Are Hali unu Roots (Bunyan) Medicinal?
The question about the Nunu tree roots and the medicinal values the roots offer brought back memories of early childhood when my mother, Rosario, tended to her children with such intensity whenever illness befell them. Back then, most Chamorros used local medicinal plants for their sick family member and/or took their sick member to a suruhano (local male medicine person) or a suruhana (female). I remember when I’d have high fevers, hives and bronchitis, Mom would go to the nearby jungle, collect her medicinal plants and then concocted some of the worst, tasting liquid one could drink. She boiled the medicinal plants into tea, squeezed lemon into the hot tea and loving helped me to drink. The herbal tea concoctions worked and my fever broke. What Mom collected from the jumgle were hali’nunu (Nunu roots) and Sebecao for her special tea. One was for high fever and the other was bitter tea that came from the Chamorro plant called “Lodugao.” A couple of years ago, I spoke to Mayor Pete Bor
