Medicine man: Difference between revisions
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{{Short description|Native American traditional healer and spiritual leader}} |
{{Short description|Native American traditional healer and spiritual leader}} |
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{{About|the [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] and [[First Nations|First Nation]] healers|other uses|Medicine Man (disambiguation)}} |
{{About|the [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] and [[First Nations in Canada|First Nation]] healers|other uses|Medicine Man (disambiguation)}} |
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{{Use dmy dates|date=July |
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}} |
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[[Image:Ojibweherbalistmedicine.png|thumb|An [[Ojibwe people|Ojibwe]] |
[[Image:Ojibweherbalistmedicine.png|thumb|An [[Ojibwe people|Ojibwe]] {{lang|oj|[[Midewiwin|midew]]}} 'ceremonial leader' in a {{lang|oj|mide-wiigiwaam}} 'medicine lodge']] |
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⚫ | A '''medicine man''' or '''medicine woman''' is a [[traditional healer]] and spiritual leader who serves a community of [[ |
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⚫ | A '''medicine man''' (from [[Ojibwe language|Ojibwe]] ''mashkikiiwinini'') or '''medicine woman''' (from Ojibwe ''mashkikiiwininiikwe'') is a [[traditional healer]] and spiritual leader who serves a community of [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Indigenous people of the Americas]]. Each culture has its own name in its language for spiritual healers and ceremonial leaders. |
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== The medicine man and woman in North America == |
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== Cultural context == |
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[[Image:Yupik shaman Nushagak.jpg|thumb|[[Central Alaskan Yup'ik people|Yup'ik]] "medicine man exorcising evil spirits from a sick boy" in [[Nushagak, Alaska]], 1890s<ref name="fienupriordanphoto">Fienup-Riordan, Ann. (1994). ''Boundaries & Passages: Rule and Ritual in Yup'ik Eskimo Oral Tradition''. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, p. 206. [[Nushagak, Alaska|Nushagak]], located on [[Nushagak Bay]] of the Bering Sea in southwest [[Alaska]], is part of the territory of the [[Central Alaskan Yup'ik people|Yup'ik]], speakers of the [[Central Alaskan Yup'ik language]].</ref>]] |
[[Image:Yupik shaman Nushagak.jpg|thumb|[[Central Alaskan Yup'ik people|Yup'ik]] "medicine man exorcising evil spirits from a sick boy" in [[Nushagak, Alaska]], 1890s<ref name="fienupriordanphoto">Fienup-Riordan, Ann. (1994). ''Boundaries & Passages: Rule and Ritual in Yup'ik Eskimo Oral Tradition''. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, p. 206. [[Nushagak, Alaska|Nushagak]], located on [[Nushagak Bay]] of the Bering Sea in southwest [[Alaska]], is part of the territory of the [[Central Alaskan Yup'ik people|Yup'ik]], speakers of the [[Central Alaskan Yup'ik language]].</ref>]] |
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In the ceremonial context of Indigenous North American communities, "medicine" usually refers to ''spiritual'' healing. Medicine men/women should not be confused with those who employ [[Native American ethnobotany]], a practice that is very common in a large number of Native American and First Nations households.<ref name=Alcoze>Alcoze, Dr Thomas M. "[https://www.bgci.org/resources/article/0429/ Ethnobotany from a Native American Perspective: Restoring Our Relationship with the Earth] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180104202906/https://www.bgci.org/resources/article/0429/ |date=4 January 2018 }}" in ''[[Botanic Gardens Conservation International]]'' Volume 1 Number 19 - December 1999</ref><ref name=Moerman>{{cite journal|doi=10.1016/0378-8741(79)90002-3|title=Symbols and selectivity: A statistical analysis of native american medical ethnobotany|journal=Journal of Ethnopharmacology|volume=1|issue=2|pages=111–119|year=1979|last1=Moerman|first1=Daniel E.|pmid=94415|hdl=2027.42/23587|url=https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/23587/1/0000549.pdf}}</ref><ref name=USDA>Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry, "[http://na.fs.fed.us/stewardship/pubs/biodiversity/sustaining-lives-natural-world.pdf Traditional Ecological Knowledge: Sustaining Our Lives and the Natural World]" at ''United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service''. Newtown Square, PA. December 2011</ref> |
In the ceremonial context of [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas#North America|Indigenous North American communities]], "medicine" usually refers to ''spiritual'' healing. Medicine men/women should not be confused with those who employ [[Native American ethnobotany]], a practice that is very common in a large number of Native American and First Nations households.<ref name=Alcoze>Alcoze, Dr Thomas M. "[https://www.bgci.org/resources/article/0429/ Ethnobotany from a Native American Perspective: Restoring Our Relationship with the Earth] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180104202906/https://www.bgci.org/resources/article/0429/ |date=4 January 2018 }}" in ''[[Botanic Gardens Conservation International]]'' Volume 1 Number 19 - December 1999</ref><ref name=Moerman>{{cite journal|doi=10.1016/0378-8741(79)90002-3|title=Symbols and selectivity: A statistical analysis of native american medical ethnobotany|journal=Journal of Ethnopharmacology|volume=1|issue=2|pages=111–119|year=1979|last1=Moerman|first1=Daniel E.|pmid=94415|hdl=2027.42/23587|url=https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/23587/1/0000549.pdf|hdl-access=free}}</ref><ref name=USDA>Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry, "[http://na.fs.fed.us/stewardship/pubs/biodiversity/sustaining-lives-natural-world.pdf Traditional Ecological Knowledge: Sustaining Our Lives and the Natural World]" at ''[[United States Department of Agriculture]], Forest Service''. Newtown Square, PA. December 2011</ref> |
