Shaman's Apprentice Summary

As stated in the movie, Shaman’s Apprentice, ethnobotany is important as it allows researchers to take advantage of the knowledge that has been around for thousands of years and to study how people have used plants for medicinal purposes in order to find the new wonder drugs. Plotkin describes that in the forest, indigenous people are the teachers, and researchers are the students. Furthermore, ethnobotanical research is based on the idea that the longer the tribal people have used the plants, the greater their knowledge will be of the plants secrets. Therefore, respecting the indigenous people and their customs as Paige discussed is important in order to be accepted and to be taught these secrets. There are ways in order to conduct successful