitude,their movement to high pastures in summer andto low hills in winter with their flocks is tough forboth Gaddis and their animals. The Gaddis ofBharmour are extremely backward because ofdispersal of their population over enormousdifficult areas which lack adequate educationalfacilities, means of communication, productiveand irrigated land, mechanised farming, largelandholdings and medical facilities. During theirmigrations both Gaddis and their flocks face manyhealth hazards with no health facilities at hand.Gaddis employ different ways in case of sickness.Plants are main source of traditional medicine andwell being in these parts of Western Himalayas.These areas remained isolated and lagged behindin social and economic progress. Governmentalresolve to update the region has brought majorchanges in these remote hills. It has altered socialstructure and demographic distribution resultingin erosion of traditional values and religiousbeliefs and practices. The government run healthdelivery system does not function properly andso tribal are forced to depend on private medicalpractitioners even for their basic health needs.

During the British time, it was believed thatthe large flocks of Gaddis had done enormousdamage to the vegetation and forest cover.During 1915 the grazing tax levied on Gaddis wasenhanced to discourage them from grazing in theforests and grasslands. After independence, twoHimachal Pradesh Commissions on Gaddis reportedin 1959 and 1970. Planting of forests and allotmentof Shamlat lands to landless squeezed the grazinglands thus forcing the Gaddis to abandon migratorysystem. In 1972, the State Government again issuedorders regulating flock size.

Today Gaddis can be divided into twosections- one are migrating Gaddis that still followthe transhumant way of life. The other section isthe Gaddis who have settled down and havetaken to farming and services as a majoroccupation. Even here the tiny homesteads haveforced them to maintain the flocks of goats andsheep to generate extra cash. These Gaddis canbe considered as sedentary since they do notpractice transhumance any more and haveadopted many diverse professions (Rawat, 1980).Few anthropological studies of the region includeSingh (1961), Kayastha (1964), Newell (1967),

Bose (1973), Negi (1976), Shashi (1977), Parry(1979), Philimore (1982), Bhasin (1988), Noble(1989), Verma (1996) and Kapila (2004). The fieldwork for the present study which deals with thetranshumant Gaddis of Bharmour was conductedbetween the years 1976-79. Thus, the socialorgansation and the processes working in the areamay slightly differ from the present one. However,no major economic transformations have taken placein the area to bring changes in the area.

Ecological Zones in Chamba District

Since ecological conditions and the way inwhich people live effect their health, a descriptionof the environment in which Gaddis live, thoseelements of daily life which effect general wellbeing, economic activities, social and religious lifehave been described. The Bharmour sub-tehsil(at present it is a tehsil) of the Chamba district,Himachal Pradesh, is the homeland of the Gaddisand is called Gadiyar or Gaderan after itsinhabitants.

Chamba district exhibits a pattern of verticallife zones, and these life zones are integrated byhuman in to resource exploitation strategies. Chambavalley houses three of the Himalayan mountainranges: Dhaula-Dhar, Pir Panjal or Pangi Range andZanskar Range (Table 1). This continuity from highranges to the plains offer excellent migration routesfor Gaddis. Chamba district has two tribal areasnamely Pangi and Bharmour and two transhu-mant tribes i.e. Gaddis and Gujjars. While Gaddisinhabit Bharmour and upper parts of Bhattiyattehsil, the Gujjar are found in Chamba, Churah andSalooni tehsils. The geo-ecology and humanadaptations are given in Table 1.

Forests

Forests account for about 36.4 per cent ofthe whole of the Chamba District and pastures54.1 per cent. The highest ratio of cultivated landto pasture land and forests lies in the south-westor outer zone and progressively decreases in themiddle and the inner zones.

Bharmour: The Environment

The Bharmour tehsil lies approximatelybetween the north latitude 32o -11’ and 32o-41’and the east longitude 76o - 22’ and 76o - 53’. TheBharmour tehsil is remarkably mountainous; level

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and flat pieces of land are an exception. Thelowest altitude is about 1340 metres and thehighest about 5900 metres above sea level.Cultivation ranges, approximately, between 1400metres and 3700 metres. The slopes are considerablyfor the greater part, and in many places the slope istoo steep for average agriculture. The demarcatedforests occur between 1850 metres and 2450 metres.The average annual rainfall in Bharmour valley is1264.4mm. Agricultural lands are mostly rain fed.

Forests occupy an important place in the lifeof the Gaddis. Bharmour forest consists of 44,962acres (18, 191 hectares) of land. Out of this reserveforest is 8,395 acres (3,393 hectares); protectedforest 9,067 acres (3,669 hectares) and pastureland 27,500 acres (11,129 hectares). Thevegetation is usually grass, scrub brush, dwarfoak and chir (Pinus lonifolia).Other vegetationfalls in to three classes: (a) fodder, (b) fuel and(c) commercial. Gaddis have occasionally beengiven privilege for temporary halting of their flocksduring their marches to and from higher pastures.

Gaddis: The Sheep and Goats Herders

Bharmour is inhabited by Gaddis. The Gaddisof Bharmour are agro pastoral transhumant andtheir economic strategies are based to suit theirecological conditions. Severe winters and snowcompel them to resource dictated changes ofpastures and their movement to differentecological zones. They have homes, substantialvillage houses, and they own land which they ortheir family members cultivate. Gaddis spend theirsummer in Bharmour valley and winters in thelow hills of Chamba, Kangra, Nurpur, Pathankotand Gurdaspur, therefore the sowing of Rabi cropis adjusted accordingly.

Gaddis’ chief area of concentration is in theRavi valley, particularly in the Bharmour tehsil ofChamba District in Himachal Pradesh. Gaddis ofBharmour and Kangra were a single group whichsplit up many generations ago. The Gaddis ofKangra district regard them as directly derivedfrom the Gaddis of Bharmour or claim a commonor collateral ancestry. In most of the villages ofthe region through which Gaddis pass duringtheir migration, there is considerable number ofsedentary population of Gaddi origin. TheGaddis of Kangra live in more beneficentenvironment than the Gaddis of Bharmour. TheGaddis of Kangra have more land at theirdisposal along with irrigation facilities. ThoughGaddis of Bharmour and Kangra share commoncultural pattern and socio-economic characteristics,only the Gaddis of Bharmour were designated asScheduled Tribe by Government of India. Gaddisis a caste term in Bharmour, however there issome confusion now-a-days as Brahmans andSipis are also calling themselves Gaddis becauseGaddis have been designated as Scheduled Tribe.(In 2002, the Gaddis of Kangra were accorded thestatus of a Scheduled Tribe by the Indian govern-ment after a fifty year campaign). The scheduledtribes and scheduled castes are entitled tofinancial benefits, free education and free medicaltreatment. Anthropologically Gaddis can hardlybe called a tribe.

The Gaddis are identifiable from a distancedue to their typical dress comprising topi (cap),chola (an over coat) and Dora (rope) support ahukka (water pipe) in their hand and khalru (ahide bag) containing cereals and other essentialarticles on their back. The term Gaddi is a genericname and under it are included Brahmans,Rajputs, Khatris, Ranas, Thakurs and Rathis.

GADDIS’ FOLK MEDICINE: A SOURCE OF HEALING

Table 1: Geo-ecology and human adaptations in Chamba District, Himachal Pradesh

Geographic Tehsil/ Human Crop DensityZone Sub-Tehsil Adaptation Grown per sq.km.

Inner-Himalayan Zone Pangi Dry Agriculture, Pulses, Coarse 72000-3500 metres Transhumance, Sheep Cereals,Temperate, Severe Winter and Goat Herding Barley, Wheat

Maize, PotatoesMid-Himalayan Zone Bharmour, Dry Agriculture, Maize, Wheat, 161000-3000 metres Northern Transhumance, Barley,Temperate, Cold to Part of Sheep and Goat Herding by Pulses,Severe Winter Churah Gaddis, Buffalo herding Coarse

By Gujjars, Horticulture CerealsOuter-Himalayan Zone Chamba, Southern Wet and dry Agriculture Wet Rice, 118600 to 2300 metres Churah, Bhattiyat Sedentary Farming, Maize,Temperate, Warm To Cold Live-Stock Wheat

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The local inhabitants draw a distinction betweenthe four classes:(1) The Brahmans;(2) The Gaddis, Rajputs (formed by the union of

Rajputs, Khatris, Thakurs or Ranas overseveral hundred years);

(3) The Sipis; and(4) The Reharas, Kolis, Lohars (blacksmiths),

Badhies (carpenters) and Halis etc.

ECONOMIC PURSUITS

Land, live-stock, and the considerableknowledge of the skills necessary to exploit themeffectively are the principal economic resourcesof the Gaddis of Bharmour. Gaddis are transhu-mant agro pastoralists’ who combine theseasonal movement of livestock with seasonalcultivation. Gaddis practice long distance herdingof sheep and goats from one ecological zone toanother and their flocks are migratory in naturethat move through well defined routes in Himalayanpastures. These animals remain confined to lowplains and borders of Punjab during winterseason, but migrate to alpine pastures (3000-4,500metres) during spring and summer season.

Although agriculture provides the bulk of thestaple food, Gaddis themselves give majorimportance to sheep and goat rearing. Due to heavysnow fall for about three to four months duringwinter Gaddis generally migrate to lower hills andplains along with their flock of sheep and goats.Gaddis are circumscribed by the ecological limitationof resources. There are families in Bharmour whodo not have enough land or do not rear enoughsheep and goats to meet their economic needsthroughout the year. The important householdindustries carried on by Gaddis of Bharmour arespinning and weaving of wool, tailoring, flour-grinding, carpentry, black smithy and oil-crushing.

Livestock, Grazing Land and Pasture Rotation

Gaddis domesticate two types of animals, nonmigratory and migratory. The non-migratorydomestic animals - bulls and cows are kept byGaddis in the permanent villages of the middlehills. The cattle subsist on wild fodder, whichthey forage and that which is gathered for themcomes from forest trees, brush and grassland.No fodder crops are grown, although chaff,stocks and occasionally grains, are fed to them.During winter months when most of the families

depart, a small percentage of the population isleft behind to look after the cattle (that subsistmainly on corn stalks), fields and spinning andweaving of the woolens. Arrangements are madewith the families to look after the cattle population.

The migratory flocks of Gaddis consist ofsheep and goats, whose survival dependslargely on transhumant herding. Sheep are raisedmostly for their wool, which is sheared thrice ayear. Shearers are paid for their services; theyget two and a half kilo wool after shearing of 25sheep and the rest is sold to the middlemen fromthe Punjab and Haryana.

Some of the Gaddis’ goats are sheared onceannually to provide the coarse wool which iswoven into rain resistant blankets and the snowshoes for the shepherds. Most important is themilk which is the staple of the shepherd’s diet onmigration. Of greatest financial value is the meat.To maintain the size of the flock, about 40 percentof the goats are sold during winter.

