PhD Thesis Defense: Dianah T. Kacunguzi
Dianah T. Kacunguzi will present her proposal defense titled, "Knowledge Preservation Practices of Herbalists in Uganda: An Ethnographic Study." Her committee members include: Professor Emerita Linda C. Smith (Chair and Director of Research); Associate Professor Maria Bonn; Assistant Professor Peter Darch; and Professor Clara Chu (Director, Mortenson Center).
Abstract: In this era of Westernization, traditional medical knowledge (TMK) is increasingly facing the risk of getting lost. If this knowledge is lost, it may be lost forever. This explains the growing and widespread need to preserve TMK in indigenous communities around the world to minimize the possibility of extinction. This is a naturalistic inquiry that seeks to understand the “Knowledge Preservation Practices of Herbalists in Uganda.” This study closely examined how herbalists in Uganda preserve TMK to sustain ongoing practices and foster longevity of their knowledge for use by future generations as a remedy to health problems. The study was meant to extend our understanding of endangered TMK and reveal how different choices are negotiated by herbalists, in facilitating ongoing practices and access to TMK by future generations in Uganda.
In this study, I adopted a culturally sensitive and appropriate approach to research in accordance with Smith’s Power Sharing Model and a Three-layered Model for Cultural Preservation. The Power Sharing Model is where researchers seek the assistance of the community in order to have meaningful results whereas the Three-layered Model foregrounds three aspects of organizational tools, resilience and sustainability in cultural preservation. I adopted an ethnographic approach in order to avoid making culturally and contextually naïve generalizations about the study. The study aim was to develop an in-depth understanding of herbalists’ knowledge transmission practices within their “real life” environments and obtain rich data to make more meaningful interpretations about TMK preservation in Uganda. The focus was on attitudes that herbalists have regarding TMK preservation in Uganda, how herbalists from varied indigenous groups acquire and share their knowledge, the documentation and preservation practices that exist among herbalists, as well as the challenges they face in preserving their knowledge.
Theoretical and snowball sampling methods were used to select participants for the study while non-participant observation and interview research methods were used to collect data for the study. The study targeted herbalists in Kampala District as well as a TV Host of a daily local talk show featuring herbalists on Bukedde Television. The study involved a total number of 34 participants and their selection was dependent on the point of data saturation (when there was no new relevant data being collected). Qualitative data analysis was used where analytical interpretation was done on observational data while sorting, transcription, and interpretation were applied to interview data.
My study findings revealed that herbalists in Uganda are custodians of a rich heritage of TMK passed down from generation to generation, a process through which practices, values, and beliefs are communicated and transcended by generations. TMK largely remains of tacit nature in Uganda because it is mostly engrained in herbalists’ heads, thus, passed on by oral transmission. This process is embedded in social structures of herbalists through which knowledge acquisition and sharing is done at various stages in the lives of herbalists. Contextualizing Herbal Medicine from the tenets of cultural practices, the most crucial stage for knowledge acquisition is their childhood which is closely integrated with constant interaction with the natural world, in which they have adapted and evolved. Even with its significance, there are several factors threatening intergenerational existence of TMK. This explains why preservation of TMK is critical. This study, therefore, proposes a TMK Preservation Framework that will enable herbalists to build their capacities, upholding their autonomy to maintain and preserve their knowledge and cultural practices.
Contact Dianah T. Kacunguzi with questions.