The Toronto Traditional Healers Project: An Introduction

Abstract

This paper offers a brief introduction to the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) sponsored research on the role of African, Caribbean, and South Asian traditional healers and their healing practices in Toronto. Ethnic minority groups, especially in the large metropolitan cities in North America, have been accessing and practicing traditional healing since the days of slavery using healing practices such as Animism, Voodoo, Orisha, Santeria and Espiritismo to support their health and wellbeing. However, the healers and their practices have been excluded from mainstream culture, and are forced underground as a result of the hegemony of Western medical models. This paper discusses the background, rationale and the context of the Toronto traditional healers project. The results and analysis of the Caribbean and the South Asian traditional healers are presented in this special issue following this introductory paper.