Pastureland for grazing the herd is essentialto the Gaddi life style. General shortage ofcultivable land and availability of pastures in LandSettlement has curbed the need for growingfodder crop. The grazing area is spread over threeecological zones, with distinct pasture types:subtropical grazing of the lower hills; subtemperate-temperate pastures of the middle hills;and alpine pastures of the high hills. The altituderanges between 300 and 4,500 metres. If a manhas got many sheep and goats, he takes one ormore puhals (hired shepherds) with him, butcommonly the man accompanying the flock areits owners. Some Gaddis, who accompany theflocks of sheep and goat, take turns months at atime, in shepherding and in cultivation withbrothers, cousins, uncles and sons.

Winter Grazing in Lower Hills

The winter pastures are in approximatelyhorizontal line in the foothills, south of Dhaula Dhar,from Nurpur in west to Bilaspur in east. In thebeginning of cold weather - October and November,Gaddis flocks are driven to the low hills (Kangra,Nurpur) or plains (Pathankot), locally known askandi dhars or ban. In Kangra district these areasare claimed by Gaddis as warisi (inheritance). ThereGaddis allow their flocks to pasture on fields andreceive payments from the land owner because theflocks provide natural manure to the fields. Winterpastures are poor but extensive. Gaddis are in touch

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with the people of lower hills while grazing theirsheep and goats. During the same period theirfamilies are working in the homes of the people inthe Kangra hills. Migration towards summerpastures starts in April- May.

Spring and Autumn Grazing

The flocks are brought back to the village inApril to manure fields. Meanwhile, the Gaddisprepare for travel to colder places, mending theirclothes or even getting new ones. Pastures existin patches along the valleys where Gaddi campduring the summer. In the beginning of September,shepherds travel down slowly the valley belowKugti to Bharmour, and flocks are brought backto trakar pastures. When flocks are in the trakarpastures or village fields, the Gaddis join in thevarious activities of the season of the year.Migration towards summer pastures starts inMay. Gaddis walk to different pastures atdiffering altitudes to graze their herds on nutriousgrass of Lahoul and Spiti, even to the border ofLadakh and Tibet. The collection of medicinalplants from the alpine pastures and distance forestsis combined with grazing of animals. Gaddis collectmedicinal plants mostly for marketing however theykeep part of it for self consumption as well.

The important medicinal plants are Gucchi(Morchella esculenta), Mushakbala (Valerinawallichi), Balladona (Atropa spp), Chora(Angelica glauca), Bichhu-buti (Geradianaheterophyllus), Kapoor kachri (Hedychiumacuminatum), Banafsha (Viola serpens), Patish(Aconitum spp.), dhoop (Jurinea dolomiaea),karoo, Kutki (Picrorhiza kurroa rattan jot andpanja. As collection of medicinal plants from forestand alpine pastures is time consuming, the Gaddisopt for other daily labour based jobs provided byforest department or block office and panchayat.

Traditional Management Practices Adopted byGaddi Shepherds

The Gaddis are an example of the people forwhom agriculture, pastoralism and the economicand social values are all important. Gaddis aremanaging their environment with their traditionalknowledge. The migratory period of the Gaddiscoincides with the migratory pattern of their maindeity, Lord Shiva. Gaddis’s belief in Lord Shivahelps them face all risks and challenges whichare an integral part of the Gaddi lifestyle. Gaddis

believe that high passes between valleys areoccupied by category of beings- jakhs. It iscustomary and obligatory for Gaddis to sacrificea sheep or goat as they cross with their flocks.Gaddis are expert negotiators in deals for exchangeof animal’s manure (when animal are allowed tograze on harvested fields of owners) for foodand shelter etc. A spirit called Guga is believedto cause disease in cattle. It is propitiated with theblood of he-goat sprinkled on iron in the cowshed.

The diseases among animals are fairly undercontrol with a mass vaccination campaign againstRinderpost and availability of vaccines for otherprincipal diseases except the ‘Foot and mouthdisease’ which still debilitates animals withfrequent attacks. Traditional health practices oftreating animals are in vogue as well. Isolationfor a considerable part of the year, has led themto develop their own system of medicine forcuring common ailments. Sheep and goats arefed salt after a regular interval for their generalwelfare. In case of animal sickness duringmigrations, Gaddis treat them with simple remedies.In case of stomach ailments long grasses foundin fields are boiled and are fed to animals or abottle of sarson (mustard) oil is fed to animal.Sarson (mustard) oil is a source of energy andfat soluble vitamins; it removes constipation andhelp in times of stomach ailments. In case of injurybark of beli tree or crushed leaves of karnu treeis wrapped around the injured portion of animalsfor quick relief. These have antiseptic propertiesand are fly repellents and thus help in speedyhealing of the injured portion. Sheep get infectedby insects resulting in Khurda disease. Gaddiwash infected feet with luke warm water and wrapcrushed leaves of karnu tree around the feet. Incase of fever and cold, a concoction of zira(Cumin) and garlic is fed to animals. Thisconcoction of zira and garlic is analgesic andantipyretic in nature; it improves digestion andthus protects body from common cold. The woolshedding in sheep is prevented by massagingthem with a mixture of sulphur and sarson(mustard) oil. A mixture of sulphur and sarson(mustard) oil helps in the prevention and controlof skin diseases and provides nutrition to thewool fiber, thus preventing wool shedding.

RELIGION: BLENDS OF HINDUISMAND ANIMISM

Religion has been held responsible for many

GADDIS’ FOLK MEDICINE: A SOURCE OF HEALING

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differences and norms affecting the fundamentalvalues and behavioural patterns in life includinghealth behaviour. Gaddis profess Hinduism andworship Hindu gods and goddess. Despite thefact that the Gaddis are devout Hindus and theystrongly lean towards Shaivism, the tradition ofdemon-worship and nature worship still persists.Most probably the religious beliefs and ritualswere originally in essence demonolatry, ancestorworship and nature worship. With the passageof time, these religious beliefs were refined andretouched to form a part of the vast religiousentity-Hinduism. This transformation wasachieved by the absorption of local beliefs andrituals, rather than by their eradication.Demonolatry and nature-worship are an integralpart of Hinduism in this part of the country.

The Gaddis worship Shiva, Ganesha, Narsingjiand Durga in the form of Lakhna. They alsobelieve in supernatural powers of soil spirits,mountain spirits, forest spirits and tree worship,and water spirits (batal, the spirit of springs andrivers). The Naag and Devi cults still have astrong hold among Gaddis. The Gaddis believein a host of smaller gods. Joginis (rock spirits)also referred as rakshanis and banasats; autarsGugga Naag; Kailu Bir and host of other smalldeities. The demons, deities, ghosts andhobgoblins are legion. Practically every villagehas its own special deity and there are familieswith family deities. There is no essentialdifference between devis, devtas and sidhs. Theyall benefit humans and are often associated withblack stones. The second group of Gaddi deitiesis not directly connected with the family or villagecommunity and is not member of the largerSanskritic pantheon. All these various deitieshave no social importance, but are merely a sortof explanation for certain types of disasters ifother explanation fails. Gaddis are generally notscared of these, but consider these as inconve-niences which have to be propitiated at times.However, when these deities are attached toparticular group, then they become important.Gaddis also respect special sacred places whichare marked by vertical trident. In addition to thesesupernaturals, Gaddis also pay respect to satis;the widows who have thrown themselves on theirhusband’s funeral pyre have become divine. Thisdivineness is associated with the miraculousevents that occurred before, during and after thesati. Gaddis always invoke Lord Shiva’s help insickness, misfortunes and for success in certain

undertakings and perform a special pooja callednewala.

In Bharmour, there are two levels at whichgods enter village life: through family worshipand caste worship. These village gods arepropitiated by purohits, pujaris and chelas.

A purohit is ritual specialist, Brahman by birthand is attached to particular families .A purohitis responsible for the conduct of rituals connec-ted with birth, marriage and death in the family ofpatrons. Part of payment is made at the time whenservices are rendered; part is paid in grain at theharvest and part in the form of gifts at ceremonies.

Pujari is a caretaker of caste shrine in thevillage. The pujari generally belongs to thedominant caste group of the village.

Chela is a religious technician or intermediarybetween god and human beings. He is a servantof god through whom the god speaks. He revealsgods will by means of trance or in any other formof possession. Chelas are spirit mediums ratherthan ‘shamans’ in the strict sense, as they act ashuman vehicles for supernatural forces thatoverpower and occupy humans who havesuspended their own consciousness. Chela maybe from any caste and is not considered priest.Gardi chelas act as medicine man or exorcist.The animistic beliefs and practices of Gaddisessentially derive from outcome of theirsurroundings and environment. Gaddis stronglybelieve in chela possession and exorcism.However, neither the classical shaman nor ashamanistic world view really exists amongGaddis, though shamanistic practices persist.

Gaddi society is basically a small-scalesociety and has been given tribal status for thepurpose of development. The religious andhealing practices and cosmology of the Gaddisdoes not conform to other societies practicingshamanism.

FACTORS AFFECTING HEALTH

The state of health among the Gaddis ofBharmour has been affected by ecological andsocio-cultural factors, like climate, terrain,isolation, beliefs and poverty. The factorsaffecting the health of these population groupscan be divided into two categories: those factorswhich are responsible for spreading diseases inthe people; those factors which affect the healthof the people in an indirect way (attitudes andcustoms of the people and demographic

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structure). Factors responsible for producingdisease are (i) Settlement pattern and state ofcleanliness; (ii) personal hygiene; (iii) consump-tion pattern; and (iv) addiction.

Factors which affect health indirectly are (i)religion and family outlook on health; and (ii)health care system or Practiced Medicine. Anattempt has been made to describe differentfacets of indigenous health practices prevalentamong the Gaddis of Bharmour Tehsil. Diver-gence from traditional way of health practiceswas also noted among some people.

Gaddis often forget and overlook minor ailments.Their sensitivity to health and disease and healthconsciousness are of a low order. Gaddis conceptsabout sickness, the identification and treatment ofdisease, and the cures they use depend on a numberof variables: the age, sex, religious orientation andthe place and surroundings. Many of the attitudestoward animal diseases were similar to those heldfor human diseases, primarily deriving fromanimistic beliefs.

Disease Incidence

In Bharmour, the climate of the area as a wholeis salubrious. Malaria fever which in the pastattacked very heavily has almost disappeared fromthe Bharmour Tehsil, because of the intensivespraying with D.D.T. and the other measures underthe National Malaria Eradication Programme. Nocase of small-pox has been detected after I960,when one case was detected in village Sachuien.

