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Traditional indigenous healing: Part I

Article in Complementary Therapies in Nursing and Midwifery September 2004
DOI: 10.1016/j.ctnm.2004.05.001 Source: PubMed

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ARTICLE IN PRESS
Complementary Therapies in Nursing & Midwifery (2004) 10, 141149

Traditional indigenous healing: Part I$

Roxanne Struthersa,*, Valerie S. Eschitib, Beverly Patchellc
a

University of Minnesota School of Nursing, 6-101 Weaver-Densford Hall, 308 Harvard St SE,
Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
b
Midwestern State University, 34100 Taft Bvld., Wichita Falls, Texas, TX 76308 USA
c
College of Nursing, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, 1100 N. Stonewall,
Oklahoma City, OK 73190, USA

KEYWORDS
Indigenous traditional
healing;
Native American medicine;
Traditional healing;
Indigenous medicine;
Indian medicine;
Traditional interpretation

Summary Traditional indigenous healing is widely used today, as it has been since
time immemorial. This article describes the following areas in regards to traditional
healing: (a) an explanation of indigenous peoples, (b) a definition of traditional
indigenous healing, (c) a portrayal of traditional healers, (d) health within
indigenous culture, (e) traditional healing techniques, (f) utilization of traditional
healing, (g) how to find a traditional healer, and (h) comparing traditional healing
principles with mainstream ways. It is important to have knowledge about this
method of holistic healing so health care providers and nurses can integrate it into
the health care for individuals and/or families that choose traditional indigenous
healing.
& 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Introduction
The artistry of traditional indigenous healing has
entered an era of increasing popularity with the
New Age, holistic, and alternative medicine movement.1,2 As a result, various groups and organizations are placing increasing importance upon
examination of this healing methodology. In January 2000, a program announcement was released
by the National Center for Complementary and
Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) on traditional, indigenous systems of medicine to support develop$
This article provides an overview of indigenous traditional
healing and is Part I of a two part series. Part II is a research
study on the experience of being healed by indigenous
traditional healers and further exemplifies the overview provided in Part I by providing stories of the healing experience.
*Corresponding author. Tel.: 1-612-624-8637; fax: 1-612626-2359.
E-mail addresses: strut005@umn.edu (R. Struthers),
valerie@sirinet.net (V.S. Eschiti), beverly-patchell@ouhsc.edu
(B. Patchell).

mental studies to establish the methodological

feasibility and strengthen the scientific rationale
for proceeding to full-scale research clinical trials
on the use of traditional, indigenous systems of
medicine as practiced in the United States.3 Also,
the World Health Organization (WHO) recently
released a report on policies and strategies related
to traditional medicine.4 One of the two major
goals of the Healthy People 2010 initiative is to
eliminate health disparities among different segments of the population.5 One means to achieve
this goal may be through encouraging usage of
traditional healing.6
Literature written in the 1800s and early 1900s
on traditional indigenous healing includes descriptions of various customary practices.2 Historians of
religion and anthropologists spent much effort on
the investigation and delineation of concepts of the
supernatural traditional indigenous healing in North
America. However, these discussions were defined
in accordance with the specific scholars personal
theory of religion.7 Thus, what was described as

1353-6117/$ - see front matter & 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ctnm.2004.05.001

ARTICLE IN PRESS
142

omnipotent by one scholar may have been viewed

by another with an entirely different connotation.
Despite these early descriptions of traditional
indigenous healing, knowledgeable indigenous people recognize that information on contemporary
Native American medical practices is scarce. In
reality, many aspects of indigenous healing have
never been documented, or written, and never
will.8 Further, formal research into healing ceremonies is almost nonexistent.9 Several factors
contribute to this reality and include: (a) fear of
ridicule by the practitioner and user of traditional
indigenous medicine, (b) concern of misuse of
information if divulged, (c) healing may be considered a private matter, (d) traditional healing is
considered sacred,10 (e) healing practices are
documented orally and thus remain unwritten,8,11
and (f) the scientific community views education
(of the researchers) and physical evidence as the
hallmark of truth and proof, and the perceived lack
of education, combined with the more metaphysical/natural elements of traditional Indian medicine, does not fit within the narrow scope of the
accepted parameters of modern science and
medicine.12
To dispel some of the mysterious inquiry surrounding traditional indigenous healing, this paper will
provide a synopsis of several discussion areas: (a) an
explanation of indigenous peoples, (b) a definition of
traditional indigenous healing, (c) a portrayal of
traditional healers, (d) health within indigenous
culture, (e) traditional healing techniques, (f)
utilization of traditional healing, (g) how to find a
traditional healer, and (h) comparing traditional
healing principles with mainstream ways.

