Local
THE BATTALION
WEDNESDAY. JULY 22, 1981
Page 3
Indian cures may be
^ European in nature
e third naH:
if achiever, old Indian cures used along the South Texas
e is still - or der are often European in origin rather that na-
i\v deeplyrve, says a Texas A&M researcher specializing in
ged in thei dture mixing.
Jitl\ overt- j} r Clarissa Kimber said many folk medicines
! sed among South Texas Mexican-Americans are
clays am ft en referred to as Indian in nature — having been
ed on the :anded down from generation to generation — but
from know sually can be traced back to Spanish or Portuguese
bout to bre t pl° rers an d settlers.
Kimber, a geographer, and her students have
lent more than a decade comparing folk cures
onong modern-day Texas descendants of immig-
ints from Germany and Mexico.
Kimber said the main differences between the
vo groups were that herbs play a greater part among
lexican-Americans and that there are fewer tradi-
onal alternatives (such as chiropractors) used by
order folk.
“Among the similarities is the definite persistence
(day of folk medical tradition, which demonstrates
le vitality of that tradition,” she explained.
Hill Country German-Americans, who have lived
i Texas less than 150 years, still cling closely to a
utopean-influenced system of treatments based on
lienee and technology, she said.
Mexican-Americans, however, place a much
it wil
lestions alx
are are aim
ir publicize
lowing sign
their more
with some
and Soda
le party tha
•s, the wi
ublicans an
4&M grad begins career
Texan makes wine
r elevating r
the past. Ai
ection shon
eagan’s pop
r unifying!^?
ess racial
icing a victal i
:hen.
ts that Rom
e about to mfe
is that the Robert McBryde doesn’t fit the image of the little
s shakeouti d wine-maker.
I d be surpr He was born in Houston, grew up in Dallas, went
he triunipl: ' sc b°ol atTexas A&M University and now may well
mths Have 5 ^ exas on ty home-grown” enologist. Well, not
tactly home-grown — he has spent the past two
ears in France.
An enologist is a wine-maker. But McBryde isn’t
ttle or old. He’s 26 years old, robust and ready to
unch a career as a man of the grape.
Unfortunately, he thinks he may have to go to
alifornia to find his fortune in the vineyard. He’s
>t optimistic about the hopeful talk of a wine indus-
y in Texas.
“About the best that can be expected is produc-
pof a modest table wine,” McBryde predicted,
ting Texas’ unfavorable soil and climate.
I McBryde, Class of ‘79, became an enologist
tigh a combination of a French connection,
aerican stick-to-it-iveness and a dose of Aggie
fruit.
“Iwas looking for a career in a field that combined
iehce with something that would be romantic and
Stic, ’ McBryde explained. “I think wine-making
definitely an art, but if you’re not a good scientist,
m’re not going to make good wine. ”
I Armed with a degree from Texas A&M in horticul-
re — the science of growing fruits, vegetables and
fnamental plants — he realized the best place to
idy wine-making was in France where the French,
least, like to think the best wines are made.
That is when McBryde’s determination and Aggie
iirit entered the picture. The French government
very strict about aliens entering the country to
irk. The only way they would let this Texan into
e country to study wine-making was if he worked
stronger emphasis on the folk healer, called a “curan-
dero” in Spanish. Because the migration process
took hundreds of years, many Mexican-Americans
think of common folk cures as Indian in nature when
they are really European, Kimber said.
The plant most commonly used in Mexican-
American folk medicine, she explained, is the pep
permint, which was imported to the New World
from the Iberian Peninsula. Of the 11 plants and
trees comprising the five most-frequent folk cures
among Mexican-Americans, six are imports.
With the exception of native prickly pear, all of the
10 most-prescribed plants and trees frequently used
by German-Americans are imports to Central Texas,
said Ph.D. student Donna Lannie. Black cherry,
aloe vera and chamomile are used more than other
plants and herbs by Hill Country descendants.
Kimber said some of the most common ailments
for which Mexican-Americans seek folk cures are
insect stings, stomach disorders, warts and boils,
constipation, measles, fevers, colds, skin diseases
and insomnia.
The list is similar for the German-American with
stings, coughs, burns, the need for a tonic, boils,
stomach trouble, wounds, earaches, bruises and con
gestion being the conditions that usually prompt Hill
Country residents to seek such treatments.
for nothing.
Even then he had to find a French wine-making
family that would agree to sponsor him. Through the
French connections of former Texas A&M student
Tom Gillis and his wife, who own an exclusive Hous
ton wine distributorship, and Frank Malone, a Hous
ton contractor, it was arranged for McBryde to work
at the Chateau Lynch-Bages in the Bordeaux region.
“I worked in absolutely every phase of the pro
cess,” he said, including the backbreaking job of
moving huge oak barrels used to age the wines, to
recognizing the subtle qualities of the finished pro
duct.
After one year of practical experience, McBryde
had planned to continue his studies at the University
of Bordeaux’s Institute of Enology.
He was only able to raise $4,000 of the $10,000
needed to enroll for one year at the institute. Enter
Frank Malone, who with a group of Francophiles
called Alliance Francaise, raised the money.
McBryde lacks only final examinations in Septem
ber to complete the school and now, on his way to
California, speaks almost reverently of the generos
ity of his benefactors.
“It is an incredible expression of our American
system,” he said. “Someone who has merit mixed
with a little aggressiveness and initiative can get the
help he needs. To me that’s what makes our society
so great.”
His immediate goal is to become involved in the
California wine industry and perhaps earn a master’s
degree. Ultimately, McBryde said, the dream is to
own a 300-acre vineyard and winery where he hopes
someday to make the best Cabernet Sauvingnon and
Chardonnay wines in the United States.
“I always want to be challenged,” he said.
August speakers chosen
Speakers have been chosen for versity in August. He broke down ter’s degrees and 78 doctoral de
le August commencement exer- that figure into an estimated 875 grees will be awarded
ises to be held at Texas A&M
University.
State Senator Kent Caperton
ill address the doctor of veterin-
y medicine degree recipients
id their guests at the August 21
iremony in Rudder Auditorium.
appears toi Dr W.O. Trogdon, president
Erainst fie fTarleton State University, Au-
3 • , ust 15 will present the com-
. in S jencement for Texas A&M gra-
111 1,111 uates in G. Rollie White Col-
11 ni 3 ™- eurn. Doctoral, master’s and
; o i n wavs ' achelor’s degrees will be pre-
:s harmfuli'inted at that time,
intries—ii Associate Registrar Donald
franc anil'after estimates 1,250 students
lar health'.graduated from the Uni
undergraduate degrees and 375 Carter estimates 138 students
graduate degrees to be awarded, will be graduated from the Col-
Of that 375, he estimates 297 mas- lege of Veterinary Medicine.
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