Department of English and American Studies English

Masaryk University Faculty of Arts

Department of English and American Studies

English Language and Literature

Bc. Amira Smoudi, MBA

Perceptions of the 19th century Medicine in America based on Cultural Aspects: The Medicine Man

Master’s Diploma Thesis

Supervisor: Jeffrey Alan Smith, M.A., Ph. D.

2020

I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography.

…………………………………………….. Author’s signature

Acknowledgement

I would like to thank my supervisor Jeffrey Alan Smith, M.A., Ph.D. for his guidance, patience and feedback throughout this thesis.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction …………………………………………………………………………...8

2. Context to 19th century American-Indian treaties: Healthcare and politics ………….11

3. 19th century thoughts on Native American medicine ………………………………..15

4. The notion of medicine and health by the Natives ……………………………...…....26

4.1.Native American healthcare beliefs ……………………………………………...29

5. The figure of medicine man ……………………………...…………………………..32

5.1.Critique of the medicine man …………………………………………………….34

6. 19th century perspective of medicine by American culture ………………………… 49

6.1.Alternative medicine: cultural appropriation ………………………….…………52

6.1.1. Women and medicine ………………………………………..….………..57

7. Conclusion: The imagery of medicine man to serve politial agenda ………..……….61

Bibliography ……………………………………………………………...………….63

Resumé ………………………………………………………………………………66

Résumé ………………….……………………………………………………………67

1. Introduction

American medicine during 19th century deals with cultural relations influencing the field of medicine. The thesis is concerned with the situation of medicine, with political context in the background, primarily focusing on perspectives of American culture in contrary with the Native

American culture in regards to medicine. For this purpose, the figure of medicine man within the Native culture is chosen for the analysis to depict how negative imagery of the medicine man influenced the Native position in the medical sphere. The aim of such representation was to shade the Native knowledge of healing practices and to support the evolvement of science during this period.

To major primary sources, proving such depictions, belongs the journal “The ‘MEDICINE-

MAN’; or Indian and Eskimo Notions of Medicine” by Robert Bell and “The Relation of the

Medicine –Man to the Origin of the Professional Occupations” by W.I. Thomas. Bell offers criticism including both positive and negative observations from a point of view of a 19th century writer, analyzing the relationship between the medicine man and the white society. He provides commentary not only on the philosophies differing the cultures apart but also describes the medicine man’s course of treatment in detail, offering positive notes on some of the practical skills of the Natives, however, in general, interprets their perspective on medicine as

‘unprofessional’ due to reliance on spirituality and mythology. Thomas on the other hand, analyses the contrast of the Native beliefs with the Christian religion, stating that the foundation of the Native’s insufficiency to be important figures in the medical environment is due to cultural ‘backwardness’.

Secondary sources dealing with cultural issues of the Native Americans transferring it to the issue of medicine, include the study American Indian Medicine by Virgil J. Vogel, deepening the acceptance of the medicine man figure by the White society; analysis of the history of the healthcare system of the Native American including its cultural implications Caring and

Curing: A History of the Indian Health Service by James P. Rife and Allan J. Dellapenna; by

Paul Starr who defines in his analysis the connection of various perspectives on medicine within the American land The Social Transformation of American Medicine: The Rise of a Sovereign

Profession and the Making of a Vast Industry; in Health and Wellness in 19th-century America by John C. Waller who comments on different courses of treatment during the 19th century, including the Native tribal healers; and American Physicians in the Nineteenth Century by

William Rothstein who provides analysis of scientific approach of the medical society versus alternative medicine based on Native healing beliefs.

The first chapter will be concerned with the history of the American-Indian relations, including treaties and political situation during the 19th century, to provide background which influenced the medical state during this era and the cultural perceptions of American society upon Native belief system and hence their set of practices when dealing with diseases.

The second chapter will analyze views on Native American medicine in the 19th century and its major contradiction. Basis for the breakdown provides either the views of American society with the cultural implications and the written criticism by White authors. The aim of this chapter is to provide a thorough concept of what are the key elements distinguishing these two cultures, with denouement that reliance on spirituality, mythology and the use of magic and intuition does not suit the American urge to evolve towards the exact scientific grasp of health interpretations; therefore the Native healing practices are viewed and reviewed as savage, as well as their culture and society in general.

Next chapter focuses on explanation of Native beliefs in religious manner as well as in course of treatments. Native American spirituality revolves around the ‘Great Spirit’ defining their harmonious lifestyle based on interconnectivity of each element on Earth and beyond. Such notion of life intersects into healing practices, as health is based on a belief for the Native society.

The fourth chapter analyses the figure of medicine man, as being the most important healer in the Native perception of medicine, encompassing the Native belief system with a great general knowledge of human health. Not only does this chapter describes what role does the medicine man plays within the tribe and for the Native set of beliefs, but what kind of image does he originate in the eyes of the American culture and what are their reactions towards this figure. Moreover, this section denotes the major arguments against the principles of the medicine man by the White authors, stating that as his practices are based on magic and lack of

‘rationality’, his role obtains plethora of respect which is inadequately ascribed to him, since he is not a ‘real doctor’. In addition, Bell, Thomas and other White authors doubt the medicine man’s efficacy of treatment and accuse him of deception. Finally, the analysis focuses on purposes of this imagery and aims to find reasons of creating the negative reflects upon the practices of the medicine man and thus the Native healing arts. Conclusion lies in the combination of political implications on cultural awareness, historical context and the pressure of upcoming wave of scientific oriented approach to knowledge and explanation of processes and phenomena.

Last chapter describes professional medicine and exemplifies how such written perspectives influenced the acknowledgement of the Indigenous healing knowledge and how this behavior could also be looked upon as strategic (concerning the American scene of doctors), since their aim was to arrange the highest position in the medical hierarchy and navigate society’s concentration towards the American medical society and its achievements. This analysis also focuses on alternative attempts of medicine to oppose the scientific approach and authority of the medical society within the American medicine, and find its interpretation of human health within the competitor, additionally based on the imagery of the medicine man. Such alternative movements include the ‘folk medicine’, Thomsonian medicine, domestic medicine and the role of women among the medicinal patriarchy.

2. Context to 19th century American-Indian treaties: Healthcare and

politics

Analysis of historical context of the American-Indian relations and affairs is important, as the political and historical background simultaneously shaped the cultural environment and atmosphere of the territory, influencing the perspectives upon medicine, comparing the

American culture’s view of medicine with the Native’s. Not only it defined the mood between these two counterparts but also stated the cultural awareness.

Since years of the Republic, cooperation between the American society and Native

Americans has been set sustaining in the situation where Native cultures are mere co-inhabitants of the country but not ruling over it. Such relation was constituted by law, as Rife and

Dellapenna argue, so both parties could reach its justice when addressing the land, since, “this relationship was grounded on both the legal foundations laid out by the Articles of

Confederation and the U.S. Constitution, which explicitly acknowledged the distinct sovereignty of Indian tribes, and the government’s early understanding of the Doctrine of

Discovery and Indian Title” (1). However, in practice, Indian rights, during the end of 18th century, to the land were continuously fading. Although, they might be the ‘grandfathers of the land’, they were not legitimate enough to have ownership of it due to different spiritual/religious values and socio-economic strategies apart from European colonizers. Rife and Dellapenna note that the law dismissed Indians from possessing anything valuable enough to gain respect from the dainty opposition: “Since the tribes were considered mere occupants and not land owners, they could only sell their occupancy rights to the discovering sovereigns and their successor institutions, which in turn owed certain protections and obligations to their Native ‘tenants’”

(Rife and Dellapenna 1). Such diversity of power had an impact on degrading perspectives of tribal medicine.

As the Natives ‘helped the newly established U.S. government to gain their territories separate from the British sovereignty, they received a promise of wellbeing on the American land. In regards, as manifest of preserving the Natives served the Report to Congress on Indian

Affairs published in 1783 about protecting them on the land’. Continuously, after the won battle of Revolutionary War “came the sole responsibility for dealing with and protecting all colonies in what became known as ‘Indian country’” (Rife and Dellapenna 1). In order to maintain peace that seemed in towards the end of the 18th century still profitable for both sides, there was aim to create stabilized settlement and divide the country upon the American and Indian side.

Although, the concept of borders was created solely to fulfill desires of the Americans. On the grounds of the Natives’ religion, which is not materialistically based, the land is here for all people as well as, the people are here to protect the land; the tribal people did not rely upon owning the land. The culture has been habituated for centuries to a notion that the land cannot be owned and is a public premise. On contrary, European rationality obsesses with possession, borders and fences. After ‘shifting to a Republican government, in 1787 there were articles created defining the Union’s programme’. In the third article, as Rife and Dellapenna argue, has been made a promise of wellbeing for the Indians, as it states: “‘The utmost good faith shall always be observed towards the Indians; their lands and property shall never be taken from them without their consent; and, in their property, rights and liberty, they shall never be invaded or disturbed, unless in just and lawful wars authorized by Congress; but laws founded in justice and humanity, shall from time to time be made for preventing wrongs being done to them, and for preserving peace and friendship with them’” (1).