Indigenous peoples
An indigenous person is defined largely through
self-identification as indigenous or tribal.13,14 Indigenous communities, peoples and nations are
those which having a historical continuity with preinvasion and pre-colonial societies that developed
on their territories, consider themselves distinct
from other sectors of societies now prevailing in
those territories, or parts of them. They form at
present non-dominant sectors of society and are
determined to preserve, develop, and transmit to
future generations their ancestral territories, and
their ethnic identity, as the basis of their continued
existences as peoples, in accordance with their own
cultural patterns, social institutions and legal
systems.14,15 In other words, indigenous people
were original inhabitants of a specific location.

R. Struthers et al.

In the United Sates (US) there currently are 4.1

million indigenous people, from over 500 tribes,
who self-identify as American Indian or Alaska
Native. This is a small segment of the population
(1.5%) of the total US population.16 Indigenous
North Americans are also known as Native Americans, American Indian, Indian, Alaska Native,
Native Hawaiian, Aboriginal, and/or First Nations.
Each tribe also has their own name; some tribes
may have multiple names. For example, the Ojibwe
are also called Chippewa, a corruption or Anglicization of Ojibwe17 and Anishinaabe, which means
Indian person (p. 11).18 Anishinaabe is the name
they have used since time immoral when referring
to their tribe and tribal people.

Indigenous traditional healing defined

Indigenous traditional healing is also known as
Native American medicine, traditional healing,
indigenous medicine, Indian medicine, traditional
interpretation,19 and spiritual interpretation. It is
an ancient, intact, complex holistic healthcare
system practiced by indigenous people worldwide
that is profound and more deeply rooted and
complex than is commonly understood. Native
American medicine is based upon a spiritual rather
than a materialistic or Cartesian world view8 and its
ancient feature conveys it is possibly the most
ancient form of holistic medicine. A contemporary
women healer, Thunder Woman, notes that traditional healing is the original medicine and
Western medicine the alternative medicine (p.
86).11 The healing traditions of indigenous Native
Americans have been practiced on this continent
for 12,000 years ago20 and possibly for more than
40,000 years ago21 depending on the theory of
origin or arrival one believes. Conversely, Indigenous peoples describe traditional healing as an art
practiced since time immemorial that is ongoing
today.
The art of traditional healing places an emphasis
on: (a) the spirit world, (b) supernatural forces,
and (c) religion, which is considered virtually
identical to medicine.10 A certain degree of Indian
medicine depends upon phenomena that can best
be described as mystical, even magical, which
stands in sharp contrast to the secular emphasis on
disturbed physiology and purely physical explanations of Western medicine.2 Ackerknecht (as cited
in Rhoades22) noted that traditional Indigenous
healing or primitive medicine is not embryonic
modern medicine or a predecessor to advanced
modern Western medicine, but is an entirely

ARTICLE IN PRESS
Traditional indigenous healing: Part I
different entity. Sun Bear (as cited in Steiger12)
noted that for the traditional Indian people,
medicine is a life-long thing, and has a really
strong significance. To truly appreciate and benefit
from Indian medicine power, one has to possess
this conviction and feeling, and has to really be
involved in this particular life way.
Mooney23 noted that medicine is described in
Native American cultures as anything sacred,
mysterious, or of wonderful power or efficacy in
Indian life or belief. Thus, the term medicine in
Native American cultures has come to mean
supernatural power (p. 169).24 From this usage,
terms such as the following are derived: medicine
man, medicine woman, medicine bag, and good
verses bad medicine. The origin of the word
medicine can be traced at least the 17th century
when French Jesuit missionaries among the Huron,
Montagnais, Ottawa, and other inhabitants of New
France, documented and described traditional
healers using the term, homes-medecins (medecin
is the French word for doctor) (Underhill as cited
in Lyon, p. 24).24 The medicine man was long
recognized by the settlers or whites as a principal
barrier to the eradication of Indian culture. Thereupon, traditional healing was made illegal and the
art of traditional indigenous medicine was driven
underground.25 It was not until 1978 when the
Indian Religious Freedom Act was passed by the
United States congress, that Native Americans
could again openly practice their spiritual and
healing traditions.8,26

