Chagos islanders were skilled at using the plants growing on the Chagos islands to treat common ailments. They used over fifty species of plants to treat numerous ailments.
Botanical treatments took the form of eating the plant directly, preparing and drinking a tisane of infused plant parts, preparing and bathing the body in a plant decoction or mashed and boiled plant materials, or applying plant matter to the skin by washing, rubbing, or as a poultice.
Chagos islanders’ oral accounts of how they used medicinal plants are consistent with the findings of recent scientific research into the properties of plants. Not all of the plants that grew on Chagos can be found in Mauritius, Seychelles or the UK, but Chagossians have continued to use plants that are available in these locations to treat illness and restore health.
KREOL
Bann Sagosien dan zil ti ena boukou konesans lor bann plant dan Sagos ki servi pout ret bann douler ek infeksion. Zot ti konn plis ki sinkant variete plant ki kapav servi pout tret enn kantite maladi.
Bann tretman osi ti varie: ena plant ti kapav manze kri, enn lot ti bizin bwi so fey ek bwar kouma enn latizann. Ena tretman dimann plis preparasion: begn lekor dan enn infizion plizier plant, kraz bann fey lagrin lekors ek rasinn ansam pouf rot lor lapo, ou swa met enn kataplasm.
Manier ki bann Sagosien rakont zot lexperians dan domenn plant medisinal, li korbore avek bann resers ki bann siantifik pe fer zordi lor plant medisinal. Parmi bann plant ki ti ena dan Sagos, e ki zot ti pe servi, pa tou ki pouse dan Moris, Sesel ek Langleter. Malgre sa, bann Sagosien kontinie met zot konesans ek lexperians tret dimuon malad ek fer zot retrouv lassante.