Nevertheless, spring of 1803 brought darker path for the two nations when Meriweather

Lewis and William Clarke explored towards the Pacific, since, “their expedition was the first armed federal incursion on tribal lands in the northwestern Plains and Pacific Northwest” (Rife and Dellapenna 1). Such encounter escalated in armed conflicts when dealing with Blackfeet

12 and the Lakota Sioux. The military expedition has disrespected the promises in Article III. and disrupted the protection at all costs. Further similar explorations have been made to the Indian territory that stretched out to the West. As it began to be impractical for the explorers to abide by the Indian rules, they had promoted themselves rights to the land to avoid any further spotlight on their false promises. Therefore, ‘Clark and Lewis established a different attitude towards the exploration of the country and determined the North American continent to be ruled by the White people’. On that account, the ‘Supreme court under John Marshall, the Chief of

Justice modified the legal set up for the territory ownership’ (Rife and Dellapenna 1).

Subsequently, “in Johnson v. M’Intosh (1823), Marshall and his associate justices unanimously agreed that the Indians were subject to U.S. sovereignty since they resided within American territory and jurisdiction, but that they had the right of occupancy based on historic Indian Title and could only sell land directly to the U.S. government” (1-2).

Nevertheless, ‘Marshall commented on the unequal rights and treatment of the Native

Americans and admitted that they are superior to the Anglo-Americans in terms of rights. In

1831, during the case Cherokee Nation vs. Georgia’ the case was won by the Natives as “the

Supreme Court ruled that Georgia’s attempt to seize Cherokee lands was illegal” (2). Upon the

Chief Justice’s puzzlement to define the relationship between these two ‘coexisting’ nations, the government has created a definition of the socio-economic relationship between the Natives and Americans: “The U.S. Supreme Court, under Chief Justice John Marshall, legally defined the federal trust relationship with American Indians for the first time through key decisions handed down in 1823 and 1831” (2).

Considering health service at the beginning of the 19th century, this trust relationship has not yet defined any health care related points. In other words, health and safety were not the

American responsibility in this period and such matter remained unconcerned towards the

Native public. The only exception, profiting the American side, was the health condition of

Native soldiers. To them, healthcare was provided in terms of protection from “infectious diseases” (Rife and Dellapenna 2). In fact, the authors argue that “the earliest known instance of federal medical intervention occurred in 1802 when Army physicians vaccinated a small number of frontier Indians against smallpox and other contagious diseases to preempt transmittal to the soldiers garrisoned at nearby military posts” (2). In fact, “smallpox remained by far the greatest threat to Indians during the first half of the nineteenth century” (2) and defined the healthcare relations between the two cultures.

Fortunately, Rife and Dellapenna argue that there started to be interactions of American policy towards health system which included Indians after all, as “Congress responded to desperate pleas for help by passing the Indian Vaccination Act of 1832 ‘to provide the means of extending the benefits of vaccination, as a preventative of smallpox, to the Indian tribes’”

(2). Sadly, these actions were not necessarily positive or beneficiary, in fact, since “Congress staunchly supported President Andrew Jackson’s Indian Removal program and used it as a leverage to enable removal of friendly tribes onto western reservations and to reduce hostile tribes by denying vaccine to their peoples” (Rife and Dellapenna 2-3). Although “this was the first time that Congress actively sought to provide direct health care assistance to Indians, ostensibly for their benefit rather than the Army’s, and it became the largest program of its kind with repeated funding authorizations in subsequent years” (Rife and Dellapenna 3). Towards the end of the century, thousands of Natives were successfully vaccinated. Subsequently, Native health was taken more into account and was taken care of, although the treaties between the

Americans and Indian were still stripping the tribes off their land, decade after a decade.

3. 19th century thoughts on Native American medicine

The history of American medicine naturally contains the Native Americans. The early encounters of colonizers with the Native healing was not ultimately negative. The colonial period in terms of knowledge was more peaceful than the upcoming centuries. The colonizers understood that being on a different continent, they need to learn from the Aboriginal people and copy their approach to particular plants and animals, since “being also in a new world and strangers to its medical flora, it was not unnatural to accept the native as a tutor” (Vogel 116).

Another motive to imitate the Native practitioners or needing the Native healers was the lack of American doctors being on the land, as Vogel states:

‘There was no eminent physician in New England before 1720’ wrote Dr. Henry R. Viets, ‘and no

scientific work of importance was accomplished during this era. The few physicians who came to

America were forced by the environment to serve as bedside doctors in a hard-bitten country without

any of the European refinements’. The Old World distinction between physicians who theorized and

surgeons who did the hard work was broken in the wilderness. Moreover, because of the scarcity of

trained medical men of any kind, the healing art was in those days largely the work of ministers ‘and

the lowest class of medical men, the barber surgeons’ (116).

This situation included the pharmacy, as the remedies had to be prepared by the doctors themselves. On that account, it was useful to borrow the Native medicines, as they were natural and could be prepared just using local herbs or parts of animals. The American doctor would indeed use such remedies or ask for its recipe but would not find it fortunate that the state of

American medicine was in such unprofessional situation, in comparison with the English medicine. Vogel quotes Dr. Douglas’ correspondence on disgruntlement with the state of pharmacy: “‘You complain of the Practice of Physics being undervalued in your part with a reason, we are not much better in that respect in this place; we abound with Practitioners tho no other graduate than myself, we have 14 Apothecary shops in Boston, all our Practitioners dispense their own medicines, my self excepted being the first who has lived here by Practice without the advantage of advance on Medicines” (117). On that account, practitioners gravitated

15 towards Native healers for support, as they were in lack of drugs and doctors to take care of

American citizens. As the conditions of the American medicine was quite unsatisfactory for the

American public, they tend to seek help within the Native culture, mostly on the frontier or remoted areas, as Vogel argues:

It is not to be wondered that a people poorly supplied with trained physicians would resort to lay

healers and even Indian shamans. Neither poverty nor the scarcity of doctors, however, can fully

explain the resort to nonprofessional practitioners. There was prevalent in many circles, well into the

nineteenth century, a distrust, even hostility toward the medical profession. This was manifested in

Virginia by the passage, as early as 1639, of bills regulating doctors, in which physicians were

described as ‘avaritious and gripeing practitioners of physic and chirurgery’ who exacted ‘excessive

and immoderate prices’ for their services (118).

The first notions about the Native American health was therefore quite positive. The Natives were also quite healthy in comparison with Americans, as they were not caring diseases in that much as the colonizers did. Such situation was probably telling about the poor health of the colonizers and their life style in comparison with the Native balanced system with the nature:

Early European observers, in nearly unanimous accord, proclaimed the relative good health of

American Indians, and their freedom from deformity. Since Indians were not disease-free, these

accounts partly reflect the comparatively low state of European health in that period. Europe, with

its urban centers and higher population density, was more subject to the spread of contagions which

were unknown in America. The circumstances of civilized living, poor as it was by present standards,

also operated to preserve many infirm and defective individuals who might have perished or left no

progeny under the rigorous environment of America, where Neolithic conditions still existed in

the greater part of the land (Vogel 145).

During the 19th century, the cultural clash of these completely different notions upon health or medicine has sparked many discussions between both of the parties. There have been many reflections written on such counterpart, sadly by White authors only. As the concept of Native healing traditions had such firm and deep roots, even the critique by the ‘scientific’ and 16

‘modern’ Whites could hardly shake the belief system of the Indians. The Natives were sure of the ability to heal themselves without knowledge of the ‘developed’ medicine, practiced by the

Euro-American culture. In this era, therefore, the ‘newcomers’ of the North American continent debated about the history, efficiency and purposes of the Native American practices. Since the

Indigenous implementations varied so vastly from the practices passed down to American culture from the English, there were always questions about whether to copy some of the traditional healing practices of the Indians or not. Without hesitation, the tribes were certainly more acknowledged with the land’s fauna and flora and had centuries of developing healing practices based on it. In other words, there were generations and generations before this century of exercising with the continent’s offerings. Many of the tribal healers were therefore excellent herbalists and readers of the landscape and the weather conditions. As they were interested in human body as well as the Anglo-Americans, many of them were also skilled in anatomy.

However, the descents of illnesses and courses of treatments differentiated greatly from each other, presumably by the cultural variance. Thus, in the 19th century, the Anglo-American doctors were quite skeptical of the Native notion of medicine and the society looked at it more as a sort of a vague healing art, as Rife and Dellapenna comment on the encounter: “physicians quickly encountered a vast cultural gap that existed between them and the Indians, whose own traditions and concept of medicine was completely alien to whites. For countless generations,

Indian healers and shamans had treated the sick through elaborate ceremonies and rituals, chanting, and natural remedies such as herbs and oils” (3-4). In consequence, there were aims to find logical solutions, to understand how this traditional medicine worked and define who has a right to call themselves ‘doctors’ in this century. There was a potential of respecting the medicine men, nevertheless, as the traditional medicine included more art than science, eventually the White society decided that the definition of the term ‘doctor’ laid within their community. Moreover, the tribal healing practices became more neglected, affirming the

17 position of medical society in the land, reaching its goal to subdue the Native influences on alternative medicine and the American culture.