Goitre is noticeable in the Tundah region ofBharmour tehsil only. In other parts of the Tehsil,the incidence of goitre is very low. Treatment isusually sought on account of a tumour in theneck causing unsightly looks.

The incidence of venereal disease (syphilis)in Bharmour Tehsil is about 4 to 8 per cent of thesamples of the blood tested. All varieties ofLeprosy are present in the Bharmour Tehsil.

The staple diet of the people is maize. Indigestionand bowel complaints are common and manypatients suffer from appendicular abscess.Symptoms of malnutrition, especially pellagraand night blindness are also common (Table 2).The pellagra is due to the deficiency of vitamin B(P.P. factor) in the diet. Night blindness is due tothe shortage of Vitamin A.

The incidence of tuberculosis is common inthe Bharmour Tehsil. Other chest-diseases suchas pneumonia, bronchitis and asthma are also

fairly common. Incidence of hydrated-cyst in thelung and liver is also rather high, because of theGaddis’s association with sheep and goats. Toguard them they keep dogs and this disease iscaused by the taenia echino coccus, a wormfound in the dogs. Usually multiple stones arefound in the kidney and in many cases bilateralrheumatic infection involving both the joints andthe heart is also fairly common. Diseases of theeye such as trachoma, conjunctivitis, and senilecataract are also present. The incidence of thediseases of the alimentary system such as gastriculcer, gastritis diarrhoea and dysentery, entericfever, anaemia with or without hookworm and thatof injuries, including fractures, is also very high.

Medical Facilities

The medical facilities in the Chamba Districtas a whole are very scarce mainly because of thewidely scattered population and difficult meansof transportation (Table 3). It is only 7 per cent ofthe villages which have medical facility withinthe village.

Gaddi women lack traditional institutionalisedcare for pregnant women (including a lack ofspecialised birth attendants). The Gaddi womensimply avail the help of experienced women tohelp them with delivery of child. Generallywomen deliver at home, with the assistance ofolder female family members or neighbour.However, in case the delivery takes place whilemigrating or at the place of migration, help ofwho so ever is present is taken. Management ofpregnancy is informal, through commonly knownadvice regarding diet and activities, previousexperiences with pregnancy and taking precautionabout evil influence and evil eye.

GADDIS’ FOLK MEDICINE: A SOURCE OF HEALING

Table 2: The incidence of diseases in BharmourTehsil, Chamba District, Himachal Pradesh

S. Diseases FrequencyNo. (in per cent)

1. Digestive Disorders (Diarrhoea and 48.0Dysentery) and Worms

2. Disorders of Respiratory Functions 22.0(Pneumonia and Bronchitis)

3. Fevers (Typhoid/Malaria/Influenza) 6.04. Tetanus 4.05. Diseases of Circulatory System 0.56. Disorders of Central Nervous System 0.57. Diseases of Eye, Ear and Nose 2.58. Venereal Diseases and Leprosy 0.59. Rest 16.0

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Disease Perception

Every culture has its particular explanationfor ill health. Culture provide people with waysof thinking, that are “simultaneously models ofand models for reality” Geertz (1973). Religionhas been held responsible for many differencesand norms affecting the fundamental values andbehavioural pattern in life including healthbehaviour. The ‘medicalisation’ of religion iscommon phenomenon. Every religion has threeaspects: values, symbols and practices. In caseof healing rituals, the somatic symptoms are oftenhealed by means of rituals. The distinctionbetween natural and supernatural exists in allcultures. According to Lohmann (2003) a super-naturalistic world-view or cosmology is at theheart of virtually all religions. For him thesupernatural is a concept that exits everywhere,even if it is expressed differently in each society.Supernaturalism attributes volition to things thatdo not have it. On the other hand for Lampe(2003), “supernaturalism” is a problematic andinappropriate term like the term “primitive”.

In the western world people usually do notmake a distinction between illness and disease.Disease is an objectively measurable categorysuggesting the condition of the body. By definition,perceptions of illness are highly culture relatedwhile disease usually is not. To a great extent,research in medical anthropology, make use of apragmatic orientation, but a powerful alternativeposition also prevails, focusing on negotiation ofmeaning as key to understanding social life. Thehealing ritual can best be understood by combining“Performative” approaches from the anthropologyof religion with the “Critical-Interpretive” approachof Medical Anthropology (Sax, 2002)

Indigenous Disease Theory and Causes ofSickness among Gaddis

In urban areas, explanatory models of differentindividuals and groups on the causes of illnessare influenced by variety of factors like income,caste, age, religion, but mostly by social class, andlevel of education. The Gaddis’s understanding ofdisease causation, its dynamics and its treatmentsare elements of their culture. Illness and misfortunesare distributed to a variety of supernatural forcessuch as attacks by good and bad spirits, witches,sorcerer, forest divinities, spirits of deceased andangry gods and goddesses, breach of taboo andevil eye. The majority of the people in Bharmourhave no idea about the causation or prevention ofdiseases. Gaddis of Bharmour explain, diagnose andtreat psychological distress in terms of sorcery anddispleasure from spirits or due to other socialcauses. For the Gaddis, illness is something thatmay be caused by spirits of envy, hatred andquarrelling. The spirits of enmity and jealousy causeillness through evil thoughts. In Bharmour certainspirits identify with abnormal health conditions;specific diseases, madness, epidemics and the like.Some aspects of many diseases are associated withthe influence or intrusion of a spirit. However, someof them do comprehend the natural causes of fewdiseases like malaria, fevers, cough and cold andgastric disorders.

According to the beliefs of the Gaddis ofBharmour, the causes of illness can be classifiedinto three categories:

Diseases caused by supernatural beings deities,spirits, ghosts and other non-material entities;

Diseases caused by magical means-witch-craft and sorcery; and Mystical causation

VEENA BHASIN

Table 3: Medical and health institutes of Bharmour Tehsil, Chamba District, Hlmachal Pradesh

Primary Ayurvedic Maternity and Family Venereal LeprosyHealth Centre Dispensaries Child Welfare Welfare Disease (VD.) Centre(Hospital) Centre Centre Unit

Bharmour Runukothi Ohra Bharmour Bharmour BharmourUlhansa Tundah HoliDurgethi KugtiTundah ChanutaKugti DurgethiChanuta RunukothiHoli KhaniKhani Ulhansa

HoliBharmour

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By Spirit Intervention

The Gaddis believe in several evil spiritswhich cause sickness and are propitiated onappropriate occasions. Gaddis ascribe theimpairment of health to the behaviour of somepersonalised supernatural agent a soul, ghost,spirit or god. Gaddis attribute illness to the directhostile, arbitrary, or punitive action of somemalevolent or affronted supernatural being (attacksby evil spirits-Bhoot-pret). Bhoot are spirits of deadpersons who died an early or unnatural death, dueto accidents, suicide or child birth. Autar’s spirits(invisible spirit of dead person) are feared, becausethese cause sickness: An Autar is the spirit of aperson who has died issueless. Kailu Bir orKailung is a demon causing abortion. Apart fromthese, there are several hill spirits or super-humanagencies like Joginis, Rak-shanis, spirits of springs,rivers, Naag (water contamination makes themangry), Sidhas and Devis that cause sickness.

Sickness by Human Intervention

Human intervention is another alleged sourceof illness. Magic, sorcery, evil eye can causedamage to health, psyche and property. Gaddisbelieve that diseases can be transferred to otherpeople by crossroad motif. Evil eye or nazar isconsidered another cause of sickness. Evil eyeis a common concept according to which illnessmay be caused by person’s look. Gaddis use theeye metaphor to emphasise evil emanating fromenvious eye-to eye contact. The science ofparapsychology describes the phenomenon asa type of hypnotism, exercising some kind ofmind power, which is held by certain individuals.Causes vary from staring at someone for a longtime, showing admiration or envy, gossiping ona person’s looks, which can have an effectwhether it is negative or positive. Complimentsare usually believed to be the cause of the EvilEye. Common symptoms of the Evil Eye arestrong headache, nausea, fatigue or simply a badmood. According to believers in this superstition,people can only break spells, usually women,who know the right prayers and have beentrained to deal with these cases. Practitionerswho release victims from the spells pass theprayers on to the next generation. They try tocure the evil eye by amulets and charms or holywater, which they procure from religiouspractitioners. “Curing the evil eye is, therefore,

difficult because it violates the integrity of thehuman body and creates an orifice that attractsother sorts of evil” (Fadlalla, 2002).

The Gaddis are superstitious and believe inblack magic. They ascribe illness to the covertaction of an envious, affronted, or malicioushuman being who employs magical means toinjure his victim. The magician achieves the targetby the ritual technique and not by propitiatingthe spirits. Black magic is used to cause sicknessto the enemies. This black magic is practiced bythe chelas who possess some special power,which is either inborn or achieved by training, toact as magic men. There are four types of magic:(a) vashikaran (conjuration, bewitchment); (b)maran (Death-ritual); (c) contagious and (d)others. Sometimes, sickness is brought to theenemy’s family by burying hair, trishul (trident),ashes of the dead and an effigy of turmeric in theenemy’s house with the help of a magician. Theevil eye is seen as an unwise and unintentionalenvious reaction and not, as with witches, adeliberate deed in order to make someone ill.

Mystical Causation

Gaddis elucidate mystical origin of certainimpairments of health as the automatic conse-quences of some act or experience of the victimmediated by some presumed impersonal, causalrelationship rather than by the intervention of ahuman or supernatural being. Fate is reported asa major determinant of ill health among Gaddis.Fate is defined as the ascription of illness toastrological (unfavourable constellation ofplanets or greh dosh) influences individual pre-destination, or personified ill luck. Gaddisattribute mystical retribution i.e. violation of sometaboo or moral injunction as causing illnessdirectly rather than through the mediation of anoffended or punitive supernatural being.

Health and Hygiene

The concept of health and hygiene amongthe people of Bharmour is not of a very highorder. The drainage system is extremely poor andat places animals and human beings live side byside. In the matter of personal hygiene the Gaddiskeep their houses somewhat clean, but have notdeveloped the habit of bathing regularly. Thewomen bathe only when they feel the necessity

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of washing their hair which may be twice a monthor sometimes, even once. The clothes are notwashed regularly; sometimes they are torn evenwithout one wash. The cotton clothes are washedin cow’s urine, soap is used as well. A bath is aluxury although it is a common practice to performelementary toilet by washing the face and hands.Men and women clean their teeth with the walnutbark commonly called Dandasa. Because of coldclimatic conditions the Gaddis of Bharmour alwayssleep inside the house and due to the shortage ofspace, close to each others. In such a situation,coupled with low frequency of bathing, washingand changing of clothes, louse infestation isprevalent. Lice are known to be carriers of epidemictyphus and relapsing fever. No preventive healthcare measures are taken by Gaddis to prevent illness.However, they have started to realise the efficacyof scientific methods of treatment and preventionas evidenced by their ready acceptance of the smallpox vaccination. The additional preventivemeasures being taken by them are periodic villageand family rituals to wards off evil spirits.

