SOCH111 SN5.1 PartB Lecturesource.endeavourlearninggroup.com.au/...SN09_PartB_Lecture.pdfo Derived method of leaching toxins from acorn pulp to ... o Enters trance through drumming

© Endeavour College of Natural Health endeavour.edu.au

SOCH111

www.endeavour.edu.au

Native American Medicine


Session Aim

By the end of this session, students will be able

to:

o Describe the historical and cultural context of North

American Native Medicine

o Describe the historical and cultural context of Native

Medicine in Central and South America

o Define North, Central and South American worldviews

o Describe Native American Medicine practices


The America’s


History – North America

o 12, 000 yrs ago North America and Asia were connected

o Migrations appears to have occurred around 9,500 BC

o 1,000 BC – shift towards horticulture and domestication

o Maize grown in Mexico since 5,000 BC, appeared in N.

America about 1,200 BC

(Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2015)


European Exploration of the

Americas

o 1492 – Columbus sailed from Spain to the Americas

o 1497 – First English explorer

o 1604 – Nova Scotia found by the French

o 1531 & 1532 – Spanish expedition Mexico and Peru

o 1718 – French settled New Orleans

o 17th Century – English settlements began to establish



Indigenous Peoples of the

Americas

Two broad groupings

o American Indians

• Northern America (US and Canada)

• Middle America (Mexico and Central America)

• South America

o Arctic

• Alaska and arctic Canada




North American Nation Regions

South East

o Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, Seminole

o Area predominately agricultural with chiefdoms and

hereditary classes

o Grew corn, beans, squash, tobacco

o Hunted deer and fished




The Plains

o Sioux, Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Comanche, Arapoho and

Kiowa

o Had similar material items such as tepee, tailored leather

clothing, headdresses and other battle regalia, and

drums




Southwest

o Pueblo Indians (Zuni and Hopi), Yumans, Pima, Papago,

Navajo and Apache

o Agricultural products: corn, beans, squash, cotton, wild

game and fishing

• Pueblo – apartment-like cliff dwellings, dances and dolls, fine

pottery, textiles and sand paintings

• Navajo – complex clan systems, healing rituals, fine textiles and

jewellery.

• Apache, Yumans, Pima and Papago focused on expression

culture through oral traditions(Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2015)



The Great Basin

o Mono, Paiute, Bannock, Shoshone, Ute, Gosiute,

Washoe

o Mobile kin-based bands

o Agriculture & Products: seeds, small game, bison,

basketry, nets, rock art and grinding stones




California

o Hupa, Yurok, Pomo, Yuki, Wintun, Maidu, Yana

o Derived method of leaching toxins from acorn pulp to

make flour

o Known for basketry and ritualised trade fairs

o (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2015)



Northwest coast

o Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, Kwakiutl, Bella Coola, Chinook

o Abundant and reliable supplies of salmon, sea

mammals, fish, variety of plants

o Known for fine wood and stone carvings, large

watercraft, memorial/totem poles and basketry



TotemismA system of belief in

which humans are said

to have a relationship

with a spirit-being

Usually an animal

The totem serves as a

symbol

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2015

Image: Sciencedaily.com



The Plateau

o Salishan, Flathead, Nez Perce, Yakama, Kutenal, Modoc

and Klamath

o Excelled in material innovation and adapting other

technologies for their own purposes



The Arctic

o The Arctic Circle – Alaska and Canada

o Eskimo (Inuit and Yupik/Yupiit), and Aleut

o Harsh winters, long summer hours

o Formed bands based on kinship and marriage

Encyclopedia Brittanica, 2015

Image: Sunnyskiespreschool.com


Inuit

o Spirituality is grounded in the belief that anua (soul) exist

in all people and animals

o Families, individuals and bands follow a complex system

of taboos to assure that animals continue to make

themselves available to hunters

o Rituals and ceremonies are performed before and after

hunting to assure hunting success


Inuit

o The Angakut is the spiritual leader of the band

o He interprets the causses of sickness or lack of hunting

success

o Enters trance through drumming and chanting


Native American Healing Practices

Health and wellbeing:

• Linked to spirituality

• Requires a close connection to the earth and living in

harmony with nature/environment

• Recovering wholeness


The Red Path

o Path to harmony and wholeness in nature

o Characterised by cultural values

o Healers follow the Red Path/Road

o It is the path of good


Sioux Lakota Virtues

o Humility - Unsiiciyapi

o Perseverance -

Wowacintanka

o Respect - Wawoohola

o Honour - Wayuonihan

o Love - Cantognake

o Sacrifice – Icicupi

o Truth - Wowicake

o Compassion –

Wausilapi

o Bravery - Woohitike

o Fortitude -

Cantewasake

o Generosity -

Canteyuke

o Wisdom - Woksape

(Marshall III, 2001)



Bio-psycho-social-spiritual approach to health

o Herbs

o Manipulative therapies

o Ceremonies

o Music

o Prayer

o Story-telling and legends

(Koithan & Farrell, 2010)



Ceremony

o Symbolic healing rituals

o Involve the patient, family and community in the healing

process

o May last for days or weeks

o Through participation in songs, prayer, music and dance



Symbolism & Ceremony

o Ceremonies incorporate symbolism, icons and ritualistic

objects

o Used to restore harmony necessary for health

o Provides powerful healing synergy



Music – The Drum

o Sacred significance

o Drumming stimulates physiological responses that have

mystical implications within spiritual traditions

(Rybak & Decker-Fitts, 2009)

(Image whirlingrainbow.com)


Sacred Dance

“The sun descends upon the trees. The heat is hypnotic…

It is as if I am asleep.

Then the drums break, the voices of the singers gather

To the beat, the rattles shake all around

– mine among them.

I stand and move again, slowly, toward the center of the

universe in time,

In time, more and more closely in time.”

~ N. Scott Momaday, 1975 ~

(In Kracht, 1994)


Dance

o Dance can elevate one into altered states of

consciousness to achieve spiritual experience

o May be joined by ancestors or facilitate shape-shifting

o Can facilitate key rites or ceremony

• Sioux – Sundance

• Apache – Dance of Gahan (mountain spirit)

• Kiowa – Gourd Dance

(Image: Encyclopaedia Britannica)


Sacred Pipe

o In Latoka Sioux tradition, the sacred pipe and

instructions was brought by White Buffalo Calf Woman

o Integral part of Lakota spiritual and cultural life

o Each part of the pipe holds significance

o Symbolic of the fundamental relationship between all

things

o Used as a means to carry prayers upward to the Creator

or Great Mystery (Wakantanka)

(Image: marciadrian.com)


Smudging

o Used as a means of purification

o Involves the passing of smoke over individuals (including

healers) and throughout environments

• Cedar and Sage – dispel negative energies

• Sweetgrass – attracts positive energy

o Can facilitate healing as beneficial energy is drawn in,

and non-beneficial energy is drawn away

o Can be incorporated into other ceremonies

(Rybak & Decker-Fitts, 2009)

(Image: pintrist.com)


Story-telling & Legend

o Oral traditions convey information from one generation to

the next

o Stories contribute to healing, offering faith and tradition

o They are lessons that can be applied to daily life, and a

connection to the past, where the way of life remains

through the storyteller


Medicine Wheel - Cangleska

o Circular with a balanced cross of 2 intersecting lines that

create 4 sections

o Represents the circle of life, with the intersecting lines

representing the roads in life

o Red Road is good road

o Black Road is the bad road

o 4 sacred colours (Red, yellow, black, white)

(Marshall III, 2001)

Image: Warriornation.ning.com


The Medicine Wheel


Activity 1.1

Is Native American Healing a form of Complementary

Medicine?


Central America


Central America

• A region in Middle America from central Mexico to

Honduras and Nicaragua

• Olmec, Maya, Aztec.


