Exploring Traditional Health Practices and Indigenous Well-being: A Qualitative Study of Healing Practices Among the Lumad and Mananambal in Siayan, Zamboanga

Author Information

Hannah Joy S. Batucan, J.H. Cerilles State College, Philippines
Allen Day S. Mori, J.H. Cerilles State College, Philippines

Abstract

This study looks at traditional health practices and their place in indigenous well-being. It focuses on traditional healers within the Lumad and Mananambal communities of Siayan, Zamboanga del Norte. A qualitative phenomenological design was employed for this research, in order to study the lived experience, beliefs, and rituals among traditional healers, thereby highlighting the spiritual, cultural, and ecological dimensions of healing. Data were obtained by using in-depth interviews and participant observations, which allowed for detailed narratives from healers and community members regarding their practices and significance to individual and collective well-being. Findings indicate that traditional healing practices of the Lumad and Mananambal have deep spiritual, ecological, and communal roots. Healers perceive health as being in harmony with the material, emotional, and spiritual worlds, or call upon ancestral spirits and use plant medicines obtained sustainably from their environment. The healing practices are not only therapeutic but also a means of reproducing and reifying traditional and cultural identity and interpersonal relationships. In the same vein, however, one can mention the problems of cultural marginalization, ecological degradation, and the conflict between medical epistemologies. A basic theme seen in this research is the need to preserve and integrate indigenous healing practices into broader health systems because of their potential to foster holistic well-being and cultural sustainability. Such policies call for protecting indigenous knowledge respecting the environmental and sociopolitical pressures affecting these communities.

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