Traditional healers
Dr. Alvord, the first Navajo female surgeon,27
defines a healer in the following manner, In my
cultureFthe Navajo cultureFmedicine is performed by a hataalii, someone who sees a person
not simply as a body, but as a whole being. Body,
mind, and spirit are seen as connected to other
people, to families, to communities, and even to
the planet and universe (p. 3).27 From the
beginning of time to the present, indigenous men
and women traditional healers (gender depends on
the tribe), also known as medicine men/women,
practice the art of traditional healing within their
communities and may also provide services across
tribes and to non-native people. The healers
comprise an elaborate practitioner system that
extensively dedicates their lives to the healing
arts28 as the healers spend as much time as needed
to help restore harmony and health.29 Current
medicine people are little different from past

143
Native practitioners10 and third world countries
still rely on indigenous traditional healers for an
important component of health care.2,4
Healing ability can be acquired in several ways
that include: inherited from ancestors, transmitted
from another healer, and/or developed through
training and initiation.8 Healers can be chosen by
their own vision, or chosen by their community.
Whatever the mechanism, they usually undergo
many years of apprenticeship to master their
particular field.10 A healer recognizes they possess
the healing gift in diverse fashions. For instance,
one may always know from birth, it can or may have
to be learned, or it may be bestowed.11
An illustration of traditional healers will be
provided through contemporary interviews with
two men and a woman healer. One man, Jimmy
Jackson, is Ojibwe from Northern Minnesota and
has transitioned to the spirit world. He was
interviewed by Aitken and Haller.30 The other
man, Kenneth Coosewoon, is Kiowa/Comanche
from southwest Oklahoma and he continues to live
and practice there today. His preference is to be
called a spiritual leader, rather than a medicine
man.31 The woman healer, Kathy Bird, is Cree from
Northern Manitoba and currently practices as a
traditional healer.11

Jimmy Jackson
A traditional medicine doctor or healer was interviewed during the late 1980s when he was 76 years
old.30 He began to practice Indian medicine at the
age of 32. During his early years he was taught
through dreams. He stated that his powers came
from the Great Spirit, but that all the medicine I
know, I had to pay for that, I had the pay the price
to know the medicine (p. 57).30 He also learned
from his elders. Of them he said, They were the
ones who taught me and they are the ones who
helped so I could recognize when I had discovered
my giftyWhen I first started out, I had to ask often
from the old medicine men here how to do
something. And I was told to do everything exactly
the way the spirits showed me in my dreams
(p. 60).30
His link to the spirit helpers was through prayer
with tobacco. But you have to remember to use
tobacco all the time. Youve got to carry it always,
and every time you put it out, youre sacrificing.
The tobacco is the link to the spirits, they will get
it, and they will listen to what you have to say or
for what youre asking (p. 58).30 With regards to
these helping spirits, he said, All these spirits can
communicate. This aspect of spirituality is an

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144

important component of medicine; it is the real

part of the effectiveness of the practice of
medicine and of the treatments that are usedyYou
know Im a medicine man. I go out there in the
woods and I dont go along with all this imaginary
stuff. Im out there to think and to listen and to
hear the spiritsyWhen I go out there in the woods,
I say a prayer, and I offer my tobacco, and I talk to
the spirits in the woods. If theres a true spirit for
me to see, Ill see it (pp. 6465).30
Concerning his patients he said, The spirits
know right away when a person comes to me. Or I
might have known it two or three days ahead of
time that this person would be coming. It might be
someone from far away, and sometimes Im told
whats ailing the person who will be coming to see
me. Well, that makes it all the easier for me to find
what the spirits have been telling me about, and so
I will look for those signs of illness (p. 65).30