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⚫ | The terms ''medicine people'' or ''ceremonial people'' are sometimes used in [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] and [[First Nations in Canada|First Nations]] communities, for example, when Arwen Nuttall ([[Cherokee]]) of the [[National Museum of the American Indian]] writes, "The knowledge possessed by medicine people is privileged, and it often remains in particular families."<ref name="nmai">National Museum of the American Indian. ''Do All Indians Live in Tipis?'' Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution, 2007. {{ISBN|978-0-06-115301-3}}.</ref> |
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⚫ | Native Americans tend to be quite reluctant to discuss issues about medicine or medicine people with non-Indians. In some cultures, the people will not even discuss these matters with American Indians from other tribes. In most tribes, medicine elders are prohibited from advertising or introducing themselves as such. As Nuttall writes, "An inquiry to a Native person about religious beliefs or ceremonies is often viewed with suspicion."<ref name="nmai"/> One example of this is the [[Apache]] medicine cord or {{lang|apa|[[Izze-kloth]]}} whose purpose and use by Apache medicine elders was a mystery to nineteenth century ethnologists because "the Apache look upon these cords as so sacred that strangers are not allowed to see them, much less handle them or talk about them."<ref name="ref69jeviq">{{Citation | title=Annual report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Issue 9 | author=Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology | publisher=Government Printing Office, United States Government, 1892 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C5MqAAAAMAAJ | quote=''There is probably no more mysterious or interesting portion of the religious or 'medicinal' equipment of the Apache Indian, whether he be medicine-man or simply a member of the laity, than the 'izze-kloth' or medicine cord... the Apache look upon these cords as so sacred that strangers are not allowed to see them, much less handle them or talk about them....''| year=1892 }}</ref> |
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⚫ | The terms |
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The term ''medicine man/woman'', like the term ''[[Shamanism|shaman]]'', has been criticized by Native Americans, as well as other specialists in the fields of religion and anthropology. |
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⚫ | Native Americans tend to be quite reluctant to discuss issues about medicine or medicine people with non- |
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The 1954 version of ''Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language'' reflects the poorly-grounded perceptions of the people whose use of the term effectively defined it for the people of that time: "a man supposed to have supernatural powers of curing disease and controlling spirits." In effect, such definitions were not explanations of what these "medicine people" are to their own communities but instead reported on the consensus of socially and psychologically remote observers when they tried to categorize the individuals.{{Citation needed|date=November 2007}} The term "medicine man/woman," like the term "[[Shamanism|shaman]]," has been criticized by Native Americans, as well as other specialists in the fields of religion and anthropology. |
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While non-Native anthropologists |
While non-Native anthropologists often use the term ''shaman'' for Indigenous healers worldwide, including the Americas, ''shaman'' is the specific name for a spiritual mediator from the [[Tungusic peoples]] of [[Siberia]]<ref>Smith, C. R. [http://www.cabrillo.edu/~crsmith/shaman.html "Shamanism."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120212200839/http://www.cabrillo.edu/~crsmith/shaman.html |date=12 February 2012 }} ''Cabrillo College''. (Retrieved 28 June 2011)</ref> and is not used in Native American or First Nations communities. |
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== Frauds and scams == |
== Frauds and scams == |
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There are many fraudulent healers and [[scam artist]]s who pose as Cherokee "shamans", and the Cherokee Nation has had to speak out against these people, even forming a task force to handle the issue. In order to seek help from a Cherokee medicine person a person needs to know someone in the community who can vouch for them and provide a referral. Usually one makes contact through a relative who knows the healer.<ref name=CNO-1>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cherokee.org/AboutTheNation/Culture/General/CherokeeMedicineMenandWomen.aspx|title=Cherokee Medicine Men and Women|website= |
