Healers
Mery and Johnny
Mery and Johnny in Cidra, Puerto Rico.
Mery and Johnny have lived in the same community in Cidra, Puerto Rico their whole lives. They witnessed how what used to be sugar cane fields became small tobacco producing farms, and then how their town became industrialized. Subsistence agriculture, gathering, bee keeping and fishing have always been essential components of their traditional food and ecological practices. Mery’s mother was a traditional healer; she maintains and disseminate traditional food recipes. Johnny comes from a long line of traditional ecological knowledge keepers. They took Alaí and Ana on a tour of their traditional gathering, harvesting, and fishing grounds throughout the Eastern Central Mountains and Southeastern Coast of Puerto Rico.
Interviews
We invite you to listen to interview clips through the University of Oregon Libraries archives.
Cultural Fire and Traditional Foods
Santiquos, Prayers, and Healing
Mountain Range and Sea
Mery and Johnny shared a variety of gathering grounds through a weekend-long journey from the highlands of Puerto Rico’s Cordillera Central (Central Mountain Range) to its Southeastern coastal areas. Mary and Johnny harvest food and medicinal plants around their home, including potted plants, plants growing in nearby forests, and from beekeeping at home.