The staple diet of the Gaddis of Bharmour ismaize bread (Rot) with either Dal (Pulse) or somelocally available vegetables. While travelling orduring severe winter, the Gaddis take sattu, apowder made of parched corn.

Ghee or cheedh (apricot) oil is used ascooking medium. Since the animals are hill-bread,the yield of milk is very low, which restricts theproduction of Ghee. Gaddis have started usinghydrogenated vegetable oil. Condiments likechillies, coriander, cummin seeds, the Hing,Maethe are used by them. Some Gaddis havestarted growing apples in the area, which aremostly eaten by the local people. Almost all theGaddis eat meat. Since there are no regular meatshops, people eat meat whenever any goat orsheep is sacrificed. Very rarely a sheep or goat iskilled for meat. The Gaddis are fond of consumingtea and prefer Gur as sweetner. Gaddis are veryfond of sur (local beer).

Health Care System

As illness explanations often radically differfrom culture to culture, so are the ways and meansconsidered acceptable for curing illness. InBharmour, various kinds of medical practices co-exist within shared social and cultural spaces. Thereare different ways in which people approach andoften integrate different types of cures in their lives.

There is co-existence of the biomedical systembased on western medical training and traditionalshamanistic healing traditions in Bharmour. Thehealth care system of Gaddis comprised a use ofherbs and plants, ritual cures, treatment by chelaand allopathic medicine. The Gaddis’ beliefregarding illness and healing was eclectic, often anarticle of faith, and at the same time pragmatic. Apartfrom the Health Centre there was no other allopathic,Ayurvedic or Homeopathic clinic.

The health care being practiced by Gaddisand its cultural model which patients and healersgenerate and upheld is essentially supernatural.The different categories of illness are treatedaccordingly. Diseases caused by supernaturalbeings are treated with worship and devotionaccompanied by animal sacrifice. Diseases causedby magical means are treated by exorcism: Thesesystems involve rituals, the medicine man orexorcist and the patient. The attitude towardsthings supernatural which belong to particularpeople cannot be grasped or conveyed unless theyhave mythology and rituals. Gaddi culture is richon both counts. Whether these gods or spirits ofmyths ever lived or not is a comparatively irrelevantdetail of the cultural history of the area. Gaddis’local medicine is closely tied to the world of spiritsand the folk healers are generally empowered bygods and spirits. Traditional healing comprises thefundament of knowledge, beliefs and practices, andhas existed even after alternatives have beenprovided.

Biomedicine

The National Health Programmes in Indiadeveloped gradually after Independence. Five-Year planes on national health addressed a varietyof prevention areas and diseases e.g. programmeto fight malaria, small pox, tuberculosis andleprosy; birth control projects and mother infantcare as well as extended programmes of basicimmunization. The situation of the Bharmour canbe well imagined regarding the medical facilitiesas there were eight hospitals (including oneAyurvedic) five Primary Health Centres, 12Allopathic and 36 Ayurvedic dispensariesfunctioning during the year 1980-81 in whole ofthe Chamba State. The Bharmour area in 1976 -79was in the initial stages of response todevelopment programmes and modernisationprimarily emanating from Chamba and Kangratowns. One aspect of these changes was in the

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ways and means of health care. The changeswhich were occurring with respect to health carewere slow and not easy to detect. However, someof the changes were with regard to a greater useof allopathic medicine because a hospital atBharmour is continuing since State times. Ahealth care system is concerned with the waysand means in which people organise themselvesto take care of the patient. There is no even distri-bution of medical facilities due to geography.More over, health care facilities in Bharmour arelimited in what they can do; lack of medicines/technical equipment, drugs and personnel arethe main problems of inhabitants of Bharmourlooking for help in medical facilities.

Types of Traditional Healers

Gaddis have an indigenous system of healthcare based on herbs and ritual care. Gaddis ofBharmour depend more on pujari, chela andgardi chela in case of sickness and resorted toprimary health services only when other meanshad failed. The villages close to the health centreavailed of the service more frequently than thoseat a distance. The Gaddi folk healers employvarious traditional techniques, using singly orin combination: jhad-phunk (blow evil spirit away,tantramantra (chanting of mantra, entering atrance to tussle with the spirits of disease), animalsacrifice, drum beating and jadi buti (herbs).

Herbal Specialists: The local inhabitants ofBharmour have inherited rich traditionalknowledge of the use of many plants or plantparts for the treatment of their common diseases.They often have the information on how to usethe plants and to take or to apply the medicinefor different diseases and health care. Minorailments are managed at household level. Yetthere is no organised Gaddi herbal system with‘herbalist’ as professional. Among Gaddis, theseherbal ‘specialist’ in home remedies are generallythe elders who do not consider themselves healers,but suggest and give plant remedies in case ofillness. These remedies are passed on from fatherto son. The herbal healers who rely on a number ofmedicinal plants do not share the knowledge withothers which help in checking reckless exploitationof the plants by all and at the same time maintainthe prestige of the healer in the society. Gaddi isnature worshipping community. Trees surroundingthe shrines are like sacred groves. Gaddis do notcut these trees for mundane purposes.

The information regarding plants was collectedfrom village elders. These people treat the plantswith great love and strong sentiments. Gaddis withtheir subsistence economy, depend on the forestfor their needs. They often attribute supernaturalqualities to them (e.g. they have; a belief that theCedrela toona changes its position during night).Extracting information from these people becomesdifficult as they wish to guard it. They know aboutprevention of certain diseases and fumigation ofsick room etc. This knowledge is passed on orallyfrom generation to generation. Information onmedicinal uses of tubers, rhizomes or roots usedby the Gaddis is given in table 4. Most of theseplants occur in alpine pasture lands above the treelimit between 3000 and 4000 metres. During summermigrations when the Gaddis are at higher altitudewith their sheep and goats, they procure a permitto extract these minor forest produce. They comeand sell these medicinal plants to shop-keepersin Chamba or Pathankot. This is an additionalsource of income, apart from being used inhomely treatments.

Table 4: The diseases and herbal treatments, BharmourTehsil, Chamba District, Hlmachal Pradesh

Name of Local Treatmentthe Disease Name

Cough Khang The maize grains are removedfrom cobs. Then these cobs arereduced to ashes and areadministered to patients in smalldoses. Decoction of Banafsha(Violet) is administered.

Backache Daka or Massage with mustard oil;Pith peer fomentation with heated lump

of salt wrapped in old cloth.Fever Taap Decoction of green cardamoms

and carom seeds is given to patient.Stomach- Pet peer Decoction of powdered caromache seeds, aniseeds, salt and sugar is

given to patient; Thyme andsalt with warm water isadministered to patient.

Snake bite Kira The bite mark is tied stronglyDank with black woolen string.

Eye itching Chipped Rasaut (an extract of the rootof ammonium anthorrhizum) isboth mixed with water or milkand applied inside the affected eye.

Diarrhoea Jangal Grinded Belgiri, mixed withsugar is given to the patients.

Dysentery Marore Decoction of opium fruitsis given to patient.

Scorpion Bichu Affected portion is rubbedsting Dank with iron.

For avoiding conception, they take certainwild leaves. They know exactly which leaf will

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avoid conception and for how long. No otherprecaution is taken. For abortion, Qulth Daal isboiled and taken in three doses.

The Surgical Treatments

In case of fracture , the broken bones arekept in proper position and are firmly held inform by bamboo pieces which are kept around it.A bandage is rolled on this, and this is untiedafter three days and after examining, it is againtied for seven days.

To cure a wound, turmeric powder is sprayedover the wound. Sometimes peppers are groundand are mixed with mustard oil. This paste with thehelp of cotton is applied to the wounded portion.

To stop bleeding, cotton is burnt in fire and apad is prepared. This burnt pad helps in stoppingblood from the wound.

Ritual Specialists andMagico-Religious Healers

There are host of illnesses believed to becaused by evil spirits. The periodic recurrenceof attacks when an individual experience fits, thephenomenon of double personality, suddenoutbreaks of mania and as sudden return toapparent normality, changes in actions andpeculiar losses of control over the naturalmovements are some of the manifestations thatare mostly treated by ritual specialists or magico-religious healer chela. He exorcises evil spiritsand suggests preventive measures against theattack of evil spirits. Charms and Amulets arealso recommended. Certain plants are used inreligious ceremonies.

Diagnosis and propitiation is carried out byreligious technicians, the chela - a medicine manor an exorcist. The chela, necessarily a male, is ahealer who exorcises demons, and helps to treatillness. The chela mediates between human,supernatural and natural. The chelas have nosocial organisation; the chelas are simplyindividuals who, through their possession by aspirit, have certain gifts and duties. Chelashipis attached to family lines and roughly hereditary;they often descend from grandfather tograndson. However there is no regulatory aboutthis. It is supposedly, that the gods throughvisions and dreams make known their will. Toenter this sacred profession the individual mustreceive a supernatural call. To act on one’s own

initiative would be both ineffective and unsafe.And so would be the person who receives thesummons and refuses to heed the mandate. Mostchela ceremonies are performed for individuals.Some calendrical ceremonies are performed bypurohit and pulari. Each god in the region hasits own chela. A chela is attached to a shrine. Achela of Keling can be distinguished from otherchelas by his red cap. As such there is no bindingto wear particular type of cap or head dress forchelas of other gods. However, during festivalschela put on their ceremonial clothes. Servicesof chela are very important in the lives ofindividual Gaddis. They must be present at birth,marriage and funeral. They are necessary forceremonial cleansing from supernatural danger,for blessing and solemnising different under-takings and for exorcising devils. The chela is awise man and understands his people. Heunderstands their fears and intimidation arepowerful measures and he makes good use ofthese means of offence and defense. The chelaeven invades the realism of the occult and takesunto himself the office of prophet. Gaddi godstravel during festivals, the occasion is called jatr.Several such jatr are in vogue when the deity iscarried in a palanquin followed by the chelaswho while in trance profess the future happenings.It is very important occasions for Gaddis whogather in large numbers to sort out their problemsby asking questions to the chela. To induce achela into trance, first incense is burnt in frontof a seated cross legged chela. After sometimes,he begins to sway and shiver and is seized ofreligious fervor. When he is in a complete frenziedmood, it is the time to ask questions.