Medicine, in this era, belonged to a power-based field. Like politics, medicine has evolved within the American history to a White-dominated power. As the cultural clash was invincible and continuing from previous times, it was predictable that there would be misunderstood perspectives upon human health. When the English arrived to the North American continent, there were curious to learn from the Indians, ranging from the healing art to mythology.

However, the 19th century established a shift in perceiving ‘knowledge’, as science defined the

White man’s stance against mythological or spiritual interpretations. Medicine became a field worth ruling, as it was essential to politics. The land’s population simply could have been addicted to the red men’s ‘doctors, which would not be a favorable position for the country’s vision. If tribal people would be better healing practitioners, the American public would not be so easily determined to reject them culturally and exterminate them completely of the land.

Without massive killing of the Indians, there would not be free land for the Americans to settle in and the power relations would be at risk.

Exact approach to medicine of Euro-American cultures, in the last 300 years or so, influenced the interpretation of the background and development of notions about health, human and animal anatomy, herbs and drugs. For adequate analysis, it is important to smash cultural inappropriateness distinguishing which cultures are/were ‘developed’ and which are/were ‘backward’. Recent medicine assigns accomplishments, in the research of health and curing of diseases, predominantly to white cultures. However, concerning Indian cultures, there were far many developments adopted by the Whites. On that account, more awareness needs to be put upon the medicinal background, as it is culturally appropriate to distribute acknowledgment to the Natives. Moreover, Native medicine offered alternatives to standard procedures that were viewed as contributive, since not all development by the medical society,

18 which has been done in this field, was predominantly beneficiary. In other words, the simplicity of the Native healing was perceived in many times more feasible, also affordable and in balance with the natural resources, as Indigenous perspectives on healing go hand in hand with ecology.

Mostly, Indian remedies were taken over in means of drugs, as Vogel argues, which were taken over in large numbers and are still used up to this day: “Indian drugs which were used to suppress ovulation and control menstrual cycle started researchers on the road which led to ‘the pill’. Some Indians even stumbled upon the working principle of modern antibiotics, although of course they were unaware of how and why certain molds and fungi produced desired results” (19-20). This mastery therefore clearly unfairly puts the Native cultures to the research background (more likely dark shadows), although even at the time there were acknowledged drugs that proved Native skills and ownership in this field, as Vogel states: “The most important evidence of Indian influence on American medicine is seen in the fact that more than two hundred indigenous drugs which were used by one or more Indian tribes have been official in The Pharmacopeia of the United States of America for varying periods since the first edition appeared in 1820, or in the National Formulary since it began in 1884” (20). Vogel continues, “there is in addition a list of several hundred aboriginal remedies which have been used in domestic medicine as well as by physicians, although they have not won official acceptance” (20). The issue with this acknowledgement lies within the process of adopting such notions, of our ancestors, for who it was impossible to address greater skills in healing to other cultures than to Christian representatives and the White Christian culture which at this period should be above all cultures: “Our ancestors were repelled by the ‘superstitious rites’ which often accompanied the native curing procedures, and shrank from the notion than an

‘uncivilized’ race might have something to teach them. Consequently, ‘Indian medicine’ long remained the last resort of the explorer and frontiersman, and was later the adopted child of

‘folk medicine’” (Vogel 18).

Native influence on medicine was a slow process and the adoption by Whites was not automatic, as they were viewed as an inferior race or culture. Many of the treatments that have been shown to the newcomers where looked upon with suspicion or ignored and years later remembered or researched. Indeed, Rife and Dellapenna state that the problematic issue of adoption of Native medicine continued to the 20th century:

The doctor’s own prejudices blinded them to the spiritual value that Indians drew from Native

medicine, leading most to believe that Indian healing was based on nothing more than ignorance and

superstition, with no redeeming value to the modern medical arts. As a result the cultural gap between

Native and white medicine remained wide well into the twentieth century, with traditional healers

usually banned from most federal hospitals and clinics on reservations (3-4).

Vogel for example writes about the encounter with treatments of scurvy: “These Indians never heard of vitamin C, and there was no value in the external application of their remedy. Through trial and error since prehistoric times, however, they had stumbled upon an effective internal remedy for the deficiency disease known as scurvy, which most Europeans believed to be caused by bad air. More than two hundred years after Cartier’s experience, James Lind, a British naval surgeon, having read of this incident, launched the experiments which proved the dietary basis of scurvy” (18). Incidents as such slowed the process of acculturation, but mostly smeared the origin or the begetter of many healing processes. Thus, more likely was predominantly remembered the White researcher who confirmed the effectiveness of a certain drug, rarely a tribe from which a specific course of treatment has it been adopted from:

Acculturation, as the anthropologists indicate, proceeds in more than one direction, although the

drama of the conquest and settlement of America has tended to obscure this reality. We have

seen so much of the visible aspects of American Indian culture diminish or disappear and have

lost sight of the origin of so much that we have borrowed that there is little wonder that

awareness is lacking in some circles concerning the extend of ‘counter-acculturation’ upon the

numerically and politically dominant race (Vogel 19).

Fact is, American Indian affairs taking place played a role in honoring aboriginal remedies, such as American-Indian wars for territory (more likely “invasion-defense”) as well as vast religious differences. At the time of over-settling American continent, acknowledging positive aspects of Native American medicine was not practical. In consequence, ignoring or dishonoring Native medicine had troubled any clear overview of historical background of remedies, as many accomplishments have gotten to be twisted in authorization. Vogel notes on lack of information for today’s scholars and urges to create a complete guide on Native medicine and its history, since there have been (and are) many authors neglecting any contribution that the Indians brought to medicine, as he quotes medical historian Colonel P.M.

Ashburn, who states that “‘the savage Indians and the Negroes contributed little or nothing of value to any branch of medicine, and from them we received a mass of superstition and ignorance that reinforced and strengthened what we had brought from Europe, a heritage that still plagues us’” (20). Some authors turned the tables and persuaded society of the actual White discovery of particular remedies. Authorship was indeed an issue, as for example the

‘ethnologist Walter James Hoffmann assigned discoveries to the White culture, since from his point of view, Christian culture is superior in knowledge to the Aboriginal’: “‘When there is an administration of a remedy for a given complaint, based upon true scientific principles, it is only in consequence of such practice having been acquired from the whites, as it has usually been the custom of the Catholic Fathers to utilize all ordinary and available remedies for the treatment of the common disorders of life”’ (22-23). Such statements call for a complex review of the actual Native contribution at the time of ‘post post-colonization’ and of those reaching towards today.

To support the philosophy of great Native contribution to medicine, Vogel quotes many authors who approve of the benefit, even in centuries before. For example, ‘Nicholas Monardes who promoted the use of particular herbs: “‘wherewith thei doe cure and make whole many

21 infirmities, which if wee did lacke them, thei were incurable, and without any remedie…for which cause I did pretend to treate, and to write, of all thynges that thei bring from out Indians, whiche serveth for the arte and use of Medicine’” (21). Later on, botanist experts addressed

Native usage of particular plants and herbs as well: “Dr. Harlow Brooks praised the Indians for their knowledge of laxative, diuretic emetic, and febrifuge drugs, and added that the American variety of foxglove was correctly used by them for its cardiac stimulant properties for hundreds of years before Withering discovered digitalis in England” (Vogel 24). Without these acknowledgements written (as Indian knowledge does not come in written form) analysis of the state of Native American medicine in history would be more difficult. Constructive criticism coming from the anthropologist Weston La Barre dissects true ‘scientific approach’ in medicinal authorship, saying it is not exactly ‘scientific’ to overshadow Native’s acknowledgements in discoveries:

As scientists we cannot afford the luxury of an ethnocentric snobbery which assumes a priori

that primitive cultures have nothing whatsoever to contribute to civilization. Our civilization is

in fact a compendium of such borrowings, and it is demonstrable error to believe that contacts

of “higher” and “lower” cultures show benefits flowing exclusively in one direction. Indeed, a

good case could probably be made that in the long run it is the “higher culture” which benefits

the more through being in enriched, while the “lower” culture not uncommonly disappears

entirely as a result of the contact’ (Vogel 24).

However, such positive critiques lacked during the 19th century, as it started to be uncomfortable for Americans to praise the Indians, which will be analyzed later, as the key criticism was aimed at the medicine man. However, even the way of preserving the medical knowledge has been criticized and viewed negatively, as Bell argues that: “it is difficult for a white man to learn precisely what the aborigines’ views on medical subjects really are. Indians are by nature very reticent, and they appear to be afraid of ridicule” (1). Accordingly, Bell admits in his journal that it is not easy to fully gain and understand the Native medical practices

22 and confirms Waller’s argument that the Native knowledge was rewritten by white settlers, unfortunately including their beliefs and thought process, and thus the actual notion of medicine by Natives is lost in many ways:

Our knowledge of indigenous medicine in North America is limited by both the nature and the

scarcity of surviving sources. Most of the accounts available to us were written by white

observers who either did not understand the meaning and complexity of what they were

observing or misinterpreted native practices out of a contempt for indigenous cultures. Many

more healing rituals are now forever lost so that we cannot grasp the full diversity of traditional

practices (Waller 7).