Central American CulturesPERIOD TIME CULTURES AND CULTURAL CENTRES

Palaeoindian 10,000-3500 BC Stone age Amerindian cultures of Honduras, Guatemala, Belize

Archaic 3500-1800 BC Neolithic agricultural settlements of Tehuacán

Formative BC 2000-250 AD Monte Alto culture; Unknown cultures of La Blanca and Ujuxste

Early PreclassicBC 2000-1000

Olmec Tenochtitlan; Central Mexico cultures; Oaxaca; Mayas

Cerros, Nakbe

Middle Preclassic BC 1000-400 Olmec, Oaxaca, Maya

Late PreclassicBC 400-200 AD

Maya; Central Mexico Teotihuacan, Epi-Olmec: Gulf Coast, Western

Mexico

Classic 200-900 AD Classic Maya Centres: Teotihuacan, Zapotec

Early Classic 200-600 AD Maya; Teotihuacan, Zapotec, Palenque, Teuchtitlan

Late Classic600-900 AD

Maya; Teuchtitlan

Terminal Classic 800-900/1000 AD Maya; Uxmal

Postclassic 900-1519 AD Aztec, Mixtec, Tarascans, Totonac

Early Postclassic 900-1200 AD Cholula, Tula

Late Postclassic 1200- 1519 AD Tenochtitlan

Post-Conquest Until 1697 AD Central Peten


The Maya

Flourished from ≈1,000 BC to 1,000 AD in Mesoamerica

The only native American culture to have a fully developed

written language


Maya Religion

• Science and religion were the same

• Philosophy was that astronomy and mathematics were

priestly inventions

• Theologians were also scribes, mathematicians,

astronomers and philosophers

• Religion was part of daily life

• Life and death is cyclical

• Everything has a soul

• Polythiest

• Kinih Ahous (Sun God)

• Ah-Kinob - Healer


Mayan numerals and glyphs


Maya MedicineIx Chel – Mayan

Moon goddess and

goddess of medicine

and healing in her

three manifestations

Chak Chel, the Old

Moon Goddess,

called the Midwife of

Creation

Ix Chel in her main

form as Mother

Goddess and Weaver

who set the Universe

in motion

Young Moon

Goddess, shown with

her totem animal the

rabbit


Maya Medicine

• Highly complex mixture of shamanistic, empirical and

scientific practices administered by specialist healers

• Disease is a manifestation of imbalance

• Healers sought to balance the flow of life-force

• 6 Principles of Mayan Healing

(Bley, 2011)


Maya Medicine – 1st Principle

o Ch’ulel (life-force) is everywhere and permeates

everything

o From mountains, rivers, plants, houses, people

o Ch’ulel is spiritually divine and binds everyone and

everything together


Maya Medicine Principles

2nd Principle -

o There is no separation between the body and soul

3rd Principle –

o Recognition of natural cycles and veneration of plants

4th Principle –

o Healing is comprehensive and integrative approach with

everybody


Maya Medicine Principles

5th Principle –

o Blood determines origin of illness and course of

treatment

6th Principle –

o Hot and cold

• Hot Symptom – fever, diarrhoea, vomiting

• Hot food – garlic, onion, peppers, ginger

• Cold Symptom – cramps, constipation, paralysis

• Cold food – cheese(Bley, 2011)


Curandero

Curanderismo is a form of Native American healing

Includes:

o Prayer, herbal medicine, healing rituals, spiritualism,

massage, and psychic healing.

o It is a system of traditional beliefs that are common

amongst Hispanic-American communities

(American Cancer Society, 2015)


The Aztecs

o The Aztecs were located in South Central region of present-day

Mexico.


