The Shaman's Medicine Bag

By Donald Findley

            The Native American people had extensive knowledge of the natural world and the uses of it as it applies to the healing art.  The Shaman also known as the medicine man, was the one responsible for healing the people of his tribe.  The Shaman used multiple methods of treating the people including chanting, vision quest, and herbs.  I will be addressing some of the myriad of herbs that these homeopathic healers used.

The Winnebago and the Dakota tribes used Skunk Cabbage to treat asthma. It helps to remove the phlegm as an expectorant works that we use today such as Robitussin.

Horsemint has been used to treat back pain, fever, inflammation, and chills.

Yellow-Spined thistle was used on burns and open sores on the skin.

Boneset was frequently used by several different tribes for different illness’ such as body pain, fever, and stomachache

Goldenseal used by the Cherokee as an insect repellant and as a stimulant.

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Feverwort was used to treat fever in the Cherokee tribes.

American Mistletoe has been used in a tea to prevent conception and to cause abortions.

Witch Hazel was used on people that had muscle pain from sporting events.

Now imagine you are the Shaman of the tribe and people come to you with the following complaints. What would you use to treat them from the above herbs using the least herbs for each person? The answers are at the end of the blog.

1) I was running sprints and playing ball, my legs hurt.

2) I have a high temperature and I ache all over.

3) I need something to keep the mosquitoes off me.

4) I am really congested and it is hard to breath.

5) I got burnt making a canoe.

Answers 1) Witch Hazel 2) Boneset 3) Goldenseal 4) Skunk Cabbage 5) Yellow-Spined Thistle

Herbs can be grown and prepared by people in their own yard and gardens as an ornamental plant and then harvested for the medical applications.  I highly encourage people to research each herb before using it or preparing it themselves, because some parts of the plant are poisonous and others parts are not.  There are many different places to get the prepared forms of the herbs covered in this blog and my previous blogs covering conditions such as back pain, influenza, and common colds.  The following is a list of just a few places.

Nature’s Wonderland Complete Herb Listing

http://www.pennherb.com/herbs.html?gclid=CI64iOH16acCFUPf4Aod_20kcA

Mother Herbs & Agro Products

http://www.motherherbs.com/medicinal-herbs.html

Annie’s Remedies

http://www.anniesremedy.com/herb_detail515.php

Reference

Cherokee Messenger, (1996). Native American herbal remedies. Houston, TX: The Cherokee Cultural Society of Houston.