Kenneth Coosewoon
Kenneth is 73 years young and the focal point of his
spirituality is the sweat lodge. He has 30 years of
sobriety and 25 years ago, received his calling while
at a sweat lodge for an Alcoholic Anonymous group.
He was tending the fire alone, prior to the sweat,
when thunder and lightening, wind and fire, and
the voice of Grandfather spoke to him of what he
was to do. He was told to conduct the sweat lodge,
to introduce as many people as he could to this way
and to call upon Grandfather when he needed help
with healing others; that what he needed would
come to him. Kenneth has conducted thousands of
sweat lodge ceremonies across the United States in
Indian Nations and many have been healed by his
ministries. He describes the sweat lodge as, the
first little church on this Mother Earth and you must
humble yourself to get into it.
Whenever he needs medicine, he goes to the
woods and the medicine glows with a blue glow on
the forest floor. He says, I can never find it if I
dont need it. He sees nothing amazing in what he
does, only that it is what he must do to answer the
calling he was given. His teachings include daily
meditation and prayer; looking for direction and
guidance from nature, whether it is the ant or the
eagle; always being willing to help when asked; and
to not look for acclaim, but for self-improvement
and higher spirituality to be the goal of every sweat
lodge. Over the years, he has acquired all of the
tools for healing, from the pipe to the eagles
feather and wing fan, deer horns to bone whistles;
none when he was looking, but always when he
needed them.31

R. Struthers et al.

Kathy Bird
A traditional medicine woman, age 48 years old,
was interviewed in 1998.11 At that time, she had
been working with traditional medicine for 13
years. Even so, she still considered herself a
student. Her healing gift was revealed slowly to
her and during this process, many people informed
her of the special gift she had been given. In the
1970s, when Descending Mist received her aboriginal name, the person bestowing her name told
her she would be sitting in front of a bundle, much
like hisyIn his bundle was a pipeymedicineya
drumyshakersyand that I would be doing the
type of work he was doing(p. 68).11 Nonetheless,
she felt no connection with the medicine.
In the early 1980s, she was on a fast with thirteen
other women. Another traditional healer conducted a sweat lodge ceremony while the women
were out fasting. In that sweat lodge ceremony, a
spirit came to the old man and talked about a
woman that was out on the fast and her name was
Mizhakii-aanakwadook (Descending Mist), and that
the woman out there didnt know this. He said that
women was a medicine woman in her previous life
and she walked this earth and she lived in the time
before contact with white people. She was a
woman healer and she didnt know this. The spirit
said that when they are finished with their fast,
you will know this woman by the way she is
dressed (p. 69).11 He described how this woman
would be dressed. He was to pass this message on,
and that the name she carried in her previous life
was the name she was to pick up again.
When the fast was finished, the fourteen women
participated in the breaking of the fast ceremony
and feast in the big lodge. When they walked into
the big lodge, the man pointed her out and said
thats the woman. He sat me down and told me
about this, and the message again came that there
was this strong connection of medicine within me,
and I had been a healer in my previous life. A
couple of years later, the old man from Alberta
offered the opportunity to begin learning about
medicines and that he saw within us (my husband
and I) the gift of medicine (pp. 6869).11
The medicine woman explained she is an instrument, a helper, the worker, the preparer, the doer
in the healing process. However, the healing
ultimately comes from the creator.11 She stated
her approach to working with the medicines has
been slow, careful, respectful, and with humility. A
lot of consideration went into the decision to begin
to learn the medicines. We started learning about
seven plants. With that went the teachings of how
to work with those plants, how to approach them.