These supernaturally caused illnesses aretreated by appeasement of the harmful spirits. Incase of sickness the Gaddis consult the chela orthe medium through which god speaks or revealhis will. This may be done by a means of tranceor other form of possession. It is believed thatthe chela is receptive to the entry of the deityinto his body. The entrance is signaled by ashivering and trembling of the chela. Whateverthe chela does or says after this shivering isbelieved to be the act and speech of the deity.The curative measures are generally accompaniedby animal sacrifice to propitiate the deityconcerned with the disease, as all spirits arebelieved to be non-vegetarian. Sometimes, thechela gives some holy water to drink to thepatient and the patient is cured.

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The chela treats a stomachache by giving athread and purified ash to the patient afterchanting some mantras. It is believed that aftertying this thread around his, neck the patient iscured. Fevers, backaches and snake bites, arecured by the chela by waving the Bhang (theintoxicating hemp Cannibis sativa) plant overthe patient accompanied by chanting of mantras.

In case of chicken pox, measles etc. peoplepromise to worship the Devi after the patient iscured. The chela waves the Bhang (Cannibissativa) plant over the head of the patient. Theperson suffering from the disease is fumigatedwith incense of Harmal (wild rue), Setaria (agenus of grass with flat leaves and tail like bristlyspikes) and dhoop. Prayers are offered in theDevi’s praise. Gaddis offer vermillion, bindi,shalu, dora, sur and a goat to Devi Autar, thespirits of childless couples causing diseases arepropitiated on puranmasi (full moon) and theAmawas. To propitiate this spirit, the patient puton clothes which are made for the spirit alongwith a silver image of the deceased and worshipthe autor idol which is erected near a stream.The clothes and image are worn in token of thedeceased. Autors have been admitted in thecategory of the deities owing to their evilinfluence on men and women. Autors appears indreams and warn people that they will carry themoff to the next world. To ward off such dreamsGaddis perform jemanwala and offer four balls,ghunganian (boiled maize), nettle baths and branbread four times at night.

Childless couples set up a barni, (a slate orstone images of one foot height of a man and awife or a man) with a thought in mind that theywill be represented in village worship in absenceof any descendent. Barni resemble autors thatare erected near any water source, the onlydifference being that autors are set up after thedeath of childless person by the individual whohas been troubled by the dead in the dreams orin other ways. These dead are dissatisfiedmembers of village community who were forcedto sell their house or land by others.

Kailu Bir is a demon causing abortion and isworshipped by women only. Women offer a goat,a chola (a thick woolien coat), a waist band, awhite conical cap (chukhanni topi) and fine breadto birs.

Gaddis offer ahri or beestings, lamb and ora,incense and small cakes to naagas. Kailung naagis worshipped, as is Shiva, in the form of darat

(sickle) which is always carried by the Gaddiswhile shepherding his flock.

Batal, the spirit of springs, rivers and wellsis also worshipped and offerings of khichri(porridge), three balls of subal (moss), three ballsof ash, three measures of water and a pumpkinare made.

To joginis, the rock spirits, three colouredgrains of rice, five sweet cakes, a loaf, a flourlamp with red wick, three kinds of flowers, threepieces of incense and a she-goat are offered withprayers.

Chungu is the demon, who is supposed toreside on walnut and mulberry trees and underthe karangora shrub. Offerings of a coconut, achuhara (dried palm date), almonds, grapes, milkand a loaf of five paos (1500 grams) with his effigyin the flour with a basket on his back, a fourcornered lamp of flour and a piece of incense aremade.

In case of ailment caused by magic, the gardi-Chela (the doctor or medicine man) is called. Hebrings mani (Wooden pot) and keeps it in thecentre of the house. Some neighbours come atthe time of ritual. A red thread is tied around oneof the neighbours hand and the hand is placedon the mani. The chela starts chanting somemantras and showers some rice or black pulse.The mani starts moving in the direction of thehidden magical objects, the cause of sickness.The whole procedure is repeated thrice, the placeis dug and the buried objects are taken out.

Other victims of black magic are also treatedby the Gardi chela. He propitiates spirits andgods and cures patients. He plays dupatra (astring instrument made of the goat’s intestines)to the beat of a drum and throws a cowrie towardsthe patient. The chela sits cross-legged andincense is burnt before him. The assembledcrowds inspire him by shouting slogans in praiseof the gods. After a few seconds the chela startsswaying and shaking and is seized by religiousfervour. In this frenzy, he reveals the name of thewitch who has made him a patient. Then thepatient is asked to dip his palm and feet into thebucket full of water and the chela moves hishands on the patient’s body. This process isrepeated for days till the patient is cured. Theessence of this magical operation is the mutteredmantra, which contains a benediction. Oftenthese rituals are accompanied by the sacrifice ofa black-he-goat. The chela sucks its blood andthrows the dead body away.

GADDIS’ FOLK MEDICINE: A SOURCE OF HEALING

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Charms and Amulets

Charms and incantations are also used byGaddis to bring about cures of different diseases.Once the cause of the disease is decided bychela, he suggests the treatment accordingly-that the treatment requires a ritual with animalsacrifice or a charm has to be worn. However,before starting the treatment one may tie charmedamulet for one cannot be always certain of aphysical aetiology of the illness. An amulet is anobject worn or carried on the person, or preservedin some other way, for magico-religious reasons,that is, to cure disease, provide luck, or protectthe possessor from specified danger ormisfortune. Tying a charmed amulet is commonpreliminary act which serves two purposes: (i) ifthe disease is caused by external agents, thenthe amulet may cure the disease. The charm alsoprotects the individual against the demonicinterference. The efficacy of the amulet isgenerally for a limited period. If disease is notcured a bigger ritual may be require; (ii) an amuletmay act as a protection even if the cause isphysical manifestation, for spirits can attack aperson in a physically weak state. Enchantedthreads are tied round the leg, neck, arm, or waistas a cure for aches and pains. Men and womenwear them on their person in the form ofnecklaces, girdles, bracelets, anklets, or pendants.The material of which the amulets are madedepends upon different factors, one of which isthe availability of a particular material in the area.In case of child who suffers from an illness ormisfortune, a metal charm with crude image ofman engraved on it is hung around his neck.This charm is also known as autor as the imageengraved on it in most cases is of his dead grandfather. If grand father is alive, the image of anancestor is engraved for child’s protection. Theancestors are not only for troubling them,however they provide protection too.

University Trained Doctors

Another group of specialists who cater tothe needs of Gaddis are university traineddoctors. In communities with strong traditionalhealth care system for managing health, theintroduction of biomedical facilities to providehealth care is often met with indifference (Jefferyet al., 1988). The biomedicine is characterised byrepeated secularisation and shift away from

religion and so-called superstitions. However,among Gaddis occurrence of herbal medicine,ritual cure and other healing resources do notprevent them from availing biomedical facilities.

TREATMENT STRATEGIES

In the Bharmour valley, at the top of religioushierarchy are the Sanskritic gods, Lord Shiva andhis consort Parvati, who live on the top of Mt.Kailash are the main gods of Gaddis anddetermine the life pattern of Gaddis. Then thereare local gods closely connected with the Gaddis,either through family or village or through theiranimals and goods. There are also other spiritsand supernatural beings that need to bepropitiated as and when they interfere in the lifeof Gaddis but who otherwise are left alone.

The Gaddis have been used to a way of lifewhich has continued for a long time with-outany major disruption i.e., most of the activitiesare primarily based on the experience of the past.The beliefs pertaining to various diseases andtheir cure are also based on the past experiencesand traditional logic. The individual experienceshave come to be interpreted through a system ofcollective symbols. The widespread popularityof religious and non-medical faith healers bearswitness to the fact that people have deep-seatedfaith in cures brought through faith healing. Suchpeople attribute supernatural causes to diseaseand for them it is important to know whether aparticular disease in a patient is due to the wrathof a goddess, the work of an evil spirit, sorcery,witchcraft, or the breach of a taboo. There aredifferent reasons for the Gaddis that the way theymanage their illness. There are particular diseasesthat are associated with the supernatural (small-pox with shitla mata). Propitiation of supernaturalagents is a common means of securing relief forthe community or individual from many diseases.Gaddis are like many south-Asians that adhereto medical belief system which falls into the broadclass of what Foster calls a personalistic etiololgy(Foster, 1976; Foster and Anderson, 1978). Apartfrom being culturally oriented, Gaddi circumscribedby their ecological conditions and transhumantway of life have to depend on traditional healersin addition to biomedicine.

In the hills, the ecological factors constitutea significant factor in the socio-economic status.These areas remained isolated and lagged behindin social and economic progress. Governmental

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resolve to update the region has brought majorchanges in these remote hills. It has altered socialstructure and demographic distribution resultingin erosion of traditional values and religiousbeliefs and practices. Tribal communities inHimalayan districts are in front of a relateddilemma. Their own systems of health care arebeing replaced by state-sponsored hospitals;primary health centres; private dispensaries andso on. The government run health deliverysystem does not function properly and so tribalare forced to depend on private medicalpractitioners even for their basic health needs.

Self or home treatment is usually the first stepin medical care, consisting primarily ofconcoctions of herbs, barks of trees, flowers, roots,leaves, seeds etc. and change in diet. Traditionalmedical knowledge is coded in to householdcooking practices, home remedies; ill healthprevention and health maintenance beliefs androutines. Treatment is generally a family basedprocess, and the advice of family members orother important members of a community have amain influence on health behaviour and the formof treatment that is sought.

The strategy a person chooses for the treat-ment of his or her illness or that of a relativedepends on personal experiences and prefere-nces. The Gaddis’ response to health problemsreveal a multiple and simultaneous usage of homeremedies and multiple therapy. The variouspractitioners whose services are sought arepujari, chela, gardi chela and public healthpractitioners. The tribal traditional medical systemis based on personalistic tradition of super naturalhealers and their ministrations. The theoreticalside of traditional medical system, their religiousbackground, particularly the belief in the fear ofevil spirits, healing performed according tospiritual rites explains the persistence of indige-nous system. These traditional healer-divinersoperate within a religious paradigm, with noprinted or written material to conform or supportthe tradition. This system works on the acceptedpopularity of the individual methods, reputationand performance. The indigenous medicalsystem has sustained in society’s social culturalcomplexes through deeply rooted processes. Itis a set of concepts of health and illness thatreflect certain values, traditions and beliefs basedon people’s way of life. It is a “constant processof conformity to contemporary psychologicalneeds with in a recreated cultural identity.”