Astrological Calendar

o Extended over solar year of 365 days

• Divided into 18 months of 28 days

• Plus 5 unlucky days

Astrological Religious Calendar – Tonalamatl

• 260 days, 13 months

• Each month is ruled by a god

(Guerra, 1966)


Aztec Religion

o Believed in the afterlife

o Heaven consisted of:

• Tonatiuh – heaven in the sun (reserved for heroes)

• Tlalocan – heaven on earth (abode of rest)

• Mictlan – underworld (reached by dead after a

dangerous journey)


Aztec Religion

o The world was created by a God under dual principle

• Tonacatecutli (male principle) – Tonacacihuatl (female principle)

o Toci (or Teteoinam) – Mother goddess

o Huitzilopocchtli – God of war

o Tlaloc – God of agriculture

o Quetzalcoat – Wisdom

o Mictlantecutli - Death


Ticiotl (Medical Art)

o Believed to have been developed by 4 wise men

o Profound religious elements

o Sickness could be punishment by gods

• Eg. Tlaloc (god of waters) responsible for rheumatic aliments,

gout, dampness and cold syndromes

o Expert herbalists

(Guerra, 1966)


Tlazolteotl – Goddess of Medicine

Men & Midwives


South America


The IncasLocated in the Andes mountains

(Peru, Ecuador, and Chile)


Inca Religion

o Religion dominated every aspect of the Inca

o Connected to the forces of nature and the success of farming

o Polytheistic

o Viracocha – Creator god

o Inti – Sun god (source of warmth, light and healthy crops)

o Mama-Quilla – Moon goddess

o Illapa – Thunder god (brought rains)

o Pacha-Mama – Earth goddess

o Mama-Cocha – Sea goddess

Early Civilizations in the Americas Reference Library, 2005


Inca Medicine

o Sophisticated understanding of herbal medicinal

properties

• Bark of a tree produced quinine – used to treat cramps and chills

• Coca used for pain

• Hunters dipped arrows in curare to paralyse muscles of prey

o Neurosurgery – trepanation

Early Civilizations in the Americas Reference Library, 2005


Herbs - Acai

Euterpe oleracea

Native to Central and South

America

Amazonian palm berry

Indications: anti-oxidant with

demonstrated anti-cancer and

anti-inflammatory properties

Available: juices, powders,

tablets, capsules

(National Institutes of Health, 2011)

(Images: wiki.com; Superfoods.org)


Bromelain

Ananas comosus L.


America

Pineapple extract

Indications: relieving symptoms

of acute nasal congestion and

sinus inflammation, helps to

remove dead skin from burns

(topical). May be helpful for

osteoarthritis and muscle aches

Available: powder, cream, tablet

and capsule

(National Institutes of Health, 2011)

(Image: Wikipedia.org)


Cat’s Claw – una

de gato


America

Woody vine

Indications: osteoarthritis and

rheumatoid arthritis, stimulates

immune system

Available: Inner bark is used to

make liquid extracts, tinctures,

capsules and topical

applications

(Source: National Institutes of Health, 2011)

(Images: amazonrainforestnews.com; youtube.com;

hodgewatch.com)

Uncaria tomentose, Uncaria guianensis


Integrating Native American

Healing

o Native Americans frequently combine allopathic and

Traditional healing practices

o Spirituality needs to be incorporated in health promotion

and wellness

~Mitakuye oyasin -We are all related~



References

American Cancer Society (2015). Retrieved

fromhttp://www.cancer.org/treatment/treatmentsandsideeffects/comple

mentaryandalternativemedicine/herbsvitaminsandminerals/curanderis

mo

Bley, B (2011). The Ancient Maya and Their City of Tulum. iUniverse.

Francisco Guerra (1966). AZTEC MEDICINE. Medical History, 10, pp 315-338

doi:10.1017/ S0025727300011455

National Institutes of Health (2011). Herbs at a glance.

Documents

SOCH111 SN5.1 PartB Lecturesource.endeavourlearninggroup.com.au/...SN09_PartB_Lecture.pdfo Derived method of leaching toxins from acorn pulp to ... o Enters trance through drumming