Dr. Richard Evans Schultes
Historical Ethnographer
By: Nathan Beeman
Biology 428
Frostburg State University
Background
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Dr. Richard Evans
Schultes
Jan. 12, 1915 to April
10, 2001
Born and died in
Boston, Mass.
He was the son of
German immigrants
www.erowid.org
Background
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During a lengthy childhood illness he read
Notes of a Botanist on the Amazon and the
Andes by Richard Spruce
This book would ultimately influence Dr.
Schultes’ career in plant exploration
He graduated from East Boston High School
He received undergraduate and graduate
degrees from Harvard University
Career
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He did his undergraduate dissertation research
on Peyote with the Kiowa Indians of
Oklahoma
This is where he first took on the role of
ethnographer
Not only did he see the how the plant was used
ceremoniously but the actual role it played in
the daily lives of these people
Career
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No longer was it all about understanding the
plants, but understanding the cultures in which
they were used was equally as important
For his graduate thesis he continued the study
of plants with psychoactive properties
Mushrooms that were used by Aztecs in
Oaxaca, Mexico
Career
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www.erowid.org
To his disdain, his
publication Plants of the
Gods became the handbook
for the 1960’s drug counterculture lead by figures such
as Timothy Leary and
William S. Burroughs
Their recreational drug use
would stigmatize and cause
the rest of western society to
look unfavorably at the
native cultures who used
these sacred plants
Career
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In 1941 he began his 12 year stay in the
Columbian Amazon doing research on curare,
a mixture of plants used for poison arrows
While there he traveled alone most often
He learned several native tongues and dialects
He relied on the hospitality of local indians
and rarely encountered any hostility
Career
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In the advent of WWII he was given an assignment
by the USDA to find seed sources for Hevea, rubber
trees
This helped him establish conservation programs that
are used today by large drug companies
They are able to research and extract plants for their
medicinal purposes without adversely affecting the
quality of life of the native peoples
One his greatest fears was that “the native people and
their knowledge was disappearing faster than plants
themselves”
Accomplishments
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Director of the Botanical Museum and
Professor of Biology at Harvard University
Collection of over 20,000 specimens and
discovery of 120 previously unknown species
Cross of Boyaca Award; Columbia’s highest
honor
The naming of the Schultes Preserve, a large
tract of land in the Columbian Amazon
Sources
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"The Vaults of Erowid." Web. 18 Feb 2010.
<http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.
erowid.org/culture/characters/schultes_richard/images
/schultes_richard4_med.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.e
rowid.org/culture/characters/schultes_richard/schultes
_richard.shtml&h=250&w=200&sz=19&tbnid=1_g6
4gvMRYCiVM:&tbnh=111&tbnw=89&prev=/images
%3Fq%3Drichard%2Bevans%2Bschultes&hl=en&us
g=__8Ww8hGWP4Zl3ILgaUXG1zzpxmzI=&ei=02
V5S5-PMtSX8AandzzCQ&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=4&ct=im
age&ved=0CB0Q9QEwAw>.
Sources Cont.
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"A Tribute to Richard Evans Schultes." Web.
18 Feb 2010.
<http://www.biopark.org/peru/schultesobit.html>.
Sequeira, Luis. "Richard Evans Schultes 19152001." biographical Memoir 2006: n. pag.
Web. 18 Feb 2010.
<http://www.nap.edu/html/biomems/rschultes.
pdf>.