Border Medicine

MexicanAmerican folk and religious healing, often referred to as curanderismo, has been a vital part of life in the Mexico-U.S.border region for centuries. A hybrid tradition made up primarily of indigenousand Iberian Catholic pharmacopeias, rituals, and notions of the self, curanderismo treats the sick person witha variety of healing modalities including herbal remedies, intercessory prayer,body massage, and energy manipulation. Curanderos,“healers,” embrace a holistic understanding of the patient, including body,soul, and community. Border Medicine examines the ongoingevolution of Mexican American religious healing from the end of the nineteenthcentury to the present. Illuminating the ways in which curanderismo has had an impact not only on the health and cultureof the borderlands but also far beyond, the book tracks its expansion from MexicanAmerican communities to Anglo and multiethnic contexts. While many healers treat Mexican and MexicanAmerican clientele, a significant number of curanderoshave worked with patients from other ethnic groups as well, especially thoseinvolved in North American metaphysical religions like spiritualism, mesmerism,New Thought, New Age, and energy-based alternative medicines. Hendricksonexplores this point of contact as an experience of transcultural exchange. Drawingon historical archives, colonial-era medical texts and accounts, earlyethnographies of the region, newspaper articles, memoirs, and contemporaryhealing guidebooks as well as interviews with contemporary healers, Border Medicine demonstrates the notableand ongoing influence of Mexican Americans on cultural and religious practicesin the United States, especially in the American West.