Indeed, Bell continues to explain the difficulty to withdraw the indigenous wisdom with an irony or criticism:

or in some cases they are jealous of giving away what they consider valuable secrets. It is

seldom, indeed that a white man gains their confidence sufficiently to induce them to speak

unreservedly on this subject. Even with a good knowledge of the Indian character, one requires

to gain an insight into this subject by slow degrees-first, perhaps, by observing and studying

their actions; and after having ascertained a few facts, by judicious and serious questioning, as

opportunities arise, one may build on these and ask further questions until he learns the greater

part of what is current among them (2).

The way of transcribing the Native perspective on medicine complicated its acceptance among

American culture, as La Flesche also notes that there were no written documents made that could support the Native perceptions:

“The Indians that lived within the borders of this country knew no written literature. The record of their religious conceptions was kept by means of rites, ceremonies, and symbols.

Among many of the tribes (as it was in the case of my own tribe) these symbols were embodied in the organization of the tribe itself, and in the ceremonies connected with the avocations of the people” (272). ‘Indians utilized for restorative purposes well more than 200 medications

23 which have been remembered for the official medication compendia of the United States. While the native employments of these medications were every now and again erroneous in the judgment of present day science, the instances of effective use which have been referred to establish an impressive landmark to the first Americans. There can be no uncertainty that by experimentation techniques they showed up at a comprehension of the properties and impacts of numerous helpful herbal drugs. In addition, autonomously of Old War impact, they found some valuable clinical creations and techniques’ (Vogel 235).

All in all, the perception of the Native medicine was shifting from positive to negative statements by the White authors, who were directly influencing with the written word the

American public. Although, the scientific approach took over later during this century,

American patients in remote areas would still seek help in tribes. The issue with appreciating

Native skills and knowledge lies in the lack of documentary or sources to confirm its routines which could be later analyzed by the American specialists in more detail and provide structural criticism. Analyzing this one-sided critiques of the cultural expression of the Native healing practices, one could argue that the American authors concerned mainly on the cultural expressions rather than the actual remedies and its results. By comparing the cultural display, they were acting out of fear from the ‘unknown’ or difficult to comprehend, and predominantly described the culture as savage. On that account, a question arises. If the Natives dressed the part and would not include various forms of art into their healing practices, would they be still criticized by the American public? From the notions and commentary by the White authors we can dissect that many times they declared that some Native aspects are ‘savage’ only due to lack of understanding of what it actually means. In consequence, the lack appreciation of the

Indigenous medicine stood upon the shortcoming of White comprehension when combining health with spiritualism and arts.

4. The notion of medicine and health by the Natives

A unified Native medical knowledge was also unrealistic due to varieties of healing systems within the community. “There is no single ‘Native American Religion’, or church hierarchy.

There is no central figure like Moses, Jesus, Muhammad or Buddha, nor is there a central holy book in Native American Religious tradition. It is an oral tradition that is passed down from

25 generation to generation, based on certain guiding principles that are internalized from childhood and are an integrated part of each person’s life. (1) As the landscape of the North

America is so vast, so does the weather and landscape conditions vary on a large scale, the tribes have different tradition, for example on the opposite coasts. In consequence, there were many beliefs among the variety of tribes or nations across the North American continent. Most

Native American religions however talked about the center of all things that can be described as ‘the Great Spirit’ which takes control of everything outside but is also deeply interwoven with a human spirit and therefore they become one. The Native spirituality always goes back to this ‘oneness’ because every living subject or object or non-vivid as well, relates to one another via its energy. These energies are always changing due to ‘unconscious’ and ‘conscious’ actions and cause the dynamic and events among everything on the planet earth, accounting humans of all races, animals and nature. In each Nation, this Spirit can have a different name: “The Great

Spirit, Great Mystery, Great Mysterious, Wakan Tanka {Lakota}, Gitchi Manitou

{Algonquin}, Orenda {Iroquois}, Maheo {Cheyenne}, Taiowa {Hopi}, Tam Apo {Shosone},

Ussen {Apache}” (“Advocate Health”1). The belief in the ‘Great Spirit’ in non-egoistic and peaceful. As a result of the web that ties everything together, all of the parts whereas small, large, living or non-living; are equally participating to life and thus all have a power. Humans are not the only intelligent and powerful aspects on the planet, although the Great Spirit resides inside of them, it is also fragmented into everything else. As this spirit is something that cannot be captured, and therefore mostly corresponds to the word ‘energy’ as it cannot be touched. The flow of events that this spirit evokes is always in order to bring harmony and peace.

As the spirit is very much about connectivity, family is very important to the Natives. They are bonded with rituals and tribal roles, and moreover community plays a big role in spirituality.

Family serves children as an educational institution. As the elderly are respected, they are able to pass on their wisdom to the youngest generation: “Elders are respected and treated with honor

26 within the Native American society. They are respected as teachers, the purveyors of tribal history and lore, and for their advice. They are seen as people who have a great amount of wisdom and knowledge, which they share with others of all ages (…) Caring for the elderly in their homes is seen as important and as a necessary part of life” (“Advocate Health”5). La

Flesche argues that the spiritual belief is indeed important for establishing a firm tribe:

The burden of memorizing and transmitting with accuracy, from one generation to another, the

rites and ceremonies common to the tribe was divided among men selected from each of the

clans. This responsibility was not placed upon these men without a careful consideration of each

man’s qualification and fitness to be intrusted, for the reasons that the recognition of the Great

Spirit as a ruler, and the observation of the prescribed manner of worshipping him, he was

believed to be essential to the continued existence of the people as an organized body, that is,

the tribe (272).

The traditional wisdom is more about awareness and practice of the uneducated. When the elders serve as teachers, the younger can more easily comprehend the circle of life and take death as a natural inevitable part of the everlasting change that the world goes through. Death via this close family ties is not seen tragic, as in other belief systems, but more as leaving the world due to fulfilled role that was meant being served here.

It has been believed that the Earth is captivating all of the living energy that this particular religion dwells upon, “Mother or Grandmother Earth’s spirit nourishes and sustains life, and it is there that people return after death” (“Advocate Health” 2). Not only did Natives believe in close family ties but also in a close bond with the nature. ‘The words Mitakuye’ Oyasin expresses this thought, which means all of creation are my relatives, we are all one’, “we are all connected and whatever happens to the Earth it will happen to the children of the Earth”

(“Advocate Health” 2). As the planet makes possible birth and death, the tribal people understand that the circle of life has to be respected in all forms, whereas in the human body, in stages of life, or in the cycles of plants, or the universe. Lakota Holy Man Black Elk states,

“Peace…comes within the souls of men and women when they realize their relationship, their oneness, with the Universe and all its powers, and when they realize that at the center of the

Universe dwells Wakan Tanka, and that this center is really everywhere. It is within each of us”

(“Advocate Health” 2). Both of these quotes explain the relationship towards the nature and the understanding of connection with the nature. Balance and agreement are key elements representing Native thought process. When the nature is out of essential order, it befouls the human world as well. Agreement within the community stabilizes the group to maintain peaceful and therefore healthy as their mind and energy, ‘the Great Spirit’ is not interfered with shadows of the poisoned mind. As the nature is believed to be set in its pristine arrangement, the body as well. Humbleness and naturalness comes from logic. The artificial materials disturb the nature and subsequently (as the nature is connected to the human) has to negatively affect the people. ‘The revival of the overlooked story of American Indian commitments to medication and different parts of our way of life has a specific handy significance. Ethnic self-importance is not, at this point trendy in this day and age where darker looking people groups have out of nowhere gotten politically significant. A superior comprehension of what a portion of these individuals have given us can shape the premise of another and more beneficial disposition’

(Vogel 237).

Rituals are the core of Native American spirituality, as “Advocate Health” argues that

“Morals, ethics, values, beliefs, culture, customs, religious and sacred traditions are passed on through an oral tradition and through ceremonies. Cultural identity, understanding and bonding takes place through rituals developed by tribes over many centuries” (2). The traditional rituals are usually followed by music, using of herbs and dancing. Singing serves as a religious mantra therefore these musical rituals are often used when dealing with any kind of unfortunate circumstances, including health issues.

4.1. Native American healthcare beliefs

Since the Native American belief was based on interconnection between the spiritual and

‘actual’ world, illness is a sign of an instability, a disrupted harmony. In other words, health

“depends on proper actions and interactions with the spirit world” (“Advocate health”3).

