The Indigenous Chair of the University of Chile is one of the guests of this contest organized by the Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Chile and the Museum of Chemistry and Pharmacy Professor César Leyton, of the Faculty of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences of the U. of Chile . The call is international in nature and includes the categories secondary students, Higher Education students and adults (non-students).
The Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Chile (ACFCH) and the Prof. César Leyton Museum of Chemistry and Pharmacy, of the Faculty of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences of the University of Chile, organize a new version of the contest “History of Pharmaceutical Sciences”initiative created by Prof. Caesar Leyton. This year the call is dedicated to the “Stories about traditional medicine of indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples”.
To achieve a much deeper approach to these topics, the Indigenous Chair of the University of Chile was invited to join the jury and support the construction of the bases for the 2024 call.
The teacher. Carla Delportea member of the ACFCH board of directors, highlights that the contest promotes the rescue of the history of traditional medicine, but specifically that of indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples. “Folk medicine is another concept to talk about this type of knowledge that is transmitted from generation to generation and that uses products of plant, animal or mineral origin”he comments.
Iván Oyarzún, executive director of the Prof. César Leyton Museum of Chemistry and Pharmacy, explains that the objective of the contest is to incorporate the knowledge of indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples in the stories and demystify some ideas regarding that knowledge. “Which allows us to add stories that we do not know and that are present in the collective memory. We hope that there will be broad participation, it is not a call closed only to people from indigenous and Afro-descendant communities”details.
Indigenous Chair
The Indigenous Chair It was born by an agreement of the National Indigenous Corporation (CONADI) in 2012, with its founder and coordinator being Prof. Sonia Montecinosduring the mandate of the rector Prof. Victor Perez. Then in 2014 he moved to the Faculty of Social Sciences (FACSO), particularly to the Department of Anthropology, within the framework of the Bicentennial project. They currently carry out dissemination, teaching and research activities.
Claudio Millacuraacademic coordinator of the Indigenous Chair and professor of the Department of Anthropology, explains that the concept of traditional medicine refers to the knowledge and epistemologies regarding how health and illness are conceived. “They are two states present in the knowledge of indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples. Based on this knowledge, they have a series of practices, unlike the biomedical model, with the objective of keeping communities healthy.”account.
He adds that the function of indigenous medicine is not focused on illness, but on well-being. “It includes the psychological, the emotional, the affective, the relationship between the communities and the territory. The balance relationship from where they live and the well-being they obtain”he complements.
While, Alejandra Alveara member of the Indigenous Chair team, maintains that traditional medicine involves the relationship between the body and healing. “Because of how we understand our bond with nature, how we exist in an interrelationship where we influence each other. “Healing seeks to study the imbalances that occur within the body.”narrates.
Alvear recognizes that the Museum and the Academy have made this invitation to the Indigenous Chair. “It is valuable to make this crossing between traditional knowledge of people in a space of science, where they have historically been excluded. It is important to make this knowledge and experiences visible,” he remarks.
“We invite everyone to participate in this contest that has nothing academic about it, even though it comes from traditional university spaces. We want to hear your voices, stories and lives”urges the member of the Indigenous Chair team.
Rules and deadlines of the contest
- The call is international in nature and high school students, university students and adults (non-students) may participate, which will be separated into three categories.
- The texts must be sent in Word format and must have a maximum length of 500 words for the secondary students category and 1,000 words for the Higher Education students and adults (non-students) category.
- The stories must be sent to emails [email protected] and [email protected] between Monday, May 27 and Sunday, June 30, 2024. Questions and concerns can also be sent to these emails.
- For each category, a first place will be designated, who will receive the sum of three hundred thousand Chilean pesos as a prize.
- All texts sent will be uploaded to the social networks of the Museum, the Academy, the ACFCH website and will be part of a section within the Museum’s virtual programming.
- The winning stories must be read by the authors at the awards ceremony that will be held electronically.
- The presentation of the results will be on Friday, August 9, 2024. The awards ceremony is on Thursday, August 29.
