Page 13 - AHATA

Thursday 4 april 2024 LOCAL
A10

Lessons from our elders: Plants and fruits for medicinal use

(Oranjestad)—Though western uterus. This gets rid of irritation consume too pineapple, and good to calm nerves. It can
medicine is now widely used and inflammation. people with acid reflux are also be used to lower blood
for common illnesses and to recommended to not con- pressure, by steeping its leaves
keep our bodies healthy and When the fruit is unripe and sume any pineapple at all. in boiled water and drinking
happy, it is still very common green, this can be used to it. You can also make egg-
in every household in Aruba stimulate menstruation flow Arrowroot plant juice to help purify your
(and around the world) to in women. This also stimulates Arrowroot is native to tropical blood. However, do make sure
have staple home remedies the passing kidney stones. America and can be sold as to drink slowly; let it mix with
that is passed on through gen- When ripe, the fruit can be a powder or whole. It is said your spit and then swallow.
erations. Here are some tips used for poisoning in the gut that you can take arrowroot Eggplant kataplan* can also
that our elders have passed and can help treat rheumatic powder and make a “shalup” powder and stir continuously be used to treat skin tumors,
on to us over the years. diseases, like arthritis. (porridge) for stomach pain until you reach porridge con- abscesses and hemorrhoids.
or when you’re feeling weak. sistency. If you make a shalup Eggplant kataplan can also
Pineapple However, breastfeeding You can make it with milk too, with milk, add a pinch of salt. be used externally to treat
Pineapple has more uses than women who cannot produce but it is advised to best use Raw arrowroot powder can arthritis.
topping it on your Christmas much milk are advised not to just water. You can also add be used to powder babies.
ham. According to elders, the prunes for a bit of sweetness. *warapa: term referring to
skin of a pineapple is great Arrowroot shalup is also good Eggplant/Aubergine a water and sugar solution,
to use to refresh your body. to treat an unhealthy gut or Eggplants, or aubergines, are a.k.a simple syrup.q
Clean the skin thoroughly for diarrhea. easy to find in supermarkets
and make tea or warapa* around the world and can *kataplan: porridge-like
with it. It is said that this tea To make arrowroot shalup, be grown all year round on mixture used externally for
can also be drank after an boil a bit of water and add the island. Related to potato wounds or parts of the body
operation on the ovaries or one tablespoon of arrowroot and tomato, eggplants are that are painful or swollen.

Episode CXIII - 113 Art with roots

It is difficult, if not impos- ban sense of existence,
sible, to come up with an free of external influence.
entirely original concept in In this way and in a more
Art and when we associ- nuanced sense, each re-
ate art with archeology it is cycling work is related to
because we have a natu- nature and the fascina-
ral interest and love for our tion by island past cultures.
ancestors and their survival Each art painting is studio-
challenges. To reproduce based the end-product
rock art there must be an significantly departs from
originality that is difficult to any empirical image. In
define within the conven- the same way, while these
tional limitations of that tra- figurative work references
dition. This unusual task of to native pottery designs
reproducing prehistoric art and rock art the result is a
has to free itself from the more cohesive practice
postmodern political bur- then may be initially ap-
den and at the same time parent.
not be reactionary, which is in contemporary art circles. composition. The more a viewer looks
no small thing in conserva- The featured works have at a work of art related to Etnia Nativa presents an
tive times. an approach of depicting In conventional art, the archeology, the more he anthropological approach
Aruba’s prehistoric culture viewer recognizes the ico- realizes its uniqueness; gen- to what we can call an-
Aruban art rock inspired with its mixed finishes and nography of traditional erally works that combine cient Aruban natural rela-
paintings, in particular, its non-traditional use of the masters, while art that authentic techniques with tions using art in order to
have an uncanny ability material in its contempo- evokes a prehistoric artistic surrealistic touches that understand the indigenous
to tread the aesthetic and rary nuances by adding to past uses unique forms, cre- make their finish result in aesthetic creation of island
political fault-line between this idea as much collected ating an almost surreal way a fresh and interesting ex- native expressions.
the Western colonial per- material as possible and of looking at what has been pression. Each part of the
spective and that of the experimenting with seeds, seen before. Being paint- archaeological inspired To get to know more over
Aruban cultural and the in- clay, feathers, bones, met- ings already seen attracts artwork emerges indepen- Aruba’s and its origins, its
digenous landscape mem- al, wood, glass, discarded the viewer towards the im- dently, and it is this strange- animals and culture, we
ory. All these arts work is paints and stones to name age and, at the same time, ly ambiguous aspect of the highly recommend you to
indicative of a more sophis- a few and manage to cre- the images themselves look overall composition that book your visit for our re-
ticated re-invigoration of ate works that show even back at origins, while cap- is particularly fascinating. nowned cultural encoun-
the islands indigenous as- more explicitly to their aes- tivating the viewer’s atten- The curiosity motivating the ter session has been enter-
pect which is gaining force thetic ease with color and tion, for good or for bad. capture of a native Aru- taining curious participants
for decades. Mail us at et-
Article by: Etnia Nativa nianativa03@gmail.com or
WhatsApp 297 592 2702 to
Whatsapp us +297 592 2702 and book confirm your participation.
your Aruban exprerience Our facilities and activities
Etnia Nativa is close to the high rise hotels take place close to high
rise hotels.q