(Wijsen and Tanner, 2001). Levi-Strauss (1967)description of the Shaman and his healingtechniques sheds light on the relationshipbetween process and consequences of healing.The “Shaman provides a language (p. 198) andlike psychoanalyst, allows the conscious andunconscious to merge”. This he achievesthrough a shared symbolic system and curing ofone sick person improves the mental health ofthe group. According to Press (1982) “the majortherapeutic component of healing is alwayssymbolic, although the symbolic aspect of illnessis always present”. Suggestion and persuasionis the healer’s influence on the cognition orbehaviour of the patient. Suggestion is thera-peutic because it can relieve anxiety, offer thepatient new ways of coping, and changemaladaptive to adaptive behaviour (Frank, 1961:96; Kiev, 1964: 7-8). Persuation goes beyondsuggestion to imply a preexisting condition ofsuffering and heightened dependence on thehealer (Frank, 1961) In this context, the patientperforms a very important “social function andvalidates the system by calling into play thegroups sentiments and symbolic representationto have them” become embodied in realexperience” (pp. 180-182). For these healers, themind, the body, and the experiential field are one.The chela can best be understood as a healer ofthe mind and body as well as community. This isachieved through his status as the interpreter ofsymbols, those cultural instruments for per-ceiving and arranging reality. They are significantvectors of a force that compels mind, matter andexperience (Romanucci-Ross, 1980 b). The ritualhealers are specialists possessing power to healor prevent illness and disaster. It is believed byGaddis that illness emanates from a disjunctionof a quasi-equilibrium maintained between man,his environment and the supernatural. Anindividual or super individual force can disruptthe established order. The reinstatement of theorder or the return to the health can only beachieved through a healer. Chela has recourseto rituals with the help of which he goes intotrance and counteracts the evil forces. All thespiritual beings gods and demons have a specificcharacter, they are considered sensitive, ratherdemanding, easily irritated, but never the lessare basically well meaning. They do not give anything free. They constantly require respect,offerings and sacrifices. These supernaturals arein need of daily prayers and recitation of hymns.

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Gaddis are religious and take care to observe allrituals properly. Even than if some body falls sick,Gaddis consult chela.

The Gaddis who can avail the facility ofbiomedicine do so without being familiar withthe theoretical principle of medical system. Forexample, an infant who is being given prescribedmedicine for diarrhoea may also be-takenconcurrently to a chela for the evil eye or givenhome remedies. Although only indigenoushealers cure certain illnesses such as evil eye,this does not preclude the use of biomedicine totreat the symptoms. There is interplay of localperceptions and biomedical views influencing theconcept of health and illness of the people ofBharmour. In Bharmour like Guatemalan, thesymptoms are treated with biomedicine, while thecause of illness is dealt with through a folkspecialist (Gonzales (1966). Traditions arestrongly observed in order to maintain health.However, with the increase in the interaction withrecent technological advances, scientific explana-tions have already begun to influence the oldcustoms and traditions used in managing health.Even then, majority of Gaddis believe that certaindiseases are caused by supernatural beings.Ceremonies and rituals are persistently performedin an effort to cure sickness, improve body func-tioning, promote health, secure good harvestsand other good things of life. Traditional theoriesof illness aetiology are often multifactorial andmultilevel (i.e. immediate and ultimate levels ofcausation) which permits the use of differenttreatment resources for different causal factorsand levels (Cosminsky, 1977). As a person issimultaneously a body, a self (psyche) and asocial being, so are the healers. As explained byAdams healers “pursued a dialogic, relationalremedy for its patients through reciprocalrelationships that encouraged community, suchas in gift giving to spirits and etiologies basedon real social conflicts” (Adams, 1992: 154).

A general quantitative survey on the utilisationof multiple therapy system among Gaddis givesan impression that they have inclination towardsindigenous type. However, Gaddis fail to seeconflict between medicines and healing rituals.Throughout their lifetime they have used the two(the ritual healing and herbal administrations)simultaneously. In areas where biomedicalinstitutions are within the reach of the Gaddis,they do not hesitate to use the medicine in addi-tion to herbal and ritual cure. Gaddis do not find

odd to use ‘medicines’ alongside the rituals ofchela. The traditional model is an ideologyshared by healer and patient. Among Gaddisthese therapeutic sessions seem to psychologicallyenabling actions that help them overcome thetrauma of their lives.

According to Cosminsky and Schrimshaw,economics is the leading factor in the treatmentof sickness. Ryan (1998) argues that it is noteconomics, but other factors, such as medicalvariety, that dictate the choice of treatment. Ryanexamined the health behaviour of the people in asmall village in Cameroon. He identifies seventreatment modalities that were available topeople: waiting (to see if the illness would notjust pass); home remedies (treatments administeredby non-specialists with products not purchasedat the local stores); pharmaceuticals (drugsbought without medical specialists advice);traditional healers (with kom medical knowledge),clinic, hospital and nurse. Results suggests thatinformants tried to find out ways to treat it withintheir own means first waiting, home remedies andtraditional healers, and then, if this did not help,sought help from outside sources (clinic andhospital).

People modify pre-existing practices if theeconomic costs are within their reach. There is achange in overt behaviour of people, but it doesnot necessarily explain or mean changes in thebelief system. In the study area, it was foundthat the traditional beliefs about fertility, preg-nancy and abortion have remained unchangedthough some females delivered their babies athealth centre. The Gaddis of Bharmour despitehaving their traditional medical system stronglysupported by beliefs and practice were whenoffered government sponsored medical services,accepted them and put these to test even if as alast resort. The open, pragmatic and nondis-criminatory attitude towards various optionsamong Gaddis is similar to what Wagner foundamong Navaho (Wagner, 1978: 4-5). As far ascurative and preventive medical services areconcerned, Gaddis accepted both. They wereready to immunize their children for small poxafter lots of persuasions; however they continu-ed with rituals as well. They accepted environ-mental sanitation (D.D.T spray for malaria control)too. As there are multiple medical systems avai-lable to people to opt for, the course of action tofollow depends on the situation and conditionof the sick. The strategies that underline these

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decision-making processes have come to becalled the “hierarchy of resort in curativepractices.” (Schwartz, 1969).

Among Gaddis of Bharmour a sequence ofresort does not seem to exist; although the trendis to begin with home remedies to chela tobiomedical doctor, as the course of the illnessproceeds and become more serious. However,there is also a back and forth movement betweenresources or a shorten approach, often based onreferrals and advice from relatives andneighbours and other practitioners, which seemsto be associated with desperation over theperceived increasing severity of an illness. Whena person is sick, he or his family members areprimarily interested in getting his health restored,for which they unhesitatingly combine differenttreatments irrespective of their ontological,epistemic, moral and aesthetic foundation.Medical pluralism results out of this orientationwhere attainment of health is primary objectiveand the individual is treated in its holistic self.When one system of treatment fails to provide relief,individual moves onto another and if this treatmentfails to provide relief, individual moves on to anotherand this is individuals or his group’s choice.

Each medical system is not only a product ofparticular historical milieu and cultural apparatus;it has also its own cognitive categories. Humanbeings caught in illness episodes are lessbothered about the issue of combination; theyare singularly concerned with recovery and relief.For this, distinction between ‘rational’ and ‘non-rational’ methods of diagnosis and treating illnessis abolished. Here the distinction between,‘science’ and ‘faith’ categories collapses; andso is the distinction between magic and religion.Systems of thought and explication, like astrologyand Sufism, which primarily are not medical, areapproached for curative as well as therapeuticpurposes, on the premise that religion is to beresorted incase of suffering, and illness is a kindof suffering, the alleviation of which can besought through prayers, touch invocation ofspirits, sacrifice; libation, appeasing theunfavorable planetary configuration and wearingtalisman and charms on body.

The therapeutic cures of any medical systemare successful because the therapeutic curesactually help the patient recover from illness. Asin case of biomedicine, the use of antibiotic inbacterial infection in any part of the body helps.Likewise, studies of ethnobotany have shown

that herbs used by local healers actually haveproperties beneficial in treating many diseases.

It is also true that any cure may be successfulregardless of the procedure taken by a biomedicaldoctor or a folk therapist. It has been shown byresearch that common diseases are self-limitingor psychosomatic. Medications are used for onlyreducing unpleasant symptoms.

Another reason for recovery is believed tobe the placebo effect. That is, a patient may becured because he believes in the efficacy of thetreatment even though it really has done nothingto intercept the disease. Placebos are especiallyeffective when both the patient and the healerbelieve that they really can cure an ailment andis highly cultural related.

Argument

This study was carried out in a remote tribalarea where a transhumant population faces adilemma of change in their traditional setting. Likeother rural parts of India, health care in Bharmouramong Gaddis is characterised by medicalpluralism. Medical pluralism is the synchronicexistence in a society of more than one medicinesystems grounded in different principles orbased on different worldviews. These medicalsystems are complementary, alternative andunconventional. The status, growth andevaluation of co-existing therapy systems areinfluenced of by cultural ideology, ecology,political patronage and changing socialinstitutions. Indulgence in multiple therapiesappears to be fairly widespread in prolongedperiod of illness. However, it is not easy to derivean exact pattern. Among Gaddis, the health careincludes self care, consultation with traditionalhealers- chela; and /or primary health care. Thepsychosomatic treatment in tribal aetiologyincludes appeasement of evil spirits and forcesby sacrifice of animals, by offerings of grainsand liquor, use of charms and amulets depictingsacred symbols. Magical spells are used to divertthe undesirable effects of evil spirits.

Two ethnomedical perspectives on illnessand its treatment emerge from the analysis of thedata collected from Gaddis of Bharmour. Onedimension of therapeutic rituals and discoursesabout sickness and body reveals its underlyinglogic. It is concerned with cultural construct ofsickness and therapy among lay people and folkhealers. Here popular therapeutic rituals are

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structured for certain kinds of sickness. Thediscourses and practices concerning of healthand sickness are interwoven in the context ofeveryday life. The Gaddis have retained theirdeep-rooted animistic faith and totemic conceptswith a high level of superstition in spite of windsof change. Among Gaddis religion provide ethicalguidelines for living, for interpreting naturalevents including disease, misfortunes anddisasters. Anything, which can not be explainedpragmatically, is considered supernaturalmanifestation. The demonolatry religion of theGaddis is the outcome of their environs. Thereare cultural, social and psychological conditionsthat produce and maintain supernaturalismamong Gaddis. Supernaturalism provides theneeded explanation as cause of suffering and isemotionally satisfying. According to supernaturalist explanation, suffering is caused by evilspirits, evil eye, even good spirits if not kept ingood mood or neglected or offended unwittingly.Spirits are propitiated by performing certainrituals accompanied by animal sacrifice and directcommunication in trance by religious techni-cians. The supernaturally caused illnesses aretreated by exorcism and appeasement of thespirits. They all have powers greater than man’sand are harmful or potentially harmful. Thefindings of the study show that among Gaddisthere is wider tendency of sticking to indigenoustherapeutic practices both herbal and ritual.However, the belief in supernatural causes existsalongside the belief in natural causes as in caseof general health problems and reproductivehealth problems, tribal start with home remediesand herbs. They are familiar with some conditions,which point to the cause, and so the treatment.Tribal are fastidious about the etiology of thedisease as this is important for therapeuticmeasures. Diagnosis is necessary before selectingthe right treatment. The diseases that follow aparticular route of treatment have been describedas” fixed-strategy diseases” (Beals, 1980).

