First Nations Medicine :: Holistic Healing

First Nations Medicine

Where does learning end and stealing begin? That’s the hard question non-Natives interested in exploring traditional Native North American medicine are forced to ask themselves. Many First Nations healers see whites’ use of elements of traditional medicine as a distortion and, worse, an expropriation of Native cultural knowledge.

Yet interest in traditional Native medicine is on the rise, and current clinical studies are being used to validate centuries-old ways of healing.

The term “Native North American medicine” encompasses a vast range of practices, ceremonies, remedies, and beliefs of Native peoples from the Inuit in ice-bound northern Canada to the Seminole of near-tropical Florida. Local ecologies and histories have shaped a great variety of traditional ways of healing. The cultures of a few nations or tribes– especially the Plains Indians of the US - have been studied extensively; however, little is known about most.

Above all differences, however, Native healing is characterized by a paradigm of holism. Physical well-being is not separated from mental, spiritual, and emotional health to the degree we see in Western medicine. The patient’s relationships to not only other humans but also to animals, plants, and the spirit world play an integral role in the healing process.

Healing as a Vocation

Native healers (the terms “medicine man” or “shaman” are sometimes considered derogatory or inappropriate) are called to their vocation, often by a crisis of health. Healing knowledge is passed from healer to healer in an oral tradition spanning generations. Native healers acknowledge and give thanks for help in their healing work from the spirit world.

During diagnosis healing, the native healer may spend an extended period of time with the ill person; time itself is an essential element in the healing process. Time is also needed to allow the healer to consider each patient’s unique social and spiritual context.

Purification Rituals

Throughout North America, a variety of purification rituals may be performed as part of the healing process; these include the use of sweat lodges, smudging, pipe smoking, cupping, sucking, or sweeping.

Other ceremonies serve to right the balance between the sick person and the community (which includes the natural community) or perhaps with a spirit who has been offended through the violation of taboo. Such ceremonies include sun dances, the use of the medicine wheel (a wheel-shaped arrangement of stones where rituals are performed), singing or chanting, dancing, drumming, and sand painting.

Plants as Spirit Healers

Herbs, shrubs, and trees are used as spirit healers. Cedar, sweetgrass, and sage, for example, are plants used in smudging; when burnt, their smoke purifies both patient and healer. Plants are also used as remedies for a range of illnesses.

Today, seven of the 10 most commonly used herbal remedies sold in the US are plants traditionally used by First Nations people, including echinacea, goldenseal, St. John’s wort, and evening primrose.

Despite controversy over the ownership and application of traditional healing knowledge, First Nations medicine has much to teach us, if we approach our studies with respect and open minds.

Recommended Reading

Turtle Island Native Network: Healing and Wellness turtleisland.org/healing/healing-wellness.htm.
Daniel Moerman, Native American Ethnobotany (Timber Press, 1998) and online at herb.umd.umich.edu.
Anthony J. Cichoke, Secrets of Native American Herbal Remedies (Avery, 2001).

Susan Safyan is an assistant editor at alive.

Source: alive #268, February 2005

New Millennium, New Healing Attitude
After 22 years of general medical practice and over 2,000 letters from readers requesting advice, I have observed some general principles that determine whether or not an individual is capable of controlling his or her heal.

What is Environmental Medicine?
First of all, environmental medicine does not reject modern medicine. In certain acute and traumatic situations, head for your nearest hospital. Be grateful for the research and technological progress which has allowed patients to survive incidents that would have meant certain death at one time in history.

Environmental Illness Is Not A Life Sentence
Imagine a world where your dreams are manifesting before your eyes; a world full of hope and promise. Imagine all this coming to a sudden, crippling halt and down into the cocoon you go . . .

Copper Overload
I would like to share with the readers of alive my story about a hidden illness that most doctors don't recognize. I feel this story could help a great many people.

Millennial Medicine
Conventional medicine can learn from alternative medicine how to "gentle" its approach by focusing on the patient's inherent capacity for self-healin.

Magnetic Power Heals
We are magnetic beings-magnetic energy affects everyone's health. From the smallest particles to the largest celestial bodies, positive and negative electrical units called protons and electrons are fundamental constituents that establish and maintain the empty space that dominates all matter.

State-Of-The-Art Health Care
The "functional medicine practised at the CCFM, explains D.

Achieving True Health
Illness, not health, is quickly becoming the norm in our country. Statistics show that childhood, chronic degenerative, autoimmune and malignant diseases are steadily increasing to epidemic proportions. So the question that everyone is asking is: "Why are we so sick?"