There are many fraudulent healers and [[scam artist]]s who pose as Cherokee "shamans", and the Cherokee Nation has had to speak out against these people, even forming a task force to handle the issue. In order to seek help from a Cherokee medicine person, a person needs to know someone in the community who can vouch for them and provide a referral. Usually one makes contact through a relative who knows the healer.<ref name=CNO-1>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cherokee.org/AboutTheNation/Culture/General/CherokeeMedicineMenandWomen.aspx|title=Cherokee Medicine Men and Women|website=cherokee.org|access-date=2016-11-20|archive-date=11 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170211174033/https://www.cherokee.org/AboutTheNation/Culture/General/CherokeeMedicineMenandWomen.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref> |
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== See also == |
== See also == |
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[[File:Philly Med Man.jpg|thumb|''[[The Medicine Man (Dallin)|The Medicine Man]]'', an 1899 sculpture by [[Cyrus Dallin]] exhibited in Philadelphia]] |
[[File:Philly Med Man.jpg|thumb|''[[The Medicine Man (Dallin)|The Medicine Man]]'', an 1899 sculpture by [[Cyrus Dallin]] exhibited in Philadelphia]] |
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* {{anli|Bomoh}} |
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* [[Bomoh]] or [[Dukun]] in South-East Asia |
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* {{anli|Dukun}} |
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* {{anli|Cultural appropriation}} |
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* {{anli|Curandero}} |
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* {{anli|Folk healer}} |
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* {{anli|Herbalism}} |
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* {{anli|Holism}} |
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* {{anli|Keewaydinoquay Peschel}} |
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* {{anli|Kallawaya}} |
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* {{anli|Kennekuk}} |
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* {{anli|Medicine bag}} |
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* {{anli|Native American ethnobotany}} |
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* {{anli|Plastic shaman}} |
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* {{anli|Prehistoric medicine}} |
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* {{anli|Quesalid}} |
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* {{anli|Shamanism}} |
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6.Jump up ^ Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology, Annual report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Issue 9, Government Printing Office, United States Government, 1892, "There is probably no more mysterious or interesting portion of the religious or 'medicinal' equipment of the Apache Indian, whether he be medicine-man or simply a member of the laity, than the 'izze-kloth' or medicine cord... the Apache look upon these cords as so sacred that strangers are not allowed to see them, much less handle them or talk about them...." |
6.Jump up ^ Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology, Annual report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Issue 9, Government Printing Office, United States Government, 1892, "There is probably no more mysterious or interesting portion of the religious or 'medicinal' equipment of the Apache Indian, whether he be medicine-man or simply a member of the laity, than the 'izze-kloth' or medicine cord... the Apache look upon these cords as so sacred that strangers are not allowed to see them, much less handle them or talk about them...." |
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7.Jump up ^ Smith, C. R. "Shamanism." Cabrillo College. (Retrieved 28 June 2011) |
7.Jump up ^ Smith, C. R. "Shamanism." Cabrillo College. (Retrieved 28 June 2011) |
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8. |
8. "Cherokee Medicine Men and Women". Cherokee Medicine Men and Women, Cherokee Nation , 16 Nov. 2016, www.cherokee.org/AboutTheNation/Culture/General/CherokeeMedicineMenandWomen.aspx |
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9. |
9. "Native American Legends". Native American Indian Legends - Cherokee Medicine Man - Cherokee, First People , www.firstpeople.us/FP-Html-Legends/Cherokee_Medicine_Man-Cherokee.html. |
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10. Weiser, Kathy. |
10. Weiser, Kathy. "Native American Medicine - History and Information". Native American Medicine - History and Information, Legends of America, 1 May 2015, www.legendsofamerica.com/na-medicine.html}} |
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== External links == |
== External links == |
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{{wikiquote}} |
{{wikiquote}} |
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{{Wiktionary|medicine man|medicine woman}} |
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{{Indigenous peoples of the Americas}} |
{{Indigenous peoples of the Americas}} |
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{{Authority control}} |
{{Authority control}} |
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[[Category:Religious occupations of the |
[[Category:Religious occupations of the Indigenous peoples of North America]] |
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[[Category:Traditional healthcare occupations]] |
[[Category:Traditional healthcare occupations]] |
Revision as of 07:49, 13 July 2024
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b7/Ojibweherbalistmedicine.png/220px-Ojibweherbalistmedicine.png)
A medicine man (from Ojibwe mashkikiiwinini) or medicine woman (from Ojibwe mashkikiiwininiikwe) is a traditional healer and spiritual leader who serves a community of Indigenous people of the Americas. Each culture has its own name in its language for spiritual healers and ceremonial leaders.
