Native American Medicine
Background: Where does this technique come from?
Origin of Method / History: “The healing traditions of the Native Americans have been practiced on this continent since the Clovis Culture at least 12,000 years ago, and possibly for more than 40,000 years.” There are many diverse traditions amongst different cultures of Native Americans, and the information presented here is a compilation of diverse techniques.
Theory: What is energy? What is energy healing?
What energy is being worked with? “The manifestation of divine spirit in living beings is life force, or divine breath; known as ni in Lakota63 and nilch'i in Navajo, The ultimate source of this wholeness is known by many names: Kitchi Manitou ("the Great Mystery," Ojibway), Wakan Tanka ("the Great Sacred" or "Great Spirit," Lakota), Acbadadea ("Maker of All Things Above," Crow), Shongwˆyad’hs:on ("the Creator," Iroquois), or simply God.”
What is illness / health? “According to Native
American medicine, a healthy person has a sense of purpose and follows the
"original instructions" - i.e., the guidance written in the heart by
the Great Spirit. Health means restoring the body, mind, and spirit to
balance and wholeness: the balance of life energy in the body; the balance of
ethical, reasonable, and just behavior; balanced relations within family and
community; and harmonious relationships with nature.” Illness can be caused by:
negative thinking, disturbances in flow of life energy and healing power within
the individual or to/from the environment, environmental poisons, spirits,
bacteria, traumatic events, breach of taboo.
”Native Americans believe that inherited conditions… may be caused by the
parents' unhealthy or immoral behavior and are not easily treatable. …among
adults, some diseases are the patient's responsibility and the natural
consequence of his or her behavior; to treat these conditions may be to
interfere with important life lessons. Some illnesses are not treated because
they are considered "callings," or diseases of initiation: physical
and spiritual crises engendered by the breakdown of previous ways of being or
by the acquisition of guardian-spirit power.”
Who can heal? Training? “Many aspects of Native American healing are still closely guarded oral tradition. Specific techniques of healing, sacred songs, and healing rituals are received directly from elder healers, from spirits encountered during vision quest, and as a result of initiation into secret societies.” ”Many Native healers believe that people learn to heal best the conditions that they have experienced. Healing power can be inherited from ancestors, transmitted from another healer, or developed through training and initiation. However, the best way to develop, strengthen, and maintain healing power is through rigorous personal training.”
Practice: How does a healing session work for this technique?
Methods of treatment are as varied as methods of diagnosis. The most common methods include prayer, chanting, music, smudging… herbalism, laying on of hands, counseling, and ceremony.
Assessment: “As in Western medicine, the Native healer
observes presenting symptoms …[may] also discuss the possible causes of the
disease, the patient's lifestyle and relationships, and how the patient's
disease was affecting his family. The purpose of this lengthy discussion was
not merely diagnostic, but also "to draw the people completely into the
curing process, to engage their total persons, to get them communing fully with
Wakan-Tanka [the Great Spirit] and the Helpers”. Wintu shaman Flora
Jones would assess "With the diagnostic powers of the spirit-helpers
acting through her hands, she begins to move her fingers carefully across the
patient's body sensing unseen, internal injuries or abnormalities." Flora
Jones feels the patient's disease or pain in her own body: "I become a
part of their body." Healers also use several forms of divination and
dream interpretation.
Treatment techniques: Laying on of Hands. ”Massage, healing touch, and
noncontact healing are practiced by Native healers throughout North and
In Cohen’s Qi Gong book) (page 262, he says “The circling palms method of treatment is identical to that used by indigenous people… my Cherokee mentor… used to hold his hands in front and back of the patient’s body, ‘like two poles of a magnet, the negative and the positive.’ Sometimes he would circle one palm – clockwise to warm the body, counterclockwise to cool it.”
Uses: When is this Technique useful?
Duration / Frequency: “Disease can have a slow or sudden onset. Similarly, healing can occur quickly or over a long period of time. However, even in serious or chronic disease, long-term therapy may not be required. The intensity of therapy is generally considered more important than the duration. Healing may not be a gradual process but rather a quantum leap. However, Native healers recognize that patients must make lifestyle and behavioral changes that reinforce and maintain the improved condition.”
Studies done: “From the Western scientific perspective,
Native American healing is only documented in scattered anecdotes and
observations. Native healing methods have not been tested in controlled
experiments, nor is this likely to change in the near future. It is impossible
to administer "standard doses" in practices that may change from healer
to healer and from case to case. Therapeutic methodology and outcome are
generally not written down and are known only to individual healers or their
close associates. In any case, unmeasurable and nonspecific factors so often
outweigh the measurable and specific that it may be impossible to draw accurate
conclusions about the efficacy of Native healing from the perspective of
Western empirical science.”
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