Holistic Health Research
Wouldn't it be nice if Canadians who support complementary and alternative medicines, including researchers, practitioners, and organizations, banded together to share resources and support one another?

Supporting Evidence
Science is working constantly to help us understand the role vitamins, minerals, herbal products, and other natural compounds play in promoting health and healing. Many noteworthy clinical studies with natural products were published in 2004.

Wearing Life Well
Many of us know Marilu Henner best as Elaine Nardo on TV's long-running series, Tax.

Speaking of Plants
Have you ever taken time to go outside and just sit next to a big old oak tree? Did you feel anything, hear anything? Some people have an impassioned relationship with trees and believe it is possible to take energy and learn from them.

First Steps Toward a Healthier Future
If you've ever suffered a health problem or been close to someone who has, you know how improving nutrition can improve health. Knowing what foods to eat is just as important as knowing why we need to eat them.

Iridology
Our eyes can reflect inherited tendencies to weakness in just about any part of the body; neuromuscular problems or stiffness in the joints; or even hearing disorders. In fact, new information suggests iridology can identify a whole range of syndromes, from simple bowel tendencies to complex glandular problems.

Parkinson's Disease Treated Naturally
Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disease of the nervous system. It is symptomized by tremor, muscular rigidity and emaciation and used to be a malady of the aged. That's not so anymore. The disease is afflicting younger and younger victims.

How to Choose a Health-Care Professional
When seeking professional help about your health, do your own research. Some health food stores offer consultations with qualified staff or can recommend a herbalist, homeopath, naturopath or nutritionist in your area.

Profile of Dr. Andrew Weil
Andrew Weil is definitely changing the face of medicine. His familiar, white-bearded face has beamed at us from the cover of TIME magazine twice in the last nine years, most recently last October when his new book, Healthy Aging (Knopf, 2005) hit the stands.

Nature's Essentials
Along with your bear spray, bandages, and homeopathic arnica, you may want to pack some essential oils that can help with common ailments such as itchy bug bites, bruises, cuts, rashes, blisters, and sunburn. Compact, versatile, and effective on a variety of levels, essential oils such as tea tree and lavender are must-haves in your first aid kit and can be used directly on the skin without a carrier oil.

Biofeedback for Beginners
Biofeedback, also known as physiological feedback, is a treatment technique established through scientific experimentation that helps people improve their health by making use of signals from their own bodies. This noninvasive technique measures bodily functions such as breathing, blood pressure, skin temperature, and muscle tension.

Spa Treatments
Spas attract a wide range of clients from teenagers to seniors, both male and female. I put spa treatments into three rough categories: holistic, stress release, and cosmetic. Often these categories overlap; simply stated, holistic treatments are therapeutic and include various types of massage, reflexology, and hot paraffin wax treatments.

Health Shows
The Health Show is coming to Edmonton in September. I wouldn't miss it for anything! Mixing entertainment with education is a perfect way to learn. Information seems to sink in better when it's in an informal, fun environment.

Electrodermal Screening
Many Canadian natural health providers use electrodermal screening (EDS) to gather bioenergy feedback and find energy imbalances that may be symptoms of disease. Some naturopaths also use the devices to test for sensitivities to certain foods and other substances. How effective is electrodermal screening?

Looking for a Healthy Tax Break
Benjamin Franklin famously said, "In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes. A coalition of groups involved in natural health products and services would like to ease the burden of the latter for those who take care to delay the former.

Flower Essences
On a recent wilderness walk, I was greeted with the refreshing briskness and sweet aroma of wildflowers. I felt alive as the rays from an early morning sun sparkled on dew glistening with the essence of the flowers. Was this how people discovered the power of flower essences millennia ago?

What's the Buzz?
There's a lot of buzz about the health benefits of bee pollen and royal jelly, but apart from being good for bees, are there any real benefits for people?

Sweet Healing
Who needs a spoonful of sugar to help the medicine go down when honey is medicine itself? Long used in traditional medicine, honey has recently been the subject of many scientific studies that provide evidence of its effectiveness as a healing agent.

Lacking Libido
A healthy libido or sex drive is a normal part of being human. While it is not uncommon to go through periods when sexual desire declines or wanes, libido problems become self-evident when these low periods recur and lead to personal stress and interpersonal problems.

Check your Chocolate
Over the last decade, the medicinal value of cocoa has been the focus of scientific scrutiny. For example, researchers from the United Kingdom found that cocoa is rich in naturally occurring polyphenols, plant chemicals with antioxidant activity.