February 2, 2026 - Many new or modified herbal traditions arose within Black communities in North America. These traditions were most celebrated, documented, and depended upon in the Southeast, where slavery was most concentrated. Typical elements included a combination of African, European, and Indigenous healing ...

While 90% of the population in Ethiopia use herbal remedies for their primary healthcare, surveys carried out in developed countries like Germany and Canada tend to show that at least 70% of their population have tried CAM at least once [2, 3]. It is likely that the profound knowledge of herbal remedies in traditional cultures, developed through trial and error over many centuries, along with the most important cures was carefully passed on verbally from one generation to another. Indeed, modern allopathic medicine has its roots in this ancient medicine, and it is likely that many important new remedies will be developed and commercialized in the future from the African biodiversity, as it has been till now, by following the leads provided by traditional knowledge and experiences [2–5].

January 14, 2025 - Traditional Use: African Ginger is a plant revered in numerous African cultures for its multifaceted healing properties. Historically, it was used to combat fever, flu, and even rheumatism.

February 24, 2026 - However, Traditional African Medicine (TAM), considered the world's oldest form of traditional medicine, remains largely unfamiliar to many. Yet, many of us unknowingly benefit from this centuries-old wisdom through the use of herbal products originating from African herbalism and folklore.

January 26, 2026 - According to Sade Muse of Roots of Resistance, African American herbalism is a rich melange of many cultural traditions with deep origins rooted in African history dating back to ancient Egypt.

April 12, 2026 - Diagnosis is reached through spiritual means and a treatment is prescribed, usually consisting of a herbal remedy that is considered to have not only healing abilities but also symbolic and spiritual significance. Traditional African medicine, with its belief that illness is not derived from ...

January 1, 2011 - We describe a rural African community’s interactions in recording and interpreting video on herb lore in our endeavours to design digital systems that extend sharing knowledge in a system of traditional medicine (TM). Designing for such a system involves reflecting on own narratives about medicine and media and recognising that narratives reflect “cultural logics” and media transforms narratives.

January 28, 2026 - In many African cultures, healing ... body, soul, and nature. One of the oldest records of herbal use in Africa is the Ebers Papyrus (1500 BCE), which mentions species like aloe and myrrh....

January 9, 2025 - African herbal medicine focuses on how the African people were able to relay the uses of plants in a way in which they could understand. It is how they attuned the physical characteristics and attributes of the plant to the physical and ...

Some of the plants used in Western herbalism entered our knowledge base via Africa, both during ancient times and, undeniably, during slave trade and colonialism. In honor of Black History Month, we’re taking a closer look at four herbs used in the West that have rich histories of use in African and Indigenous herbalism, as a way to honor the roots of those herbal traditions.

Before the event of colonialism, Africa was a continent where the "witch doctors" and "herbalist healers" taken care of all ailments, real or not. Even now in the 21st Century, African witch doctors are still found all-over Africa. Superstitions, cannibalism and the use of human parts in African witchcraft, are still practiced in many African countries.

February 1, 2021 - American medical botanists learned about the native North American flora largely from the Indigenous Peoples who had worked with these plants for centuries. The legacy passed down from Western European herbalism combined with First Nations ethnobotany, the traditional healing knowledge of enslaved Africans, and herb lore from midwives and cottage herbalists to create a uniquely American herbal movement.

January 30, 2019 - African traditional medicine is a form of holistic health care system organized into three levels of specialty, namely divination, spiritualism, and herbalism. The traditional healer provides health care services based on culture, religious background, knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs that ...

February 2, 2026 - African American herbalism is part of the backbone of a multitude of healing traditions in many parts of the Americas. However, it is often underappreciated, as are the rich herbal traditions of the African continent. Thankfully, a time has come where lineages such as these are being lifted up and celebrated as part of the rich tapestry of healing formed over thousands of years and thousands of miles of transition and transformation.

Traditional African religions relied on animism, veneration of dead ancestors, and other spiritual practices, and these practices were woven into medical treatment as well. There was not much demarcation, if any, between curing an illness and practicing religion. In the nineteenth century when Europe began its conquest of Africa, some aspects of traditional medicine were made illegal, and controls on herbal medicine attempted to be implemented.

November 10, 2022 - Indian culture preserved the tradition of Ayurvedic remedies for almost six millennia, it is claimed, making it the oldest continuous medical tradition on the planet. But this is where most of the historical accounts of herbal lore stop. American (North and South), African and Australian herbal lore – which had been passed orally from generation to generation – was severely impacted on by colonisation.

August 1, 2011 - We describe a rural African community’s interactions in recording and interpreting video on herb lore in our endeavours to design digital systems that extend sharing knowledge in a system of traditional medicine (TM). Designing for such a system involves reflecting on own narratives about medicine and media and recognising that narratives reflect “cultural logics” and media transforms narratives.

February 26, 2024 - So they used old wisdom about plants and traditions from Africa to stay healthy. They made medicine with plants from the forest, and it helped them survive tough times. Africans knew a lot about using plants and natural remedies from their homelands.

November 12, 2020 - Traditional healing practices existed in Africa long before conventional medicine, and attempts by colonial governments and early religious missionaries to suppress it did not succeed (UNAIDS, 2002; Agbor and Naidoo, 2016), since more than 85% of the population in Africa still relies on herbal medications for their healthcare needs (Jamshidi-Kia et al., 2018), and, at times, they are the only therapy that subsists (Mahomoodally, 2013). Although African traditional religion is not against the Western medical way of treatment or healing process, its followers believe that there are some diseases that Western medicine cannot treat (White, 2015).

This first-of-its-kind herbal guide takes you through the origins of herbal practices rooted in African American tradition—from Ancient Egypt and the African tropics to the Caribbean and the United States. Inside you’ll find the stories of herbal healers like Emma Dupree and Henrietta Jeffries, who made modern American herbalism what it is today.