Healing of a particular illness therefore not only happens on the physical terms (the external

‘real’ sickness or injury), but on the psychological and religious (spiritual) side as well, as

Native Americans believe it goes hand in hand. Poor health does not occur accidentally but purposefully, as “Advocate health” quotes C. Locust ‘“Treating the spirit is the process of finding out why the broken leg occurred, understanding the event in a spiritual rather than a physical sense, and then beginning the process of changing whatever it was in the body, mind, or spirit that was out of harmony enough to warrant a broken leg.”’(3). Therefore an individual believes the ailment lies in his/her hands and the previous or current state of body, mind and soul caused such event to be existing. Cure is not entirely dependent onto the skills of the medicine men/women, since the affected patient caused the imbalance in the first place and is responsible for its course. On that basis, inability to treat the patient is not the medicine men’s fault but the patient’s. ‘Indian medication was firmly unified to strict convictions and folklore, and most interior infections were credited to heavenly causes. The methods for treatment, along these lines, were not so much balanced from the white perspective, albeit white medication at the hour of the revelation of America and later was likewise far from being logical. There are likewise reports from qualified people concerning fruitful Indian treatment of fevers, intestinal issues, stiffness, and so forth. Indians were not all that effective, in any case, in duplicating with irresistible ailments which seem to have been presented from abroad and for which the Indians had no opposition or involvement with treatment. For local inner infirmities they appear to have had a few cures of shifting utility, albeit maybe less fruitful than their outer cures.’ (Vogel 235).

In result, many tribes find illness as a sign coming from the ethereal. Accordingly, each tribe interprets this universal truth with a slight difference, yet all resolve to one. For example, wrong actions of an individual would cause unpleasant events upon him, one of them might be an illness, since “others believe illness occurs through contact with evil spirits. Serious illness may be the result of “soul loss”, in which evil spirits, especially those of the dead, capture the sick person’s soul when it is out of his or her body during sleep. A diagnosis of soul loss denotes critical illness. This patient may have a wasting disease, be delirious, unconscious, or in a coma”

(“Advocate health” 3). For the Cherokees, illness occurs within the tribe when they do not pay respect to hunted animals they process. On the other hand, for Iroquis illness is connected to unfulfilled desires and such despair cumulates into creating sickness. ‘It has been proposed by certain researchers that mental components assumed a job in some Indian fixes, and in certain clans, especially the Iroquois, dream examination was a profoundly developed workmanship.

It ought to be underscored, in any case, that clairvoyant and mysterious convictions and practices were applied in sicknesses for which there was no noticeable physical reason and not to states of clearly outside cause. The level of acknowledgment of Indian medication was lopsided, reflecting and in an overall way the nature of antagonism between delegates of the two societies, Amerind and European. Indian medication was more adequate to the white layman than to the minister or doctor, with some outstanding exemptions, and native mending was all the more promptly grasped by the dealer and wayfarer than the pioneer; the pilgrim thusly acknowledged it sooner than the occupants of old, set up networks. Of the expert gatherings, the botanists appear to have been most well slanted toward local cures. There were likewise territorial and sequential contrasts. Indian medication was increasingly welcome in the country and multifaith South than in urban Puritan New England, and progressively preferred in the French and Spanish belongings than in the English, an example which is rehashed in perspectives toward such issues as intermarriage and the maintenance of native spot names. In

30 the hour of war, need constrained regard for indigenous cures. In the midst of developing patriot feeling, energetic or xenophobic assumptions have gotten reestablished intrigue local materia medica’ (Vogel 237).

In conclusion, Native American notion of health combines attributes of spirituality, anatomy

(and other exact concepts), arts and social standards including firm family and tribal bonds.

Comparing it with the American standards, the patient within the Native healing is not an individual but his/her health is understood as a collective issue, moreover the originator, symptoms, and result of the healing is a interconnectivity of various aspects. In other words, the tribe is responsible for the patient’s health, same as it apprehends that the illness may have been created due to a collective fault. On contrary, within the American medicine, the patient is looked upon as an individual where the possible disturbed balance is not taken into an account. The doctor is not responsible for the negative results of the healing practice.

5. The figure of medicine man

Tribal people do not call their healing folk as doctors but medicine men and women, who are skilled in using herbs in the region and are studied in traditional teachings connecting the spirit and material world. They are able to work together with ‘The Great Spirit’ to heal by prayers. The community turns to them with loyalty and trust that their aim is to serve the higher purpose, not to gain power. In fact, La Flesche argues that the medicine man provides a sort of transmitting between the healing practices and the spiritual world:“(…) I recognize the character of the true Medicine Man (applause) – he who has the mediator between his people and the Great Spirit” (272).

The role of the medicine man lies within understanding the Native spirituality and connecting it with the ‘real’ world. Medicine man therefore plays a key role in the Native medicine, as he is trained to understand the patient’s symptoms, as well as he is able to provide spiritual guidance and communicate with the ‘Great Spirit’ and offer help to a patient that does not have enough strength to heal on it own or is ‘lost’ spiritually. In fact, as Bell notes, the medicine man figure is indeed powerful within the culture: “The apparent uncertainties of human life and fortune, and death itself, are thus accounted for, all being controlled by the medicine-man. A person dies, not from natural causes, but because it is the pleasure of some one of this all-powerful class that he should die, and because he has been unable to find another one capable of counteracting his ‘medicine’” (4). The medicine man uses herbal treatment, therefore he needs to know the flora of the land. Such knowledge was envied by the colonizers, as the landscape offered many new herbs and plants that they might did not know how to use or plant. The medicine man should therefore offer guidance on which herb to use and how to prepare remedies out of it. Moreover, he would take part in healing rituals which include traditional music and dancing with supporting group on the side, assisting the medicine man.

The Native healing arts copy the animal instincts, as they as well find solutions within the nature. Medicine is not viewed as something that should be search in the external, nor should it be too difficult for the person to reach the remedy. Although, the herbal medicine gets complicated when the spirituality and mythology gets involve, as worsening of the patient’s health or the reason for the disease occurring at first, would be interpreted with a story of mythological figures that are responsible for the disease or its outcome. These notions were often criticized as it shifts the unsuccessful healing abilities onto a surreal phenomena, and therefore does not harm the medicine man’s position on top of the pyramid, as Vogel argues:

Indian medical treatment is here seen as a combination of rational and religious practices,

differing from the usual white practice in that both are performed by the same functionary

among the Indians. In our own society there are some religious sects which combine

treatment with supernatural appeals and some which eschew medical treatment altogether.

Comparing the two, Dr. Harlow Brooks commented: ‘I fail to find in the service of our

modern faiths anything more dignified, beautiful, and worship than some of the chants or

‘dances’ of the red men, conducted for the benefit of the sick, or for the purpose of imploring

the assistance of their divine being in the welfare of their people. Tribal differences,

however, should not be overlooked. It was one of the scholar’s opinion that ‘the New

England Indians apparently had nothing like those formal, elaborately organized priesthoods

of the West and South which dominate most discussions of Indian cults and superstitions

(Vogel 38-39).

The medicine man combines healing practices with spirituality and arts. He is not the leader of the tribe, however might be the most powerful, as he is able to understand magic and is able to save lives of the entire tribe. He is the key figure to be analyzed by the White authors.

5.1. Critique of the medicine man

Hand in hand with different perceptions of what medicine is and which courses of treatment are actually effective, comes the critique of the central figure of the Indian healing practice. As health (both spiritual and physical) stands on top of the pyramid of priorities within a Native tribe, the biggest power after the Chief has the medicine-man. Such figure should be able to diagnose and treat any illness or disease. As health is for tribal people about connecting dots in a human life and base the analysis of a disease upon every aspect of the patient’s life, not only health related, the medicine-man therefore obtains general knowledge:

Medicine power is often attributed to a fetish or charm adopted to typify a tutelary demon, or mystery

guardian, and the superior performance of one “juggler” over another is often attributed to the fact

that his “medicine” is the stronger. Medicine is also associated with magic numbers, as it sometimes

is among whites (“lucky seven,” “unlucky thirteen”). The usual sacred number among Indians is

four, signifying the cardinal directions, but sometimes six, adding the up and down directions.

Medical prescriptions will sometimes specify, for this reason, a certain number of remedies, or the

administration of the remedies for so many days, or that they be gathered in so many places. Omens

were watched for by Indian doctors to determine the probable results of treatment, or to foretell future

events (Vogel 35).

The term medicine-man according to Online Etymology dictionary, developed in 1801, means “Native North American shaman” and has raised “from adoption of the word medicine in native speech with a sense of ‘magical influence; something supposed to possess curative, supernatural, or mysterious power’” (Web). This ‘profession’ has been recognized by the white settlers when they had witnessed (to that day unknown) courses of treatment within the Native

American community:

The medicine man was equipped with paraphernalia and equipment appropriate to his calling. These

might include special costume, such as animal skins as shown in George Catlin’s famous painting of

the Mandan medicine man, a medicine bundle that contains charms and fetishes, medicine sticks

serving as an offering, a warning, or an invitation, 50 and sometimes a bag of herbs. The function of

providing the herbs was sometimes relegated to an assistant, or “apothecary.” The medicine man

might also have a drum, rattle, a scarification instrument—in former times made of flint, obsidian,

or snake fangs—a hollow bone for sucking, a mortar and pestle for mixing medicines, and, in many

places, a syringe for injecting medicine into wounds or administering an enema. From the religious

viewpoint, which was uppermost to the Indian, the medicine bundle was perhaps the most important.