The second dimension is spirit possessionand exorcism by chela. Tribal theory of sicknessdescribes a different source of evil caused byinvisible spirits that exist outside their socialboundaries. These spirits inhabit trees, rivers,lakes, mountains and deserted places around thehabitation. It is alleged that spirits and ghostscause various kinds of suffering and are agentsof illness and fatality. Spirit possession isacknowledged as an illness among Gaddis. When

a person starts acting bizarrely or a person has asickness that does not respond to ordinaryremedies, Gaddis consider it as a case for ritualcure. Chela suspect spirit possession and makesan effort to force the spirit to reveal itself. Thesystem of cause, effect and cure is thus a circularand enclosed system of knowledge. The causeis a spirit, the effect is spirit possession and thecure is controlled spirit possession. The systemof knowledge discloses the underlying explanationand restrains disorder, chaos and inexplicablecircumstances. There is a close relationshipbetween spirit possession as an altered form ofconsciousness and parapsychology. To believersin spirit possession it provides a manifestfunction of the causes and effects of illness andmisfortunes. Possession is a powerful beliefsystem prevalent in many parts of the world. Spiritpossession is the concept that gods, demons, orother disincarnate entities may temporarily takecontrol of a human body, resulting in notablechange in the behaviour. All spirits are not purelygood or evil; the term demonic possession iscommonly used is when the spirit is malignant.Unlike demonic possession where the person isthought to be taken over by the devil or hisdemons for harm, spirit possession is voluntary,culturally sanctioned displacement of personality.The spirits, be they deities, angels, demons orthe dead ones are invited to enter a humanperson. Possession is used to explain unusualoccurrences and behaviour.

Spirit possession as illness has been reportedfrom other parts of India as well. The basic patternof the precipitating event, behaviour during theattack, diagnosis and treatment show extensiverange. There are regional differences in the waypeople behave during an attack; make use ofspirit possession as a mechanism of controllingothers; and ascription of wide range of illnessesand. misfortunes under the label of spiritpossession. Freed and Freed’s description of thefeatures of victims of spirit possession of ShantiNagar, a north Indian village near Delhi- shivering,moaning, feeling weak, loosing consciousness,going in to trance and eventually recovering(1964) is different from Opler (1958) account ofeastern Uttar Pradesh in which aggression andthreatened physical violence seem to dominatethe attack. Though, spirit possession among theGaddis is non aggressive and is a more generalform of social control than in Shanti Nagar. Likeeastern Uttar Pradesh, spirit possession among

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Gaddis involves accusation of witchcraft notcommon in Shanti Nagar.

Among Gaddis, deities and evil spiritspossess men as well as women. The peopleinitially become possessed by being penetratedby the spirit in the form of an illness. The afflictedGaddi comes to seek the guidance of the ritualspecialists (who themselves are possessed byvarious deities) to know (discover) the cause ofpersistent illnesses, to resolve personal problems,to be relieved of sorcery spells and possessingdemons. Spirit possession is considered aproblem to be remedied through the interventionof spiritually possessed ritual specialists. Incertain instances, spirit possession is a methodby which status quo is maintained. Women gaincontrol over their lives within a male-dominatedsociety through the ritual possession of spirit.Demonic possession is, “a culturally constitutedidiom available for women for expressing andmanaging their personal problems” (Nabokov,2000: 71). Possession by familial spirits is acommon occurrence. These spirits usually posse-ss their relatives at moments when ceremonialprotocol at festivals such as marriage, birthceremonies has been breached.

In the tradition of spirit possession, icons aswell as effigies are used to communicate with,and to symbolise good and evil spirits. The exor-cists cast their curses upon small effigies of theirvictims so as to hinder victim’s reproductive, vocalor mobile capabilities. Conversely, mediums useeffigies to rid people of their demons. In ritualexorcisms, mediums make effigies of the victims,and offer gifts attractive to demons in order tolure them out of the host. Ritual drumming andincantations is a symptom of the trance-like statethe spiritually possessed are in. Cultural historyof the people and their gods and goddesses;myths or powers of any of the goddesses decidewhy or how they choose certain individual tobecome ritual specialists.

The spirit possession and going in to tranceritual, despite it’s outwardly trappings, isgenerally sought out by petitioners to achievedown to earth goals: -curing of sickness and othermiseries. Trance-like state is indicative of spiritualpossession. The cure involves the intercessionof a spirit that has the power to expel theoffending demon. The spirits use medium asvessel to help victims with their problems causedby demons. Likewise, the victims become vesselsfor communications for the demons. The

supernatural powers are channelised throughhuman hosts. Gaddis believe that in cases ofpossession the cure is not accomplished by thechela as he merely act as vehicle of treatment.The chela enables the divine spirit to come incontact with the spirit, affecting the haplessvictim by facilitating the encounter. Thus duringthe encounter the exorcist and the victim are verymuch alike –they are both simultaneouslypossessed by an alien spirit. However, there isone important difference. The patient wasdisinclined and taken unaware during his sleep,while attending a funeral or walking under ahaunted tree or any such place. On the contrary,the shaman by virtue of his training andqualifications is in a deeper consciousness andheightened state of awareness and is not asmuch of the victim of the possession. Hispossession is voluntary and thus a participantin the spirit world. By vehemently entering thisexpanded state, the shaman is able to exercise alimited control over the spirit. Thus, while it isthe spirit and simply spirits that can affect cure,the shaman by virtue of his ability to interactwith both the world of the spirits and world ofman is able to direct the consideration of spirittoward the suffering and sickness caused bypossession. Possession is cured by contact witha more powerful spirits, not by expansion ofconsciousness from within. This is an adaptivesocial function, or as described by Spiro (1966:120), it (spirit possession) is the basis of socialstability in potentially unstable and disruptivesocial circumstances. It has the similar functionthat witchcraft belief, as described by Evans-Pritchard (1937: 63-83), have for many Africansocieties. The beliefs and institutions surroundingspirit possession fulfill the function as stated bySpiro (1966, 121) of providing a “culturallyapproved means, for the resolution of innerconflicts (between personal desires and culturalnorms” (cited from Jones, 1976). Powers of strongfaith, courage and great patience are the sourceof healing. The ceremonies of visiting thetraditional healers have established a relationshipof psychological therapeutic dependence on thepart of the Gaddis with regard to healers. Thisdependence on the part of the Gaddis with regardto healer is deeply rooted in their psyche.Medical system’s degree of productivity dependson the effectiveness of its armamentarium andtechnical skills of the practitioners

The empirical reality of such phenomenon is

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less important in comparison to the connectionbetween occult belief and the social problem.This is a question of ‘empirical’ and ‘rationalists’link as that between distorted perceptions andtendencies towards scapegoating. The complexityand multiplicity of such phenomenon (humanintervention) is not simple. “Witchcraft andsorcery are best seen as occupying their ownspace (seemingly a hyperspace) outside of setframeworks of social or psychological analysis”(Shanafelt, 2004: 329).

Anthropological studies have been carriedout featuring spirit possession (Freed and Freed,1964; Danforth, 1989; Nabokov, 2000). Freed andFreed (1964) discussed spirit possession asillness in Shanti Nagar, a north Indian village nearDelhi. They conceptualised that “spirit possessionis like hysteria and is caused due to the individual’sintra-psychic tension and a precipitation conditiondue to an event or situation involving unusualstress or emotion. The basic condition of spiritpossession is psychological. Danforth (1989)study presents Anastenaria religion of Greeceand focuses on the worship of the healing powerof Saint Constantine. In Northern Greece, thetraditions of Anastenaria are upheld throughdancing and fire walking, icon worship and spiritpossession. Nabokov (2000) presents a TamilNadu study of Southern India where individualsworship the healing powers of various Hindugoddesses. The Tamils are a mixed groupconsisting of mediums who channel the spiritsof the goddesses, and victims who are possessedby demons

Some anthropologists have analysed shamanismfrom a functional point of view (Berreman,1964;Mandelbaum, 1964), while Eliade (1964)maintained that shaman’s ecstatic experience is a“primary phenomenon” and is not the result of aparticular historical moment, that is, produced by acertain civilization. It was fundamental in the humancondition; and its interpretation and evaluation haschanged and modified with the different form ofculture and religion.

In South-Asia, shamanism has been modifiedand incorporated within the cosmology ofHinduism and Buddhism. Among Gaddis it existsas a “complimentary” religious rite to Hinduismas was professed by Berreman and Mandelbaumfor their respective studies. On the religiousplane, there is convergence of two elements inthe Bharmour region. The first of these isindigenous shamanistic (chela) cult which is

limited in means and scope, with no politicalpower and no social organisation beyond thevillage or regional level. The second is Hinduismwith its cult of high god Shiva and otherSanskritic traditions. In this area, religions havenot destroyed each other; they cohabit andinfluence each other. Depending upon theircaste, individual seeks the services of Brahmanpurohit; however everyone consults the chelafor healing, divination and appeasing of hostilespirits. Their ancient protective deities arederived from animistic religion. Rituals andceremonies are persistent need of Gaddis incontemporary time to engage in at the time ofbirth, marriage, death and healing withoutconsciously believing in the religious elementsof these rites. Ritual is a prescribed action relatedto a deity or super human being, while ceremoniesare an elaborate form of social behaviour.

In Bharmour, there is no medicalisation of folk-medicine by western medicine-the active attemptby official providers of health care to impose astandard structure on diagnostic and curingpractices as discussed by Romanucci-Ross ofmedicine in Italy (Romanucci-Ross, 1997: 2). Bio-medical systems as a rule stand in sharp contrastto the indigenous ones, although a study donein Kerala and Punjab has suggested that thereare numerous indigenous medical practitionerswho used western medicine, including penicillininjections (Neumann, 1971: 140-141). It is believedby Gaddis that traditional medical system iscompetent of restoring health of the body(herbs) or the mind (chela). Among Gaddis, thefailure of the cure did not call for questioning theefficacy of the system, but on the dissonance ofritual behaviour. The total commitment of thebelievers in the traditional system (which issometimes doubted by failure) persists and sodoes the belief of the patient in the healer,regardless of result.

