Welcome to IMC 2018 International Mycological Congress
Conference Calendar
The historic and current ethnomycology of Egypt and Middle East countries
- A. Abdel-Azeem
Abstract
Abstract
Egypt is considered the cradle of mycology. Ancient Egyptians documented the use of fungi on walls and pillars of temples, within hieroglyphic texts, ear studs and medical prescriptions since 5619 B.C. Ancient Egyptians believed that some mushrooms were plants of immortality and called them “a gift from the God Osiris” and symbolized as Was, Djed pillar of Osiris, and ankh (crux ansata). Egyptian pharaohs proclaimed mushrooms to be food reserved only for royalty; common people were not even allowed to touch them. The Pharaohs of ancient Egypt believed they had magical powers. Egyptian crowns (white and triple) were inspired from the primordia of Psilocybe cubensis. The most ancient historical use of truffles probably originated prehistorically in the mideastern and North African cradles of civilization. Species of desert truffles (Terfezia, Tirmania and Phaeangium) probably served to the Pharaohs. Better descriptions of the kind of desert truffles that the pharaohs of Egypt may have consumed, along with an ancient version of traditional truffle preparations still popular in North Africa and the Middle East, can be found in the Bible. In the seventh century Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said a hadith to his followers “Truffles are a part of manna and its juice is healing for the eyes”. This study consists of a survey focusing on the knowledge, use and ethnomycological practices of mushrooms and desert truffles among the native people of the Middle Eastern countries. The presentation will highlight their application in traditional medicine in this part of the world. This work also explores the biology and ecology of truffles in the Middle East, their importance in fragile desert ecosystems, assess their conservation status and effects of various cultivation practices on sustaining truffle populations. General management principles and considerations to sustain this valuable fungal resource will be discussed.
Ethnomycological documentation of the historical region of Mazovia, Poland
- M. Kotowski
Abstract
Abstract
The research on traditional knowledge of wild mushroom uses in the Mazovia region is the first research that undertakes complex ethnomycological analysis of entire region laying in one of European countries. The field research based on cooperation with local communities enables the acquisition of new and direct information on the present list of collected mushroom species, the level of local knowledge about Central Poland’s mycobiota, species’ ecology and their actual protection. The research bases on interviews conducted in evenly dispersed locations defined by previously prepared village grid. The high sample size, over 700 interviews with residents of 38 Mazovian villages, will enable to authenticate the acquired information and statistically eliminate borderline and improbable results. The main objectives of research are to create list of mushrooms collected by people living in this region, find rare and protected mushroom species used by local communities and to acquire information about the purpose, methods and extent of their use. In the context of forestry, the study enables the acquisition of new information about the exploitation of mushrooms as an important part of non-wood forest products. Moreover assignment of local names to proper taxonomic nomenclature will help in further analysis of local reports related to species composition of mycobiota. So far, after near 700 interviews, more than 60 different taxa were recorded as used for consumption purposes among people living in the Mazovia region.
The Aesthetics of Mushrooming in the Tundra and Taiga: Perspectives from Alaska and the Russian Far East
- S. Yamin-Pasternak
- I. Pasternak
Abstract
Abstract
This presentation draws on the ethnographic material gathered in the course of twenty years of the authors’ research on the harvest and use of fungi in northern Alaska and Chukotka, Russian Far East. We share insight from the Yupik maritime communities whose ancestral beliefs regarded mushrooms as ears of the tundra spirits, Chukchi reindeer herders for whom mushrooms are reindeer food or “reindeer drugs,” recent Russian and Ukrainian immigrants who are adapting the longstanding mushrooming traditions of their homelands to the landscapes and seasons of the Arctic and Subarctic environments, and members of the Alaskan settler populations who in their vast majority are novices to the experience of the “quiet hunt.” We discuss the roles of the fungi currently regarded as the core subsistence species in facilitating the social and environmental adaptation for each of these groups in the time of vast and rapid change. Among the featured examples are various uses of multiple varieties of fleshy mushrooms and chaga (sclerotia of Inonotus obliquus). Through a framework we have developed by integrating a set of analytical approaches from the fields of cultural anthropology and contemporary art, we examine the aesthetic relationships that the Alaskan and Chukotkan communities hold integral to the contemporary human-fungi interactions. We also reflect on the impact of our efforts as educators, which include teaching a university course in ethnomycology conducting extensive outreach in communities and among diverse groups of foragers and hobyists.
