This analysis of the remedies and herbs used in healing practices by the cangaceiros of Northeast Brazil in the late nineteenth/early twentieth centuries applies the theoretical and methodological assumptions of new cultural history and cultural studies in a dialogue that includes Michel de Certeau, Stuart Hall, and others. It problematizes how the cangaceiros relied regularly on folk remedies like mezinhas, teas, and prayers to Catholic saints, as well as regional medicines, in healing the body and re-establishing good health. Within the geographical realm of the cangaço, healing spaces were re-created and folk knowledge was subjectivized.
healing practices; cangaço; Northeast; Brazil