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Thursday 15 February 2024 LOCAL
A10

Lessons from our elders:
Plants and fruits for medicinal use

said that this tea can also It is said that you can take round on the island. Relat-
be drank after an opera- arrowroot powder and ed to potato and tomato,
tion on the ovaries or uter- make a “shalup” (porridge) eggplants are good to
us. This gets rid of irritation for stomach pain or when calm nerves. It can also be
and inflammation. you’re feeling weak. You used to lower blood pres-
can make it with milk too, sure, by steeping its leaves
When the fruit is unripe and but it is advised to best in boiled water and drink-
green, this can be used to use just water. You can ing it. You can also make
stimulate menstruation flow also add prunes for a bit of eggplant juice to help puri-
in women. This also stimu- sweetness. Arrowroot sha- fy your blood. However, do
lates the passing kidney lup is also good to treat an make sure to drink slowly;
stones. When ripe, the fruit unhealthy gut or for diar- let it mix with your spit and
can be used for poisoning rhea. then swallow.
in the gut and can help
treat rheumatic diseases, To make arrowroot shalup, Eggplant kataplan* can
like arthritis. boil a bit of water and add also be used to treat skin
one tablespoon of arrow- tumors, abscesses and
However, breastfeeding root powder and stir con- hemorrhoids. Eggplant kat-
(Oranjestad)—Though ders have passed on to us women who cannot pro- tinuously until you reach aplan can also be used ex-
western medicine is now over the years. duce much milk are ad- porridge consistency. If you ternally to treat arthritis.
widely used for common vised not to consume too make a shalup with milk,
illnesses and to keep our Pineapple pineapple, and people add a pinch of salt. Raw *warapa: term referring to
bodies healthy and happy, Pineapple has more uses with acid reflux are recom- arrowroot powder can be a water and sugar solution,
it is still very common in than topping it on your mended to not consume used to powder babies. a.k.a simple syrup.
every household in Aruba Christmas ham. According any pineapple at all. *kataplan: porridge-like
(and around the world) to to elders, the skin of a pine- Eggplant/Aubergine mixture used externally
have staple home rem- apple is great to use to re- Arrowroot Eggplants, or aubergines, for wounds or parts of the
edies that is passed on fresh your body. Clean the Arrowroot is native to tropi- are easy to find in super- body that are painful or
through generations. Here skin thoroughly and make cal America and can be markets around the world swollen.
are some tips that our el- tea or warapa* with it. It is sold as a powder or whole. and can be grown all year

Episode CIV 104 - Ocher

NOORD — Ochre, or ocher producing component, the als and the hydrated form of ocher was discovered the human brain, perhaps
in American English, is a modifying component and of iron oxide known as li- in more than 70 pieces. Ocher applied on granite
natural clay earth pigment the base or carrier of the monite, which is the fun- 250,000-200,000 years ago, surface by native Aruban
which is a mixture of ferric color (almost always clay, damental component of Neanderthals used ocher cultures. Here we can see
oxide and varying amounts a degraded product of sili- ocher earths. Other natu- at the Maastricht Belvé- the part of Weburi `s rock
of clay and sand and is the cate rocks). ral forms of earth pigments dère site in the Netherlands art at Piedra Plat.
first pigment known to have related to ocher include (Roebroeks) and the Benzu
been used for painting by When we think of ocher we sienna, which is similar to rock refuge in Spain. Ocher To get to know more over
different cultures around think of the color red but it yellow ocher but warmer was part of the earliest art Aruba’s and its origins, its
the world. The natural pig- is a natural yellow mineral and more translucent in that the Stone Age man animals and culture, we
ments of the earth consist pigment, which consists color; and amber, which had practiced in Africa. highly recommend you to
of three parts: the color- of clay, siliceous materi- has goethite as its main The earliest 100,000-year- book your visit for our re-
component and incor- old modern human as- nowned cultural encounter
porates various levels of semblages, such as at the session has been entertain-
manganese. Red oxides Blombos Cave and Klein ing curious participants for
or red ocher are forms of Kliphuis in South Africa, rock decades. Mail us at etni-
yellow ocher rich in hema- art as well as stone have anativa03@gmail.com to
tite, which are commonly been found which includes confirm your participation.
formed from the natural examples of etched ocher, Our facilities and activities
aerobic weathering of iron- ocher slabs with carved take place close to high
containing minerals. Ocher patterns deliberately cut rise hotels. q
is very common in archae- into the surface. In 2014 the
ological sites around the Spanish paleontologist Car-
world. The first possible use los Duarte suggested that
of ocher discovered so far the use of red ocher as a
is from a Homo erectus site pigment in tattoos (other-
about 285,000 years old. wise ingested) may have
At the site in Kenya's Kap- had a role in human evolu-
thurin Formation, a total of tion, as it would have been
five kilograms (11 pounds) a source of iron directly to

Article by: Etnia Nativa

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