Cultural context
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cf/Yupik_shaman_Nushagak.jpg/220px-Yupik_shaman_Nushagak.jpg)
In the ceremonial context of Indigenous North American communities, "medicine" usually refers to spiritual healing. Medicine men/women should not be confused with those who employ Native American ethnobotany, a practice that is very common in a large number of Native American and First Nations households.[2][3][4]
The terms medicine people or ceremonial people are sometimes used in Native American and First Nations communities, for example, when Arwen Nuttall (Cherokee) of the National Museum of the American Indian writes, "The knowledge possessed by medicine people is privileged, and it often remains in particular families."[5]
Native Americans tend to be quite reluctant to discuss issues about medicine or medicine people with non-Indians. In some cultures, the people will not even discuss these matters with American Indians from other tribes. In most tribes, medicine elders are prohibited from advertising or introducing themselves as such. As Nuttall writes, "An inquiry to a Native person about religious beliefs or ceremonies is often viewed with suspicion."[5] One example of this is the Apache medicine cord or Izze-kloth whose purpose and use by Apache medicine elders was a mystery to nineteenth century ethnologists because "the Apache look upon these cords as so sacred that strangers are not allowed to see them, much less handle them or talk about them."[6]
The term medicine man/woman, like the term shaman, has been criticized by Native Americans, as well as other specialists in the fields of religion and anthropology.
While non-Native anthropologists often use the term shaman for Indigenous healers worldwide, including the Americas, shaman is the specific name for a spiritual mediator from the Tungusic peoples of Siberia[7] and is not used in Native American or First Nations communities.
Frauds and scams
There are many fraudulent healers and scam artists who pose as Cherokee "shamans", and the Cherokee Nation has had to speak out against these people, even forming a task force to handle the issue. In order to seek help from a Cherokee medicine person, a person needs to know someone in the community who can vouch for them and provide a referral. Usually one makes contact through a relative who knows the healer.[8]
See also
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fe/Philly_Med_Man.jpg/220px-Philly_Med_Man.jpg)
- Bomoh – Malay shaman and traditional medicine practitioner
- Dukun – Indonesian term for shaman
- Cultural appropriation – Adoption of culture and cultural identity perceived as inappropriate
- Curandero – Traditional healer found in Latin America and the United States
- Folk healer – Unlicensed traditional health practitioner
- Herbalism – Study and use of supposed medicinal properties of plants
- Holism – A system as a whole, not just its parts
- Keewaydinoquay Peschel – Herbalist and author from Michigan, U.S. (1919–1999)
- Kallawaya – Indigenous group in the Andes
- Kennekuk – Kickapoo religious leader
- Medicine bag – traditional North American Indian container for various items of supernatural power
- Native American ethnobotany – List of plants used by indigenous peoples of North America
- Native American religion – Systems of faith and worship of the Native Americans
- Plastic shaman – Fraudulent spiritual practitioner
- Prehistoric medicine – Medicine in the time before the invention of writing
- Quesalid – Canadian shaman
- Shamanism – Religious practice
- Trance – Abnormal state of wakefulness or altered state of consciousness
Notes
- ^ Fienup-Riordan, Ann. (1994). Boundaries & Passages: Rule and Ritual in Yup'ik Eskimo Oral Tradition. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, p. 206. Nushagak, located on Nushagak Bay of the Bering Sea in southwest Alaska, is part of the territory of the Yup'ik, speakers of the Central Alaskan Yup'ik language.
- ^ Alcoze, Dr Thomas M. "Ethnobotany from a Native American Perspective: Restoring Our Relationship with the Earth Archived 4 January 2018 at the Wayback Machine" in Botanic Gardens Conservation International Volume 1 Number 19 - December 1999
- ^ Moerman, Daniel E. (1979). "Symbols and selectivity: A statistical analysis of native american medical ethnobotany" (PDF). Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 1 (2): 111–119. doi:10.1016/0378-8741(79)90002-3. hdl:2027.42/23587. PMID 94415.
- ^ Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry, "Traditional Ecological Knowledge: Sustaining Our Lives and the Natural World" at United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. Newtown Square, PA. December 2011
- ^ a b National Museum of the American Indian. Do All Indians Live in Tipis? Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution, 2007. ISBN 978-0-06-115301-3.
- ^ Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology (1892), Annual report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Issue 9, Government Printing Office, United States Government, 1892,
There is probably no more mysterious or interesting portion of the religious or 'medicinal' equipment of the Apache Indian, whether he be medicine-man or simply a member of the laity, than the 'izze-kloth' or medicine cord... the Apache look upon these cords as so sacred that strangers are not allowed to see them, much less handle them or talk about them....
- ^ Smith, C. R. "Shamanism." Archived 12 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine Cabrillo College. (Retrieved 28 June 2011)
- ^ "Cherokee Medicine Men and Women". cherokee.org. Archived from the original on 11 February 2017. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Wikiquote-logo.svg/34px-Wikiquote-logo.svg.png)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/99/Wiktionary-logo-en-v2.svg/40px-Wiktionary-logo-en-v2.svg.png)