TRADITIONAL TREATMENTS OF CHILDHOOD DISEASES (BASED ON THE ETHNOGRAPHIC MATERIAL COLLECTED AMONG THE RUSSIAN POPULATION OF BASHKORTOSTAN)

Abstract

The author examines folk medicine of the Russian population of the Republic of Bashkortostan. The study is focused on common childhood diseases such as “bristle”, hernia, and colds. The main research method was the collection of field data in different districts ofBashkortostan. Information received from the respondents was compared to the records of researchers (research of N.P. Kolpakova in 1938 in Bashkiria). The author states that people used different methods of treatment: incantations, prayers, herbs, breast milk, honey, various household items,etc. The informants still not only remember common childhood diseases, but also practice folk remedies as a means of treatment and transfer knowledge from one generation to another. Traditional medicineis better preserved in the countryside, in places more distant from urban centers, with low quality infrastructure. Treatment options varied depending on geographical factors, as well as onthe spread of various types of commercial and economic activities. Various methods of treatment of thedisease could be used in one area because people from various provinces of Russia came to live in Bashkortostan. Similar treatment of childhood diseases and their names are the evidence to that.