ARTICLE IN PRESS
Traditional indigenous healing: Part I

He taught us the total approach to working with

medicine (p. 72).11
One of the main forces that swayed her to accept
the learning was the need within the community
by the people, because they were asking for it more
and moreyand what they need should be available
for them. It didnt have anything to do with my own
desire. When the traditional healers (her teachers)
inform her she is ready to advance, she gives a lot
of consideration because of the responsibility
that goes with the function. It is a very serious
commitment and a very honorable thing (p. 72).11
She sees a lot of people individually. When she
does ceremony, she explains the whole ceremony to
people, so they can understand, participate, and
be fully aware during the ceremony. She does so,
because the ceremony is done in her language and
people may not speak the language. Sometimes,
she is able to cleanse clients when they come to see
her and sometimes a three minute cleansing with
a smudge is all it takes to help people feel better
(p. 85).11 She states I have that bundle now, that
pipe, drum, and rattle (p. 85).11 This is just as the
traditional healer predicted.
She works closely with her teachers. I listen very
carefully to the teachings of the elders and I honor
those teachingsyI respect them and the best of my
ability to do things the way they are taught to
meyIts very important...that I dont try to change
anything, that those teachings are carried on
exactly the way that they have been taught to
meyI have to honor those spirits of the medicinesyI made my tobacco offeringyIve spoken to the
CreatoryIve spoken to the medicinesyand I have
the privilege of taking that medicineyof taking
that spirityso I have to honor that spirit of that
medicine in a good way. If she has any concerns, I
always double check with my teachers (p. 85).11
She talks about the importance of guidance by
the spirits. The teachers she works with are guided
by the Spirits and so when new medicines are
necessary they come to those teachers. And in that
way, they will then come to me (p. 93).11
Therefore, new and changing health care needs
are met by new visions and teachings and rituals
are modified while integrating the multicultural
belief systems.10
These descriptions may seem to be supernatural.
The reality of the supernatural and the everyday
world may seem to be distant from each other, as
when the spiritual beings of ones dreams vanish at
the moment of wakening and are replaced by the
living being of ones home and vicinity. But just as
often supernatural reality interrupts the natural.
These may be glimpses of the spirits in the
surrounding landscape, in weather transitions, in

145

movement of the stars, and are performed more

concretely in the dances of the societies.7

Health within indigenous culture

A basic principle of Native American culture is
wholeness and interrelatedness.32 Everything is
considered to have life, is interconnected,8 intertwined, and everything effects other things.11 Thus,
the sum of the whole is greater than the parts 8,27,33
and for health to ensue, balance and harmony of the
spirit, mind, emotions and body must be accomplished.29 An indigenous person strives to restore and
maintain excellent health and live in accordance
with proscribed life ways or religions given to Native
Americans at the time of creation. While these
various life ways differ greatly among tribes, they
suggest how people should maintain well being and
a balanced life.10 The indigenous perspective associates illness with imbalance. Health has a broad
application and suggests a state of balance, harmony,
synchronicity, and wholeness be present within: the
spiritual, mental, emotional and physical realms; life
energy in the body; ethical, reasonable, and just
behavior; relations within the family and community;
and connections with nature8 and the universe.10
Illness occurs when balance is disrupted.9 If illness
results, the imbalance or disruption must be rectified
if one is to regain a healthy state.10
Traditional indigenous healing includes health
promotion and prevention.10,11 For instance, certain observances can be performed related to
certain journeys, tasks, or events such as war or
surgery.10 For instance, in preparation of the first
authors daughter to deploy to Saudi Arabia to fight
terrorism in Enduring Freedom, specific events
were performed in readiness for this mission of
war. The second authors adoptive Comanche
father related how he, his brothers, and fellow
Comanche young men were given peyote buttons to
carry in medicine bags when they went to World
War II in order to provide protection. He feels this
ritual helped them return safely from war (personal
communication, Stanford Saupitty, 2002). In the
Cherokee tradition of the third author, tobacco
offerings would be made to the four directions,
then smoked in those directions, counterclockwise,
for the wind to carry the smoke to cover those
needing protection or shielding from harm.

Traditional healing techniques

Even though the same beliefs related to healing are
held by all 500 plus United States indigenous

ARTICLE IN PRESS
146

Nations scattered across a vast continent, the

methods of diagnosis, methodology, and treatment
vary greatly from tribe to tribe and from healer to
healer.25 The methods are many times accorded to
the various climates and food supplies of the region
they inhabit.34 Techniques used for restoration of
an imbalance may be simple10 or complex. Specific
skills utilized to correct imbalance are listed below.
The list is not exhaustive, but includes several
procedures:
*

*
*
*
*

*
*
*

*
*
*
*
*
*
*

Divination or prediction to foretell or forecast

events or situations, e.g., a seer can foretell the
future.8 This may include dreaming of events to
come.6
Natural elements such as water, fire, smoke,
stones, or crystals may be used as a projective
field to help see the reason and/or course of an
imbalance8
Prayer.8,11
Chanting.8,27
Use of music, singing, drums, rattles.8,11
Smudging with medicinal plants such as sage
cedar, sweet grass.2,8,11
Laying on of hands.8,11
Talking, counseling.8
Medicinal plants25 or botanical medicines2,10
that are made into teas, salves, ointments,
purgatives and other substances.
Ceremony.2,6,8,11
Sweat Lodge.6,8,11
Shake tent.11,35
Yuwipi.35
Dance.27
Dreaming.6,11
Use of tobacco, either as an offering, or
smoked.6,36
Storytelling.37