In the thirties the medicine bundle cult still survived among the Kansas Potawatomis, along with the

more recent “religion” or drum dance, and the peyote religion, as one of the three curing cults still

extant. 51 The medicine bundle was usually made of an animal skin, often from a totemic animal,

and included such fetishes as deer tails, dried fingers, and often the maw stone of a buffalo (Vogel

35).

The term doctor is not suitable for the profession, according to White perception, as the medicine-man deals as well with magic and procedures, distinguishing the white and Indian cultures apart quite widely: “Traditionally, medicine people are called upon to prevent or heal the physical and mental illnesses of individuals as well as the social ruptures that occur when murders and other calamitous events take place within a community. Some medicine men and women undergo rigorous initiation to gain supernormal powers, while others become experts through apprenticeships; many complete a combination of these processes” (Encyclopedia

Britannica). The role of the healer is so specific, the term therefore describes a person on the edge of herbal medicine, spiritual practices and knowledge of human physiology. Hence the

Encyclopedia Britannica defines the medicine-man as a “member of an indigenous society who is knowledgeable about the magical and chemical potencies of various substances (medicines) and skilled in the rituals through which they are administered” (web). Although medicine of

Indigenous cultures differentiates from one another quite vividly, the medicine-man has been categorized towards untrustworthy shamanism which basically created a boundary between fully recognizing the uniqueness of Indian treatment, and simultaneously degraded possible positive results in healing.

Robert Bell describes the interaction with medicine-man from various tribes in great detail.

As for the definition of this figure and comparison to a ‘classic’ American doctor in the 19th century, he describes the medicine-man as: “not simply a doctor of medicine, but a sort of a priest, prophet, medium and soothsayer. He is a juggler, conjurer, sorcerer or magician and general dealer in the supernatural. A mere knowledge of medicine proper is rather one of the lower or accessory branches of his profession, and it is often practiced by those who have no pretensions to be considered full-fledged medicine-men” (2).

The role of the medicine-man within the community is serving “common people (…) in favor of themselves or their friends, or against their enemies, just as we do lawyers-for

35 consideration” (Bell 3). Bell argues that this healer is not only present for the treatment but also participates in ‘healing’ relationships within the community and surprisingly does not have to remain peaceful, yet he can serve as a magician who will cast a spell of destruction when asked for it, to make a revenge onto a member of the tribe, for instance:

The helplessness of the Indians before this introduced malady could hardly promote their reputation

for medical prowess. A half century elapsed before the first learned disquisition on the medicinal

resources of New England appeared, under the name of John Josselyn, Gent. 16 It was an account of

vegetable, animal, and mineral substances native to the region composed by a reasonably competent

herbalist who was prone to notice things left unobserved by other chroniclers, and who never allowed

European bias to restrain him from learning what the Indians might have to teach. Josselyn made it

clear that he obtained much of his information about remedies from the Indians, but it also appears

that many of his conclusions were the result of European training. His writings give the impression

that there was nothing in New England which grew, flew, swam, or crawled that did not possess

marvelous medicinal properties (Vogel 46).

According to Bell, among the 19th century Outchipwai Indians there were “many hypocrites who have not the manliness to fight their enemies fairly, or to openly resent an injury, or even to tell an adversary their opinion of him to his face” and to deal with the enemy they used the medicine- man (3). On that account, the role of the medicine-man is and overlapping the role of the American doctor. If the medicine-man involves within the spiritual ordeal, a ‘commoner’ is short to reverse the spell. Therefore, another medicine-man needs to be hired so they will fight will equal powers. From healing there can be a quick turn to enabling illness to evolve. In consequence, the negative perception of shamanism has been connected to Angst of allowing people to have godly powers. Therefore, shamanic practices either constructed fear of the

‘unknown’ or ‘dangerous’, or it was dismissed when affiliated to fairy tales. Such power versus fear is also connected to death, as Bell notes: “The apparent uncertainties of human life and fortune, and death itself, are thus accounted for, all being controlled by the medicine-man. A

36 person dies, not from natural causes, but because it is the pleasure of some one of this all- powerful class that he should die, and because he has been unable to find another one capable of counteracting his ‘medicine’” (4).

Bell describes the physical activity of “drawing out” an evil force that is believed to be the greatest cause of illnesses. As previously mentioned, ‘the Native American religion is deeply connected to rituals consisting of dancing, singing or playing music. These rituals are a part of healing practices’ (6). Bell criticizes these rituals as being vague while he describes actual incident of treatment that he has been part of: “Although the medicine-man may have a considerable knowledge of the properties of many medical agencies within his reach, he depends, for the removal, of disease, more on sorcery, beating the tom-tom, singing, etc., than on the efficiency of drugs. I have seen a miserable sick Indian, fresh from the hands of the medicine-man, with his poor body all painted with figures of tortoises, fishes and other creatures, in order to cure him of some internal trouble” (8). Such critique of Native American medicine’s efficiency is common between white authors during this time period:

The American Indians made important achievements not only in the use of remedies but also in

therapeutic procedures and hygienic practices. Although these have been partially dealt with by

others, their studies have often been confined to the practices of particular tribes or regions or limited

to special topics. Fragmentary accounts of such treatment methods, as distinguished from the

medicines used, appear throughout this work, but a brief summary is in order to introduce illustrative

information which did not logically fit into the preceding text. Space, of course, does not permit an

extensive survey of all Indian treatments of every ill; those who wish more information may refer to

the bibliography. The following is merely an abbreviated sketch of some of the more representative,

significant, or interesting devices or methods used. Wherever relevant, those aspects of Indian

practice which influenced the whites are emphasized but no judgment is passed on their validity”

(Vogel 23)

The greatest debate on the treatment and actual power of the medicine man is for the lack of science within the shamanic treatment. The lack of relying on science may be due to a deeply rooted relationship to mythology within the Native culture, as Thomas describes that the reliance upon mythology is not a fault of the medicine man alone but a complexity of the social standards when explaining scientific occurrences in nature:

With reference to the other three professions named, that of the philosopher, that of judge, and

that of scientist, we may say, in brief, that the first form of philosophy is the mythology growing

out of the attempt of primitive man to understand such phenomena as echoes, clouds, stars,

thunder, wind, shadows, dreams, etc. The creation of a mythology is not the work of the

medicine-man alone, but the work of the social mind in general. Among the first forms of

science are the number, time and space conceptions, and a vague body of experimental

knowledge growing out of the general activities of the group or the individuals of the group, and

essential to the control of these activities and the development of new and more serviceable

habits.” (Thomas 18)

Since the native healing is based more on tradition and mythology then science, it seems to the American scientific oriented population that the relationship within the Native community is power-based. Bell argues that the medicine man culture purposely creates a privileged society in order to gain power over the commoners: “They had great influence with the people, principally from preying upon the superstitious fears which had become inculcated by their own class from generation to generation for this express purpose” (3). Therefore, again, the actual

Native American knowledge of medicine described in the white narrative falls behind due to intra-social analysis and shadows the possible results of the treatment. Mythology in this sort of medicine gives power to the spirit to control everything both living and dead. On that account, the community does not question the decency of particular phenomena but trustingly follows the medicine man as a communicator with the ‘Great Spirit’. The doctors, on the contrary, have been looking out for answers to explain the occurrence within the human body,

38 although in the 19th century, the influence of Christianity of course existed. Even though this notion of fear in religion in connection to therapy can somewhat be shared in both, Native

American religion and Christianity, Bell depicts the power-based structure within the Native tribe as something that does not exist in his own culture:

For the medicine-man form a secret society, with exclusive privileges, and they exercise a

terrible influence in degrading their people. The seeming respect which is accorded to them is

begotten of cowardly fear which has formed part of the education of the rank and file. They

pretend to dispense good and bad luck, to control the weather, to be able to influence the

movements of the game and fish so as to bring plenty or starvation to the tribe, to predict events,

to tell the fortunes of individuals, to bring about the sickness or death of men and dogs at a

distance, and generally to have good confidence and cooperation of both good and bad spirits,

with whom they communicate freely on certain set occasions” (Bell 3).

Reason for this perception could be that mythology or religious explanation of phenomena where out of trend and the newly establishing scientific approach in medicine was more satisfying to concentrate to. On that account Bell also notes that Christianity (although being

‘just’ a different form of a religious belief) has brought rationality within the Native mindset and it served as a proof of the medicine man being not godlike but more as a testifying ‘doctor’ without enough knowledge in ‘modern’ medicine: “It may be asked whether these men are themselves sincere or believe in their own practices. In some cases, and to some extent I think they do, but in others they are clearly guilty of fraud and trickery. I have known instances where, having become Christians, they have confessed that their former course has been all imposture.

Some of them have, however been known to become really possessed with terrible hallucinations” (Bell 6). Thomas confirms this affirmation by stating that the medicine man’s approach to medicine is far from benefiting to science:

and he does not practice in all branches of medicine, nor is it apparent that he has conspicuously

led the way in the development of a science of medicine. His function is, in fact, a limited one.

