The reading also made me think about modern connections—curanderismo still exists today. How much of what we see now is connected directly to the practices Seman describes? #Hist416

I wonder how patients decided between going to a licensed doctor versus a curandero. Was it about cost, trust, culture, or all of those factors? #Hist416

I appreciated how Seman treats the borderlands as a space of exchange rather than division. Healing traditions moved back and forth, shaping identity on both sides.#Hist416

I was surprised by how much legal attention curanderos sometimes received. If authorities tried to regulate or prosecute them, that suggests they were seen as powerful. #Hist416

The reading made me think about gender roles. Were more curanderas women? How did gender shape who could become a healer and who was trusted? #Hist416

I found it interesting that curanderos often stepped in where formal institutions failed. In remote border areas, there weren’t many licensed doctors, so communities relied on local healers. #Hist416

One thing that stood out was how healing practices crossed the border even when governments tried to control movement. Culture didn’t stop at the political line. #Hist416

It made me think about how official medicine (especially American medicine) often tried to label curanderos as “superstitious” or “backward,” which says a lot about racial and cultural bias at the time. #Hist416

I noticed how curanderismo blended Indigenous, Spanish, and sometimes Catholic traditions. It reflects how the borderlands were always culturally mixed. #Hist416

I was really interested in how Seman centers curanderos as important historical actors instead of treating them as side figures. It changes how we think about power in the borderlands. #Hist416