More specifically, the Navajo38 utilize star gazing,

crystal gazing8,10 and hand-tremblers.10,27 Terms
used to describe techniques used by the traditional
healer include sucking to remove a disease,25,35
blowing away a disease (Sam, personal communication, April 3, 2002), or using ceremony to balance
the left and right brain.39 Storytelling not only
entertains, but illuminates the path to health and
wellness, especially in relationships and communities. Over 100 years ago, James Mooney collected
the myths of the Cherokees, in a book by the same
name, because he feared the imminent eradication
of the culture. Today the storytellers and their
stories continue the oral tradition that is, perhaps,
thousands of years old and continues to be used for
many purposes.37 While these terms and techniques
seem out of the ordinary, they are successfully

R. Struthers et al.

employed and have been passed down orally for

centuries.
The specific techniques of healing, sacred songs,
and healing rituals are received directly from elder
healers, from spirits encountered during vision
quests, and a result of initiation into secret
societies.8 According to Struthers,11 traditional
healing techniques are also received during
dreams, from spirits, from other healers (who
may be elders) and teachers (who may provide an
apprenticeship), and during fasting.

Utilization of traditional indigenous

healing
Today, a sizeable number of American Indian people
utilize traditional medicine. Some use strictly
Western medicine or strictly traditional medicine,6
or use both simultaneously and serially.27 Some
decide based upon the ailment. For example,
mental or spiritual illness may be treated by
traditional methods or a gastrointestinal disorder
may be treated by a Western medical doctor;10 it is
a matter of personal preference.
Utacia Krol40 relates the story of Dr. Lori Alvord.
Dr. Alvord grew up on the Navajo reservation, then
left to attend college and medical school and soon
realized that as medicine grew technologically; its
core mission of healing was vanishing. There is no
sense of the patient as a participant in their
treatment, while in the Navajo world, the patient
participates actively in healing, says Alvord. My
work has been to understand ceremony and culture
that, if looked at under a different lens, are
increasingly valued as ways of promoting healing
(p. 68).40
JoEllen Koerner, PhD, RN, experienced the
inability of modern medicine to heal her daughter,
Kristi Welch, of a kidney stone ailment. Stringer41
tells Koerners story, Helpless and frantic, Koerner
took her daughter to an American Indian healing
ceremony, where people from the tribe prayed for
her. There something supernatural happened for
WelchyThe clarity gave Welch the strength to
overcome the excruciating pain, and her remaining
stones finally began to pass (pp. 1516). The
experience led Koerner to introduce the American
Indian model of medicine into mainstream health
care. She is one of several nurses nationwide
pioneering programs that incorporate indigenous
holistic health into the Western medical system.
These particular nurses suggest that American
Indian practices derive healing power from spiritual

ARTICLE IN PRESS
Traditional indigenous healing: Part I

and familial connections that Western medicine

often fails to tap into (p. 15).41

Locating a traditional healer

Traditional indigenous healers are few in number
and thus, the demand exceeds the supply. One can
locate traditional healers several ways. An individual may know of a traditional healer and thereby,
ask for their assistance. If the whereabouts of a
traditional healer is not known, and help for an
imbalance is desired, one starts by asking in the
community who they are and where they are
located. For indigenous persons, offering tobacco
will help in the search for a healer. The healer may
live quite a distance away, so prepare to travel. It is
wise to telephone or fax the healer to find out their
availability.
Light42 suggests contacting the local tribal community in order to locate a healer. One needs to
be cautious about screening out those individuals
who may be claiming to be traditional healers, when
in fact; they are not.43 Such individuals are
charlatans who prey on the needs of those seeking
assistance. When approaching a healer, tobacco is
offered. Other gifts, including money are appropriate to offer in exchange for healing. One would
expect to pay a medical doctor; accordingly, one
would want to offer something as payment to a
traditional healer.

Differences in traditional healing and

mainstream ways
It seems advanced technology would assist Americans to live in a state of elevated wellness.

