Uso de medicamentos por indígenas da etnia Wai Wai

Abstract

In Brazil there are few researches on medicines consumption in indigenous contexts, it is known that indigenous people have their own knowledge for cure and treatment through shamanism, plants and herbs. With the evangelization process since colonization, the traditional practice over time has diminished, interfering with the healing process among indigenous people. This research was carried out within Waiwai ethnic group residing in the State of Pará. This is a qualitative research, with a descriptive approach. And it aimed to analyze the use of medicines and thereby verifying the model of pharmaceutical assistance and the perception of indigenous people about the use of allopathic medicines. Through interviews it was realized that the means of treatment and cure for diseases is based on the biomedical model, with the use of allopathic and herbal medicines, and resulting in few practices of traditional indigenous healing. The entry of biomedical culture in this place transformed the view of the indigenous people about the health-illness process, making them immediate for the cure of symptoms, “needing” more and more drugs with fast and prolonged effects. There is a need for more actions to guide the indigenous people on the correct consumption of medicines in a way that draws the attention of the indigenous people, because when there are lectures, few indigenous people are interested.