He is concerned with the practice of magic, and works almost wholly by suggestive means. He

relieves pain by pretending to have charmed out or sucked out the causa nocens; he brings ill

upon other people, and he ascertains by suggestive means who is responsible for the death of a

native, or pretends to do so (4).

Further, the medicine-man works not alone but with ‘medical members’ who, according to these statements, concentrate deeper on the treatment in the required scientific manner: “while it is true that the medicine-man is in a way a physician, he has not a monopoly of medical practice in this tribe,(…)Alongside the medicine-man there are often lay practitioners, both men and women, who rely more on drugs and surgery than the medicine-men, and who are more in the line of scientific medical practice than the medicine-man himself” (4). Both Bell and

Thomas support the argument that the Native medical practices should not be in the hands of the medicine-man, as his approach is limited to religious and cultural practices, based on

‘unreliable’ mythology and his power over people overshadows the primary goal of the 19th century American medicine which is to develop further research based on rational and scientific proof.

Some interpretations of the Native state towards the end of the 19th century argue that Native

American practices gave up some of the mythological interpretations and the ultimate attribution of power to medicine man. No doubt, centuries ago, Indian medicinal practices varied, throughout the century, being influenced by the pressure coming from the American society. Not only were they following some of the American footsteps due to forgotten knowledge of own ancestors, but also due to the political situation which urged them to change their ways. In the aftermath, the figure of medicine man and the importance of intuition, mythology and the ‘Great Spirit’ weren’t forbidden by force, simply the two cultures merged together into pushing away spiritual figures or practices that were so openly and frequently used by the Red cultures. Certain practices were surely passed on to younger Native generations.

Although, many authors describe the interaction of Native American with Christianity

‘positive’, interpreting it as them finally giving up traditions based on spirituality, due to

‘enlightenment’, it was more of a cultural and political impact that pulled the strings.

On the contrary, not all depictions of the Native culture were negative, and argued that they were falsely accused of becoming more rationalized, since it fact, native healing practices are scientific as well, only using different concept of perspective in resources (25). Those resources are not only material but go beyond classical concept of reality, to energy and parallel universe out of human’s eye reach. In addition, Vogel comments on reasonable approach to medicinal procedures as well (differing the course of treatment) and possibility of actually being ahead in some medicinal areas: “Indian medicine was not more rational than that of Europe at the time of the discovery, with the possible exception of obstetrics practices (25)”.

When discussing mythologies and spirituality, European-descent American perspectives originated from metaphysics and irrational baseline. In fact, it is important to acknowledge origins of healing practices and philosophies of both of these cultures, since the European methods arose from mythology and religious beliefs as well: “Although sixteenh-century

European medicine was on the threshold of a tremendous forward movement, it was still filled with superstition and untested stories (Vogel 25)”. Vogel also admits, both Native and White concepts of knowledge in the 19th century have been a result of mere mythological perspective in the past.

Clearly, the most distinguishing trait between these two cultures would be ‘the supernatural’ (factor in initiation of incidents) which is unlikely to be present in American

‘Christian’ society outside of Church, yet occurs in religious belief. Although, in the 19th century the doctor’s practices perceived as based on mythology or spirituality:

When an Indian becomes really sick he yields to his weakness, gives himself up to die, and is the

most abject of creatures. The drumming on the tom-tom seems to rouse him a little, and to keep up

his courage. An Indian canoeman once fell sick on my hands, and obliged me to stop my journey and

stay in camp for two or three days in order to nurse him. He secretly sent word by some friend to

bring reputed medicine-man who was then camped at a considerable would permit with the aid of a

small assortment of medicines which I had along with me. He was about well, and able to resume

work the following day, when the medicine-man arrived late in the evening, after I had turned into

my blankets. He and his friends who had come with him made the night hideous with their tom-toms

and the monotonous ‘hi-ya, hai-ya; hai-ya, hi-ya!’ But as they had great faith in it, I did not interfere.

Going over to my patient at daylight, I enquired how he had stood it. He replied that he was now

quite well, that the medicine-man (who, by the way, was sleeping triumphantly close by) had driven

off the spirit of his sickness, that it was now far away, and he was ready for work again. He did not

recognize that he had to thank either myself or nature for the cure (Bell 8-9). If the therapy failed

or the circumstances creating the patient’s state were unclear, these incidents were still

ascribed to Christian explanation of reality, ascribing the interpretation to, sins, faith or

destiny. Apart from the supernatural, Vogel also comments on the Iroquois addressing on

dreams, which if they are not met with reality, escalate into a disease (25). Quoting William

T. Corlett, who summarized Indian origins of poor health, Vogel points out that mythology

is interwoven with majority of diseases:

Of the supernatural causes of disease, the most important probably are the spirits of

animals, who thus gain revenge for slights and abuses. Disrespect toward fire, such as

urinating on the ashes, or throwing offal on it, or spitting on it, will bring disaster.

Insults of nature to the river have their penalty. Human ghosts who naturally feel

lonesome for their friends and relatives cause, so as to provide congenial company,

while an animal ghost will cause trouble if respect has not been shown to its body after

is has been killed. A powerful disease-bringer is the magic used by the witches to cause

sickness. Other causes of disease are dreams, omens, neglected taboos, and the evil

influence attributed to women during her catamenial period (25-26).

In consequence, from the American perspective in the 19th century, the concentration of the native medicine is therefore more put to the artistic expression and traditions than to the

42 efficiency of the medicine being served. Although sort of holism was trending in the Anglo-

American medicine in that century as well, the overall picture of the course of treatment remains primitive and with more unproductive counterparts than should be necessary: “A great medicine-man will not condescend to diagnose a case by the tedious process of examining the patient and asking questions. He is supposed to know all about it without going into these details. An English doctor told me that once when he was examining a sick Indian, to his surprise, neither the man himself nor his friends took much interest in the process. After answering a few questions in a sullen manner, they exclaimed, ‘We thought you were a doctor’”

(Bell 8). All in all, even though the medicine man has better knowledge of the use of the local herbs and the overall conditions of the land in relation to human health, the respect for the indigenous medicine man has been in lack due to their low level of seriousness required by the

American cultural perception on medicine.

The medicine man constitutes many professions at once, which also makes him so powerful:

“Medicine men and modern physicians are antagonists and not colleagues; all they have in common is that both treat diseases. The medicine men, he wrote, “is rather the ancestor of the priest, the antagonist of the physician for centuries. If there is any ancestor of colleague of the physician in primitive society, it is the lay healer, usually a woman, the midwife” (Vogel 31).

Vogel also notes on medicine man: “John Bourke saw in the medicine man ‘an influence antagonistic to the rapid absorption of new ideas and the adoption of new customs’. He believed that only ‘after we have thoroughly routed the medicine men from their intrenchments and made them an object of ridicule’ could whites ‘hope to bend and train the mind of our Indian wards in the direction of civilization” (Vogel 41).

The greatest issue that the White authors agreed upon was the believed White superiority among any kind of cognizance or understanding of phenomena. Bell supports this view right at the beginning of his journal, as he states that “The false and mistaken notions as to the principles

43 and practice of medicine which prevailed among our forefathers are recalled by some of those in vogue among red-men; and while, in the light of our own superior knowledge, we may be disposed to laugh at their primitive ideas, we are reminded that many-perhaps the majority-of the doctrines once taught among our own people were absurd enough” (1). However, the author acknowledges the time spend on learning the healing practices or notions, nevertheless criticizes that the medicine man had no other work to be responsible than do be a part of the healing practices. Such criticism should include a comparison to the American doctors, since although Bell views negatively that the medicine man lived supported by its tribe, within his own culture, the principles of a ‘doctor’ holds the same basis for the profession: “In former times, the great medicine-man among these Indians devoted their whole lives to the study and practice of their art, and even yet it receives the greater part of their attention. They were accustomed to do no common work, but lived at the expense of the band they were amongst.

They had great influence with the people, principally from praying upon the superstitious fears which had become inculcated by their own generation to generation for this express purpose”

(Bell 2-3).

The majority of the criticism created is however revolving around the principles of the healing practices, more than the strange appearance of the figure or the effects on the patient’s health. It could be argued that the results are not the basis of the reviews. In fact, the critique rotates around the concept of the belief system that is included into the healing practices, as

Bell comments: “In a short time the patient is expected to say he feels better; otherwise it is a sort of slight on the ‘strenght’ of the conjurer’s’ medicine’. Sometimes the medicine-man will pretend to receive these sudden internal shocks to show the potency of some other member of the profession at the distance and the danger resulting therefrom, and hence the necessity for his own ‘strong medicine’ as an antidote. He will then spit up the mysterious missile along with some blood, and after a groan or two will subside with a sigh of relief” (Bell 4). Bell shades the

44 medicine man’s possible results in the practices and focuses his critique onto the ‘role play’ that is to be a plain fraud, according to his analysis. He continues to narrate the medicine man’s physical actions within the ritual, instead of providing comment on the outcome of the treatment: “One of the modes of conveying an evil influence to a distance is to make a drawing on a piece of a birch bark, or even in the sand, to represent the figure of the person to be injured, and then select the site of the organ, as the heart, lungs, or bowels, which is to be operated upon.

