Indigenous women and medicinal plants: beyond tradition

Abstract

How has ancestral knowledge associated with medicinal plants been presented from female voices? This research advance is part of a documentary review on indigenous women and medicinal plants in Mexico in the period 2006-2023. The search terms were associated with: a) medicinal plants and Mexico, b) women's knowledge and medicinal plants, c) ancestral tradition, and d) traditional medicine and women. They were then interpreted and analyzed based on two emerging categories: women and medicinal plants, as well as materials associated with medicinal plants. This year, 2025, in particular, has seen an increase in events associated with women's participation in the preservation of indigenous languages and the oral tradition of ancestral practices. The aim has been to describe and then specify future courses of action associated with the proposal for teaching materials aimed at educational institutions. Among the main reflections are: a) the presence of women in families represents the center of communication of traditions, b) the female perspective on health has been gaining ground in academic journal articles, c) in addition to reviewing curriculum designs, it is also necessary to think about teaching resources that allow for an approach to ancestral knowledge.