Border Medicine: A Transcultural History of Mexican American Curanderismo by Brett Hendrickson (review)

In Border Medicine: A Transcultural History of Mexican American Curanderismo, Brett Hendrickson, an associate professor of religious studies and a former pastor in Arizona, argues that the Mexican American religious healing known as curanderismo has had an impact on American religious history. He examines the relationship between curanderismo and American metaphysical medicine and healing while focusing on transcultural exchanges. In this book, the author hopes to reframe history to accurately portray Mexican American curanderismo on the border as a central historical piece of American religion and alternative medicine. The author concludes by comparing curanderismo to other transcultural exchanges to determine that in certain cases, white use of curanderismo mutually benefits cultures on the US-Mexico border.

With experiences living in multiple border states and through his doctoral program, Hendrickson acknowledges his positionality "as a non–Mexican American academic who studies the impacts of Mexican American religious healing" (xi) and how his identities shape his approach in writing the book. The author mentions his cautiousness with selecting sources and analysis while amplifying the voices of those within his book. Hendrickson acknowledges his attempt to bridge stories from curanderos while also navigating the colonial structures of academia in writing this book.

The book critically examines the complex relationship between Mexican American religious healing and American religious alternative medicine. Through a historical context, the author argues that non–Mexican American people have been and can be healed by curanderismo. With this book, the author hopes to provide a new perspective on the effort to reframe American religious history by adding Mexican American curanderismo "as an integral component of American religious and alternative medicine" (2). Hendrickson also focuses on articulating a theory of transcultural religious healing to understand how curanderismo can also affect those outside the bounds of Mexican American culture.

The author categorizes the seven chapters of the book into three parts. Hendrickson progresses through history beginning at the start of the twentieth century through 2012. He narrows in on changes in curanderismo while utilizing the transcultural religious healing theory to highlight the impact of curanderismo on the US Southwest. The author analyzes historical documents, such as newspaper reports, as well as observations and interviews he carried out.

In part 1, which consists of chapters 1 and 2, Hendrickson reviews the history of religious healing traditions in the borderland regions and the history of how the movement of metaphysical religion traveled across the continent of North America. Part 2, which includes chapters 3 and 4, focuses on the supply and demand for curanderismo on the US-Mexico border but also metaphysical worldwide views in the twentieth century. In the third part of the book, the final three chapters, the author gives an overview of contemporary North American curanderismo while questioning whether use of curanderismo by those outside the Mexican American community is an example of appropriation and misrepresentation.

In the final chapter, Hendrickson reiterates that Mexican American narratives of healing have been effective for those outside the Mexican American community. The author attempts to compare the white American use of other non-Western medical traditions, such as Chinese remedies and Native American spirituality, to that of curanderismo. He concludes that whites' use of Chinese healing traditions and Native American rituals is problematic. However, the author suggests that there are differences in exchanges when comparing other non-Western medical traditions to curanderismo. In the end, the author acknowledges that in certain case, white participation in curanderismo can create transcultural exchanges that offer mutual growth.

I often felt that the book gave in to the binary identity of being American or not American. As a Mexican American who grew up on the Texas border, I often feel that people do not acknowledge both of my identities as one. Although the author uses the term "Mexican American," it often portrayed the broader sense that a Mexican American is not fully an American, and therefore often left out of full...