Ardales and Hardes (1998) found that the co-existence of modern and various traditionalmedicines is particularly prevalent in societieswhere one medical system alone cannot meet thehealth needs of the entire population. This is thecase with the Gaddis, where the availablebiomedical facilities are not in proportion totranshumant Gaddi population. The Gaddishepherds’ claim to both vertical and horizontalpastoral resources in the mountain commons arefounded upon long standing customary usage.These practices are sustained by institutions of

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transhumance, a response to ecological demandswhose design rests on constant and mutualadjustment between herding and cultivation bothat higher altitudes and lower mountains, toinsure against specific seasonal risks. They travelfor around six hundred kilometers in all. Migrationtowards summer pastures starts in May. It takesaround two months to travel mere hundredkilometers. Much of these two months are spentin Bharmour valley, as Gaddis have permanenthomes and fields here. The journey to the alpinepastures is harder with few stopping places andsteep slopes to traverse. There they spend twoto three months in a tree less land and surviveon goat’s milk and sattu(parched barley flour thatrequires no cooking) and sometimes dal(pulses)and makki-ki-roti (maize flour chapattiscooked on cattle dung). Unlike Changpas ofLadakh, who stay in their rebos (tents) duringtheir migrations (Bhasin, 1996) Gaddis carry notents. They are under open sky, with their gardus(blankets) and kilted homespun cloaks forprotection from cold winds. The downwardjourney faces the same problems and follows thesame routines. During winter migrations theirfamilies also travel with them. Even as they areon move, they are exposed to health hazards withonly herbs and rituals to take care of them. Localtherapeutic practices take priority becauseGaddis are bound by strong cultural traditionsand possess knowledge of herbs and rituals tobe performed. Moreover lack of communicationfacilities and distance of health institutions fromthe traditional routes of migration restricts theuse of biomedicine. Biomedical aid is availed byGaddis just in serious cases. Distance traveledand mode of transportation is associated withlonger health system delay. The socio-culturalconditions in the region in which the study wasconducted, found that women were more likelyto have longer patient as well as health systemdelays. Women and men have different healthseeking behaviours and reasons for delay, in mostinstances it being more difficult for the women.While self-medication was quite extensively usedand more men in the study area did resort to it, itis interesting to note that while a higher propor-tion of men used cough syrups women had toresort to house remedies- suggestive of diffe-rences of access to care outside the four walls ofone’s home. Gaddis depend on local healers, whobesides relying upon certain occult phenomenondeal with various herbs for preparing medicines

for therapeutic use and are convenient for them.In these areas people are obsessed with theuncanny, unearthly activities of spirits, ghostsand deities. The disease thought to be causedby supernatural, demand magico-religiousremedy. In case of trouble, session with chela isan embedded healing system and an effectivesurvival strategy for large number of people andtraditional healers, who form a final authority forthe diagnosis and treatment of particular formsof ill health, are often sought. These are aimed atholistically assuaging suffering, strengtheningand sustaining and harmonising the patients withtheir environment. The physical, psychologicaland social impact of the ritual on the patient,sanctify healing as a symbolic cultural mechanismstemming from ritual expression. Among Gaddis,the situation is like Durkhiem’s focus on the socialsystem: religion holds the society together,reinforces primary social values, and provides acharter for social organisation. Radcliffe-Brownassociates religious ideation with the creation ofthat anxiety which such ritual practices aredesigned to alleviate: “while one anthropologicaltheory is that magic and religion give confidence,comfort and a sense of security, it will equally wellbe argued that they give man fear and anxietiesfrom which they could otherwise be free”(cf. Levi-Strauss, 1963: 67). Laderman and Roseman havesuggested that, “the healing effects of perfor-mance are on one level, caused by catharsis thatcan occur when a patient’s unresolved emotionaldistress is reawakened and confronted in adramatic context” (1996: 7).

In addition there are financial reasons thatrestrain the availing of biomedicine. If they donot have to pay for doctor and medicines, themajority of the Gaddis would favour biomedicine.Nowadays, young Gaddis do not regard allchelas with confidence and support. Gaddis ofBharmour are like other transhumant groups ofHimalayas-Bhutias of Lachen-Lachung, Sikkimand Changpas of Chanthang, Ladakh in theirresponse to health and sickness. Both the groupsare cultural outposts of Tibet. Bhutias andChangpas profess Buddhism with its elementsderiving from pre-Buddhist shamanic Bonreligion. They also believe in a vast array of godsand spirits who must be propitiated at appro-priate time for the general welfare of society. TheBhutias and Changpas place great emphasis oncoercive rites of exorcising and destroyingdemons. The execution of religion among Bhutias

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and Changpas is in the hands of trainedspecialists Pau (male), Nejohum (female), Lamas;lhama (female), lhapa (male), lama and amchirespectively. Spirit intervention and humanintervention is alleged source of illness. Bothbelieve that diseases can be induced by magic,sorcery and evil eye. Both culturally Tibetan andpolitically Indian have been subjected to deve-lopment programmes, Indian military and influxof tourists. Like Gaddis, both the transhumantgroups are not averse to biomedicine howeverlack of communication facilities and distance ofhealth institutions from the traditional routes ofmigration restricts the use of biomedicine. Biome-dical aid is availed by Bhutias and Changpasjust in serious cases. Both depend on localhealers, who besides relying upon certain occultphenomenon deal with various herbs for prepar-ing medicines for therapeutic use and areconvenient for them (Bhasin, 1989, 1996, 1997,1999, 2007). A healer persuades the patient that itis possible to define the patient’s relationship toa particular part of the mystic world. The healerattaches the patient’s emotions to transactionalsymbols. The healer manipulates the transactionalsymbols to assist the transaction of emotion.

The role of traditional healers in the controlof diseases has to be seen in the light of the factthat they have other socio-cultural and religiousexternalities, which may be beneficial to thecommunities concerned. The World Bank tooreported that traditional healers could be impor-tant potential public health providers of essentialclinical services if governments give themappropriate training, information and incentives.While exploring the reasons for delays, the studycould not find any association with most of thesocio-demographic factors; past studies havefound that older age was associated with longerdelays. Other studies found factors such asknowledge, literacy and socio economic statusinfluenced delay in availing biomedicine, andhowever this study found that their culturalorientation, difficult means of communication andnon-availability of public health centres nearbyare reasons for delay. In circumstances wherepublic health system alone cannot meet therequirements of the population in the area, theservices of traditional healers are being used. InPuerto Rico, spiritism offers a traditional alter-native to community health services. Practi-tioners of ‘espiritsmo’ the major traditionalhealing system in Puerto Rico are mediums that

can exorcise illness-causing spirits and assistclients to acquire enlightened spirit guides andprotectors. Ortega (1988) reports that two sys-tems of health care co-exist in Ecuador. Thetraditional system combines elements of theindigenous system, the modifications broughtby the Incas, and elements of Medieval Europeanmedical theory and practice. The official medicalsystem comprising both public and privateinstitutions is inaccessible for large sections ofpopulation due shortages of manpower andmaterials and high cost of services.

In Latin America, particularly in the Andeancountries, there is interdependency of medicalsystems. In a culturally diverse and sociallystratified population of Latin America, medicalsystems constitutes a social representation resul-ting from the historical relationships betweenautochthonous medical cultures and those fromother latitudes. “The impregnation of scientificand popular knowledge results not only in theincorporation (and often expropriation) of folk inprofessional or scientific medicine, but also inthe increasing ‘medicalisation’ of popular medi-cine and traditional therapeutic practices”(Pedersen and Barriffati, 1989). The degree ofcompetitiveness, co-operation or integrationamong medical systems depends mainly onasymmetrical distribution of power and resourc-es, and is conditioned by the population’s beha-viour in the management of disease.

It is often alleged that tribal are so steeped insuperstition that they will not utilise any modernhealth facility. What is often not recognised isthat inaccessibility is probably a more importantreason than prejudice for the poor utilisation ofhealth care facilities by tribal. The Bharmour areahas remained clear of Tibetans, Gorkhas orMuslims invasions. In the 19th century, the Britishcolonial rulers established dispensaries in othertribal areas that catered to the needs of officialsrather than the masses. They were more concernedwith the controlling the tribal territories to exploittheir forests and other resources. They werefollowed by protestant missionaries, who provid-ed medical care with a view to ultimately conver-ting them to Christianity. However, Bharmourregion has not been affected by such develop-ments due to its geographical position andecological conditions. The ecological conditionsof the area and difficult means of transportationand communication did not encourage migra-tions. Indian medical policy is comprehensively

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pluralist, since biomedicine, in all its forms, fromhospital based surgery to health centres todispensaries is being fully utilised along withthe traditional systems. The pluralistic medicalsituation of doctors and deities in Bharmourprovide flexibility and fulfills different needs ofthe community. The folk systems are open asmanifested by eclecticism of both the clients andpractitioners, who adopt and adapt from an arrayof co-existing medical traditions. This opennessof folk systems, as Press (1978) point out, ismanifested by the acceptance of inputs fromother/alternative health systems, and also inputsfrom institutional sectors such as religion andfamily. According to Landy (1974) the traditionalhealer role stands at the interstices religion, magicand social system and gain its power from thisposition. Gaddis do not view these sessions withritual practitioners as magical affairs. For them itis the use of spiritual powers to achieve explicitendeavor by an expert who manipulates chainsof cause and affect for the betterment. This iscomparable to the classical anthropologicalnotion of magic as “belief that supernaturalpowers can be compelled to act in certain waysfor good or evil purposes by recourse to certainformulas.”(Haviland, 2003: 671).

The co-existing of different medical systemwithin a selected milieu seeks interaction andintegrated health system. The likelihood of anintegrated health system, combining bothtraditional and biomedical healing practices isalways looked for. However, in Bharmour no suchintegration was found. The situation in Bharmouris like what Nazrul Hasan (2005) depicted in hisstudy of Philippines. In Bharmour, biomedicaland traditional health practices exist in paralleland their healers prefer to work in their own fields.There is little possibility of physicians and chelasworking together. There is socio-economicdisparity between biomedical professionals andtraditional practitioners, but there is no tensionbetween the two. Gaddis do not have easy accessto allopathic medicine while they are on move.Even when they are in homes, the situationremains more or less the same as the hospital atBharmour is not well stocked with medicines. TheGaddis are hard put to in emergent cases becausethere is no private chemist or pharmacist in thevillage. Easy availability and low price ofmedicinal herbs makes it easy for Gaddis to makeuse of local health traditions. Gaddis feel thatthis herbal system is valuable and should be

encouraged and saved for the next generations.However, the area does not have any institutionto train local people in the medicinal plants usage.There is no published book that is available onhousehold medicines. The knowledge is trans-ferred at the household level only. Modern edu-cation, technology, biomedicine has not threat-ened the traditional therapeutic healing as thereare no alternatives. The integration of the twosystems is conceptual. These systems just co-exist, side-by-side. To dismiss traditional medicalsystems as ineffective or weak is to overlooktheir relevance and benefits in the contexts oftheir socio-cultural systems. At the same theshortcomings of modern medical systems: theirtechnical complexity, rising costs, curative ratherthan preventive focus, and limited accessibilityfor large population sectors can not be over-looked.

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