Historic uses of polypores as symbols of supernatural power
- R. Blanchette
Abstract
Abstract
Forest fungi have been used for traditional medicine and other cultural purposes for thousands of years. Documentation of how various fungi have been historically is often difficult to obtain but natural history museum collections have proven to be a rich source of information. Many museums have fruiting bodies of fungi used by the Indigenous People of North America in the 19th and early 20th centuries along with collection notes indicating their use. Objects made from these fungi are also accessioned providing important ethnological information. The Indigenous People of the North American used many different types of polypores. Before knowledge that illness had biological causes, fungi were being used to treat the sick. In addition to their use as medicine, many tribes used them in an array of art forms that were made to represented symbols of supernatural power. These objects were an important part of the Shaman’s paraphernalia that was used during ceremonies and rituals to influence the beliefs of the community. The fruiting bodies of Laricifomes officinalis were used by the Indigenous People of the northwest Pacific coast and carved into spirit figures or made into masks. Since sickness was considered to be brought about by supernatural forces, the shaman applied a spiritual remedy using polypores that they considered to have unworldly powers. We now know that the fungus selected for their use has medicinal value. The Plains Indians of North America used a different fungus, Haploporus odorus, as a symbol of spiritual power. The fruiting bodies of this fungus, with an exceedingly fragrant anise-like aroma, was used by the Blackfoot, Blood, Cree and other northern plains tribes for protection against illness. It was also a component of medicine bundles and was used to ornament scared robes, necklaces and other cultural properties. Modern day Native American healers continue to use this fungus in ceremonies to purify the air and to call helpful spirits to eliminate harmful influences. In other regions of the world, various polypores were similarly used as symbols of spiritual power. Masks made from the fruiting bodies of Ganoderma species were used in the Middle Hills region of the Nepal Himalayas in rituals to cure the sick and were displayed in the rafters of village huts to ward off evil spirits, sickness and bad luck. An extraordinary necklace made from an unusual Ganoderma with purported supernatural attributes was used in Dutch New Guinea (West Papua Province of Indonesia). In China, polypores such as Ganoderma lucidum sensu lato, have had a long history of use in traditional medicine and were assumed to have mystical properties. Examples of their historic uses by early Emperors will be discussed as well as their current use as symbols of immortality, good health and good luck.
Yanomami ethnomycology: knowledge valorization and income alternative for communities of Awaris region - Roraima, Brazil
- N. Ishikawa
- D. Kopenawa
- R. Apiamo
- O. Sanuma
- M. Sanuma
- M. Martins
- N. Menolli Jr
Abstract
Abstract
The Yanomami are a largely isolated human population of about 40,000 people, living in 550 communities, in the Amazonian rainforests of Brazil and Venezuela. On the Brazilian side, the Yanomami indigenous territory is 9,664,975 hectares of forest which was demarcated in 1992 and has been recognized for its significance in protecting the biodiversity of the Amazon. The Yanomami people speak five languages and the knowledge concerning the consumption of mushrooms has been passed on orally from generation to generation since pre-Columbian times. The scientific world first learned about the ethnomycology of the Yanomami through some articles published in English in the 1960s and 70s by the Brazilian Oswaldo Fidalgo and the Britain Ghilllean Tolmie Prance, respectively. In 2016, the Awaris communities published their own book, in Sanöma and Portuguese, including about 15 species of mushrooms that they have collected and consumed. This book is just one part of a project that promotes and values of indigenous knowledge and the alternative production chains. The project, launched by the Yanomami Association (HAY) and the Socioenvironmental Institute (ISA) in Brazil, has created an unprecedented production chain for native Brazilian mushrooms which begins with the collection of mushrooms in the Amazonian forests. The mushrooms are subsequently dehydrated in the sun and/or smoked, packaged and marketed; until they finally arrive at renowned restaurants in the state capitals of São Paulo and Manaus. Thus, the mushrooms, that for centuries have been an important part of the Yanomami diet, are now benefitting forest communities as a source of income for the purchase of needed items such as machetes, knives, pots, and other household items as well as other essential items for gardening, building, fishing, and hunting, and hence, promoting physical and cultural development in their places of origin. A video of the Yanomami Shaman David Kopenawa will also be shown providing a message on how the traditional knowledge about mushrooms can be used as an alternative source of income that helps to protect and preserve the Amazon rainforest natural resources.
Video of Shaman David Kopenava, Brazil
- N. Ishikawa