Medicinal and ritualistic plants of the Kaiowá of Tekoha Taquara as a contribution to the demarcation of ancestral land, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil

Abstract Our research is with the indigenous Kaiowá, of the Tupi-Guarani linguistic trunk. Though the land the Kaiowá live on in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul (MS) underwent demarcation as an indigenous territory in 2010, named Tekoha Taquara, a document was issued by a Justice, suspending its validity. The Kaiowá therefore live vulnerably, occupying land that is not in their legal right. Kaiowá leaders challenged us to use their intricate knowledge of local flora as evidence for land rights. To highlight the specificity of their plant knowledge, our study operates on three assumptions: equal resources are available to indigenous and non-indigenous people and are valued distinctly; the Kaiowá have exclusive knowledge; traditional plants occur in the region. Guided tours were conducted with seven experts. Herbarium species, plant names in Guarani and Portuguese, uses and parts used were documented. The medicinal species from literature and from herbaria databases were compiled. Informant Consensus Factor (FIC) regarding uses was compared across articles and with Kaiowá knowledge. 659 medicinal species for MS were compiled. Of these, 61.8% are used exclusively in Taquara. The 90 registered species in our study make up the largest list among articles with indigenous people in MS. FIC demonstrated low similarity. Plant mixtures used by the Kaiowá is rarely mentioned in literature on medicinal plants. The Kaiowá cite species that no longer exist in the area. This supports that the specificity of Kaiowá knowledge, tying it to their land. Our results support the recognition of their ancestral land.摘要：本研究的研究对象为隶属于图皮-瓜拉尼语族的凯奥瓦人（Kaiowá）。尽管凯奥瓦人居住的南马托格罗索州（Mato Grosso do Sul，简称MS）境内的土地，于2010年被划定为特科哈·塔夸拉（Tekoha Taquara）原住民保留地，但一名法官签发文件暂停了该划定的法律效力。因此凯奥瓦人处境窘迫，占据的土地并未获得法律认可。凯奥瓦族群的领袖提出，希望我们借助他们对本土植物的精深认知，作为土地权益主张的佐证。 为凸显其植物认知的独特性，本研究基于三项假设展开：原住民与非原住民均可获取同等资源，但对资源的价值评判存在显著差异；凯奥瓦人拥有专属的植物认知；本土区域分布有传统药用植物。研究团队与七位植物知识专家开展了引导式调研，对标本馆馆藏物种、瓜拉尼语与葡萄牙语的植物名称、植物用途及入药部位进行了记录归档。研究人员整合了文献及标本馆数据库中收录的药用植物物种，针对植物用途的信息提供者共识因子（Informant Consensus Factor，FIC），对比了不同文献中的数据与凯奥瓦人的植物认知。 本次研究共整合得到南马托格罗索州境内的659种药用植物，其中61.8%的物种仅在特科哈·塔夸拉区域被使用。本研究记录的90种药用植物，是南马托格罗索州原住民相关研究文献中收录规模最大的同类名录。信息提供者共识因子的对比结果显示二者相似度极低。凯奥瓦人使用的植物复方在药用植物相关文献中极少被提及。凯奥瓦人提及的部分植物物种，目前已在该区域绝迹。这一发现佐证了凯奥瓦人植物认知的独特性，且该认知与其栖息土地紧密绑定。本研究结果支持对其祖传土地的合法认定。