Table 1

147

However, health statistics and high rates of

violence in the United States reveal this is not
the case. The foremost distinction between traditional healing and mainstream health care is
that traditional healing is holistic and not fragmented.
Dr. Alvord27 vividly describes a Yeibechei, the last
night of a Navajo Night Chant Ceremony, All the
people were there to help the girl get wellFand
she must be aware of the power of their collected
presence around her, I thought. She could feel, see,
and smell the Yeibechei medicine. It was hypnotic:
the repetitive chants, the smell, swirl, and sting of
wood smoke, the rattles and rhythms of the drums,
the appearance and disappearance of the groups of
dancers. In spite of my medical training, I knew
that being surrounded by ones family and greater
community for nine days, and seeing dancing gods
smudged with gray ash, bringing healing chants
from the dark mesa beyond the bonfires, would
have a very positive effect on her condition,
whatever it may be. Ceremonies are magical and
powerful things. A spiritual intensity and an energy
surround the healing ceremony that is almost
completely absent in Western medicine (p.
100).27
Hollow29 provides a detailed comparison of
traditional Indian medicine versus modern western
medicine. A comparison of the two health care
systems in Table 1 points out disparate methods and
approaches to healing. Gleaning the table, one can
see that in Indian traditional medicine the client is
treated holistically and is provided teachings,
skills, and perhaps natural herbs from Mother Earth
to assist with healing thyself. In modern Western
medicine, healing/curing is fragmented with the
medical system pivoting around the physician, not
the client seeking the healing/curing.

Comparison of traditional Indian medicine with modern Western medicine, p. 35.29

Traditional Indian medicine

Modern Western medicine

Mind, body, spirit; holistic approach

Patients tribal beliefs of health and illness used along
with physical, social, and spiritual data to make
diagnosis
Teaches (via healer) patient to heal self
Ceremonies teach the patient how to be well

Reductionist approach
Reductionist dataFbiochemical, physiologic,
anatomic, laboratory dataFused to make diagnosis
(social and spiritual not emphasized)
MDs taught that they do the healing
Teaches patient to depend on the medical system and
remain sick
Disease and curing emphasized
Honors the physician for curing
History, physical examination, and laboratory data
used for treatment plan
Pharmaceuticals may be used
Preventive medicine taught to patient and family

Health and harmony emphasized

Honors the patient for restoring wellness
History, physical examination, and family assessment
used along with treatment plan
Herbal medicine from nature may be used
Preventive medicine taught to patient and family

ARTICLE IN PRESS
148

Skip Sandman (nanaandawii/iwewinini: one who

doctors) is a bone doctor, who uses hollow bones to
suck disease from patients. He has an office at the
Mille Lacs Indian health clinic in central Minnesota,
and works with the clinic staff. His story aptly
illustrates the difference between traditional Indian healing and western medicine. I can teach
you about herbs and I can teach you a lot of
different things. But what I do in that room over
there, I cant teach you, says Sandman. It has to
come from a different place. Call it the spirit
realm, dreams, God, the Creator; it has to come
from him. To sit here and say I fully understand itF
I dontySkip Sandman says the spirits educated
him through a series of dreams. Every night he
would be taken places. The spirits showed him
plants and told how to use them. Sandman says
people began knocking on his door and asking for
healing. He knew he had to accept the calling.44
Dr. Terry Maresca, a Mohawk Indian trained in
western medicine, has noticed that westerntrained physicians have a respect for traditional
healers. The Western physicians that I know have
a great appreciation for what traditional healers
do, and we really see them as colleagues, Dr.
Maresca says. Theyre on the same level, and
maybe notches above us on some level, because the
community chose them, and has respect for them.
They can do things that I cant do, and I may be
able to do some things they cant do.45

R. Struthers et al.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.
8.
9.
10.
11.

12.
13.

14.

15.

Conclusion
Traditional Native American medicine is still in
widespread use.10 Given the attention indigenous
traditional healing is receiving today, it is critical
for health care providers and nurses to have an
understanding of the basic ideology of Native
American medicine. Many current consumers of
health care desire holistic methodologies to regain
and/or maintain a healthy state. Whatever the
healing system preference, the ultimate goal is an
integrative approach for clients who use both
systems of health care.

16.
17.
18.
19.

20.

21.

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May you live all the days of your life (Jonathon Swift 16671745)