Acknowledgment

Orquídea Cimarrona. Parque Padre Nuestro. Dominican Republic.

In the tradition of our elders, we acknowledge Creator, Olodumare, Bondieu, the lands and waters that have received us and shared so many stories with us. 

The Healers digital humanities project is the result of many collaborations across various territories, borders, spaces, and institutions over the past decade. It would not be possible without the trust and commitment of the healers and tradition keepers we feature. The time they dedicated to sit with us and share their knowledge is invaluable. We also thank their families and communities, who witnessed us and granted us the time and space to sit with their parents, grandparents, and kin for long visits at different times of the day and night. 

The remarkable, incredible, team of the Digital Scholarship Center and Digital Scholarship Services at UO Libraries truly committed to thinking through what it means to share the content across various media languages and cultural contexts, to increase access, to manage preservation, and to protect the privacy of our interviewees when needed. They have engaged us in ethical discussions relevant to the Digital Humanities and have educated us in its technical components. They are responsible for the beautiful layout and presentation of the website, and the amazing publicity around it. Countless hours have been spent by all. Thank you Franny Gaede, Kate Thornhill, Julia Simic, Anna Lepska, Azle Malinao-Alvarez, Elizabeth Peterson, Corey Gillen, Jonathan Cain, Mandi Garcia, Nathan Georgitis, and Ray Henry. Miriam Rigby’s stellar skills as a Research Librarian enabled us to imagine the creation of a bibliography and research guide. 

We thank the graduate research assistants, Rachael Sol Lee and Polet Campos Melchor. Rachael has served as the Digital Humanities research assistant, working with the Digital Scholarship Center teams to both learn and carry out the development of the site. Polet Campos Melchor developed the project bibliography, with an explicit focus on sources related to the Pacific Northwest. Nadya Barba and Maya Revell supported the edition of audio clips and preparation of accessible transcripts for the website. 

Two University of Oregon undergraduate students were essential for the successful completion of the project. Miguel Perez’s editing skills produced some of the most engaging audio clips for our initial interviews and prompted a reflection on the significance of honoring the “imperfect” in documentation processes, of capturing the background sounds of motors, neighbors, a walk in the forest as a way to honor the context in which the healers serve their communities. Ally Lanz enthusiastically and carefully built the first stage of the bibliography you find here. 

We also want to thank the staff in the University of Oregon College of Arts and Sciences, the Just Futures Institute, and School of Law, who have supported this project by managing all necessary logistics related to our travel, coordinating research support, and ensuring that honoraria were disbursed. 

Lastly, there have been many who trusted us enough to invest in this endeavor. Generous grants from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Wenner-Gren Foundation, the Dominican Studies Institute (National Grocers Association Foundation Fellowship), the University of Oregon’s Center for the Study of Women in Society, the University of Oregon’s Vice-Provost for Research and Innovation, the Center for Latin@ and Latin American Studies, and the University of Oregon Libraries Digital Scholarship Services made the work smoother and easier. 

It really does take a village to create knowledge. We are forever grateful to all of those named here and those we may have unwittingly forgotten. 

Caribbean Women Healers
UO Libraries| Digital Scholarship Center
This work is In Copyright-Educational Use Permitted.
Contact the Caribbean Healers Project for additional use.