ANTHROPOLOGY

Picietl-tobacco: Divine plant of the Aztecs The role of tobacco in religion, social life and medicine of the Nahuas Jan Elferink Among the many pre-Columbian civilizations of America the tobacco plant was highly valued, but there were few civilizations where the plant was so highly appreciated as among the Aztecs in Mexico. Here the plant was called picietl, and it played a major role in many aspects of Aztec society, including medicine, religion and magic. The smoking of picietl- tobacco for recreational purposes, however, was strongly restricted and limited to members of the elite, because the use of the smoking tube, which was the device to smoke picietl, was a privilege of the upper social classes. The book dedicates attention to a number of aspects of the use of picietl among the Aztecs. It was one of the most important and frequently used medicines against a number of ailments with stress on the treatment of pain. The cure of some diseases had a magic religious background. The Aztecs considered picietl as a divine plant that was invoked in medical incantations and at the same time applied to the body. Among the religious-magic applications was further its use in divination, because the picietl possessed psychoactive properties. The difference in attitude and applications of picietl-tobacco among the Aztecs and that of tobacco in modern times is discussed. ISBN 9783862889907 (Hardbound). LINCOM Studies in Anthropology 22. 260pp. 2019. L’Aventure de la Luluwa Etienne Tshimanga Kutangidiku Université de Kinshasa L’aventure de la Luluwa commence dans le lointain empire luba vers le seizième siècle. Une frange de la population luba, pour des raisons que nous croyons d’ordre climatique et sociopolitique, prend la décision d’émigrer vers le nord-ouest de l’empire luba. Les difficultés de diverses natures qu’elle rencontre sur son parcours forgent son caractère et renforcent l’acuité de son esprit d’initiative dans plusieurs domaines et secteurs de la vie sociale: elle érige une grande Nation Luba (ethnie) qui occupe un vaste territoire qui va de la Bushimayi à la rivière Kasaï à l’extrême nord-ouest de son milieu d’émigration au Katanga. Vers la fin du dix-neuvième siècle, la cohésion sociale prévalant à l’intérieur de cette grande nation sera mise à rude épreuve avec l’arrivée massive dans sa partie occidentale des lignages luba de la frange orientale, fuyant les esclavagistes arabisés. Les Baluba déjà installés dans la partie occidentale vont offrir à leurs frères fugitifs l’hospitalité digne d’un enfant qui revient au bercail, le Muluba étant chez lui partout à l’intérieur de la grande Nation Luba. Ceci était sans compter avec l’administration coloniale: celle-ci va déstabiliser la Grande Nation Luba en instaurant et appliquant les politiques de deux poids deux mesures et de diviser pour régner. A la suite de ces politiques, deux Nations distinctes vont surgir et s’empoigner: Luluwa et Muluba. Ayant découvert la supercherie du Colon, ces Nations vont se mettre ensemble et mener le combat ultime pour leur survie. ISBN 9783862889372. LINCOM Studies in Anthropology 21. 202pp. 2019. The Aztec mind Nahuatl ethnobotany, mental health and psychoactive drugs among Ancient Mexicans José Antonio Flores Farfán and Jan G. Elferink CIESAS, Tlalpan, México Ethnobotany studies the relationship between plants and humans. In this book the aspects of Aztec ethnobotany dealing with plants modifying “normal” states of mind are addressed. Up to now the attention to plants that cured mental diseases among the Aztecs is limited. In other words, whereas there have been many studies regarding Mexican hallucinogens, they did mostly not specifically focus on their use and role in Aztec culture to cure mental diseases. Thus, in this book the primary target will be the relationship in Aztec society between plants on one side, and the diseased and normal mind on the other. Since the Nahuatl language of the Aztecs is of major importance for the understanding of such a relationship, a careful analysis of Nahuatl lexicon is as much as possible incorporated, together with a close inspection of the different sources available on the topic of the ideology of mental health and its magical, religious and empirical treatment. ISBN 9783862886227 (Hardbound). LINCOM Studies in Anthropology 20. 271pp. 2015.