Ethnobotany of Totopara

Contents: I. Introduction. 1. Previous works. 2. Historical background. 3. Habitat. 4. Physical feature. 5. Language. 6. Demographic profile. 7. Culture. 8. Social life. 9. Education. 10. Agriculture. 11. Food habit. 12. Economy and trade practices. 13. Religious and magico-religious belief. 14. Taboo and Totems/conservation practice. 15. Common diseases among the Totos. 16. Attitude towards disease and treatment. 17. Toto pharmacology. II. Account of ethnobotanical uses. Appendix: 1. Terms describing therapeutic properties. 2. Index to uses. 3. Index to local names with corresponding botanical names. 4. Index to families. Reference.

From the introduction: "Ethnobotany of Totopara" is a descriptive ethnomedicinal account of a very small Mongoloid tribe known as "Toto". The Totos are living in Totopara which is situated in the extreme north-east part of Jalpaiguri district in West Bengal. The authors took extensive field studies during 1995 to 1997 at Totopara and the present account is the outcome of those field studies. Until a few years ago, the Totos were unknown to the outside world. They used to hold their indigenous culture. Now-a-days some of these tribal people have undergone minor changes in their livelihood and culture. In this present account, some plants used in medicine and other purposes by this tribal community, have been discussed which may help the readers to get an idea about the plant species used by this tribal community to prevent and cure their illness. Moreover, the studies unfolded the similarities of usages of plant species between the Totos and other tribal communities for medicinal and other purposes. During the course of studies, the authors have tried to develop a new inter-communal relationship between the Totos and other tribal communities. Betterment of this down-trodden ethnic group is an another aspect of this study which the authors have kept in mind while preparing this account."