This is then stabbed through a sharp instrument, or touched with poison, and an appropriate charm is repeated at the same time” (Bell 4).

The medicine man would not make a mistake, at least by the review of his treatments by the

White authors. Such ‘greatness’ is far too much to handle for Bell, as he dissects the trickery in this narrative and tries to show that it is not possible for the medicine man to not be implicated in the results of the treatment, as he writes:

When fairly concerned the medicine-man will say the spirit refuses to answer, is offended or has just

left for the day, his presence being suddenly required elsewhere. Of course, with experience and

intelligence in his favor, the chances are more than even that his predictions will be fulfilled, and

great stress is laid on every hit, while the failures are easily forgotten. In this way, even superstitious

white servants of the Hudson’s Bay Company and others come to have a certain faith in these

conjurers. The practices of the Indian medicine-man are evidently closely allied to the old-world

witchcraft (5).

To compare it with the context of the state of the medicine within the American culture, the

role of the doctor was as well to not be implicated in the results of the treatment, but instead of holding accountable mythical figures or spirits, he would argue that there is a gap in science know up to the day to be able to cure such disease. Hence, he shifts his responsibility onto the scientific progress being made and would argue that if there is not yet found answer within the sciences than there is no possibility to know the cure for such illness or complications.

In regard to the practice of medicine proper, the common Indian notion of disease is that it is caused

by some evil influence, which must be removed, either by driving off its spirit with the tom-tom and

singing, or by a charm, and by sucking or blowing upon the part affected. The idea of drawing or

sucking out the evil is the prevailing one in their theory of the practice of medicine. Names are given

to Indian children by the grandfather or recognized patriarch of the family-circle or band. The subject

of the first striking dream which he has after the child’s birth determines its name. If he dreams of a

creature which lives by drawing out his food a as woodpecker, which draws grubs out of trees, or of

a leech, but particularly of the mosquito, that most determined and energetic blood-sucker, it is

considered a good omen, ant that the child, whether male or female, is to be regarded as called to the

medical profession. If a male, as soon as he is grown up, he is put in training to ascertain of the Great

Spirit really intends him to be a medicine-man (Bell 6).

Although, the medicine man is looked upon as vague, it is not an easy way to become a medicine man and obtain his knowledge. Similarly, as he American medicine defined high education for the doctoral profession, within the Native tribes, there were also lacks of the medicine men, since there were many rituals and challenges before completing the training:

At night he prays earnestly to the Great Spirit to reveal to him some new thing, and to give to him

mysterious or supernatural power. Before he has had time to perish from hunger and thirst, his friends

go to relieve him and to ascertain the result of his vigils. It is said there are many failures at the start.

If, however, the candidate be deemed a suitable subject, he becomes articled to an old practitioner

and duly initiated. Only one student is taken at a time. For some reason, perhaps want of superior

intelligence and the necessary disposition, probationers, after having passed the first ordeal, are often

rejected before they have learned much in regard to the mysteries of the profession (Bell 7).

Considering appreciation of the figure’s knowledge, not all critiques written were negative, as

Vogel comments on writers who believed in the efficiency of the treatments, as he states:

However, exaggerated, it is difficult to believe that such a reputation could be founded entirely on myth. Accounts of successful treatments or cures by Indian doctors of such external afflictions as snake and insect bite, burns and scalds, wounds of all sorts, fractures, dislocations, and bruises, have been

46 frequent enough in early accounts of credible persons. They have earned for Indian healers varying degrees of approbation from medical men who either observed their practice personally or had learned of it by other means. Dr. Harlow Brooks, who for many years was closely associated with Indians, once stated that ‘in frontier medicine much, one may even say most, of the settler’s knowledge in regard to the treatment of traumata has been bodily copied from the Indians” (Vogel 236).

However, it is to be believed that the reason behind such polarity of opinions is due some medicinal practices being contributive and some not. Bell describes their teachings as not predominantly beneficiary and therefore the notions upon the practices vary from great positive commentary to irony and neglect:

“Their material medica is divided into two branches, good medicines and bad. Among the

Crees, if not among other Indians, twenty classes of drugs are recognized. The first nine are

all good and beneficial medicines, and the rest are all more or less bad or injurious. The

student is first made familiar with the good medicines and then the bad, the worst of all being

taught last. Some of their poisons , they pretend, are very dangerous to handle” (Bell 7).

What the American society however appreciates the most, considering even the negative

commentators, is the usage of the land’s fauna and flora. Although inhabiting the land for

decades, the American public could hardly compete with the Native skills and ideas when

considering using natural resources.

The great majority of their medicines are vegetable, but some are derived from animals, as the

beaver, the musk-rat, the skunk, the deer, toads, snakes, insects, etc., while others are mineral, as iron

pyrites, gympsum, salt, ochres, clays, ashes, etc. Parts of rare animals, impossible to obtain at the

time, may be prescribed as the only means of saving a patient, who appears sure to die in any case.

One of the most curious preparations in use amongst them in the ‘black poison’ the effects of which

are well known around the lakes of the Winnipeg basin and in the Swan River district. Some time

after administration, it changes the color of an Indian’s skin from brownish-yellow or copper-color

to a sooty black, at the same time causing hair to grow on unusual parts, especially in an Indian, as

on the cheek bones, etc. (Bell 7).

‘The regard wherein Indian restoring ability was held by whites in a previous day was likewise answerable for the achievement of voyaging Indian medication shows which distributed phenomenal mixtures purportedly made out of the red men's some time ago mystery cures. The vast majority of these items were blends of liquor and seasoning operators of next to zero restorative worth, yet their previous prominence is another delineation of the imgae of the Indian as a healer of human ills’ (Vogel 236). “The Indian doctors do not understand the nature of delirium. When a patient becomes delirious, as in fevers, etc., they say he is about to

‘turn windigo’-that is, to become possessed of an irrestistible desire for cannibalism. It was then the doctor’s duty to knock the patient on the head. Many a life has been sacrificed in this way”

(Bell 9).

John Bourke saw in the medicine man ‘an influence antagonistic to the rapid absorption of new

ideas and the adoption of new customs’. He believed that only ‘after we have thoroughly routed the

medicine men from their intrenchments and made them an object of ridicule’ could whites ‘hope to

bend and train the mind of our Indian wards in the direction of civilization. More recently, Huron H.

Smith reported that ‘the government takes cognizance of the Indian medicine man and is trying to

wean the Indians away from his dominance’. The hostility of the Christian missionaries to the

medicine men is revealed in many of their accounts. Thus, all of the principal forces of European

erosion of Indian society have been brought to bear in the assault against the medicine man. To the

extent that his influence was weakened, white influence was able to penetrate. The campaign has

made great headway, and yet the old ways, sometimes driven underground, continue to flourish in

many ways. Even though Indians are coming to depend more upon white doctors and hospitals,

provided to them free if they are on reservations, they sometimes resort to their medicine men of a

quick cure is not forthcoming. Of the Indian medicine man eventually disappears, he will

nevertheless have left to mankind an important store of remedies and curing methods, which,

however irrational his notions about them, have often proved useful to the conquerors and will stand

as his enduring monument (Vogel 41-42).

Reflections upon the medicine man consist of negative imagery that degrades the knowledge that the medicine man obtains. Nevertheless, the Native healing practices itself and the image of the medicine man influenced the American society, but not particularly the perceptions of the Native tribes on healing.

6. 19th century perspective of medicine by American culture

Although the Native figure of medicine-man has been criticized of holding power over it tribe and followers, giving him unequal privileges, and thus was mistrusted for possible manipulation and creating imagery outside of his actual belief to reaffirm his power; in fact

American medicine had hierarchy within its own society: “…it might be more accurate to say that the inequalities among doctors paralleled the class structure. To the wealthier families, there corresponded anelite of the medical profession; to the poor, practitioners of lower status and less training” (Starr 2). This situation was due to “high costs of medical education and more stringent requirements limited the entry of students from the lower and working classes. And deliberate policies of discriminations against Jews, women, and blacks promoted still greater social homogeneity” (Starr 6).

In regards to hierarchy, religion played a key role as well: “Although this naturalistic outlook was widespread, it was often joined to a moral interpretation of the causes and incidence of disease. Protestant culture had firmly rejected the use of magic in healing the sick. However, clerics frequently warned and many of the laity believed that immortality and sin were a

‘predisposing’ cause of illness and that prayer was an appropriate, although not sufficient response” (Starr 2).

Not only thus, did the professional medicine stood against spirituality and a ‘belief system’ of the NA medicine practices, it was against its own ancestor’s religious interpretation of illnesses. It is somewhat interesting that many of these doctors, who were strictly promoting scientific-based medicine and generators of diseases, were Christians, belief has vanished off their perceiving of human’s health. It could be argued that Christianity served to the newly established rational medicine professionals only as a tradition that did not immerse into the practice anymore. As Christianity was not only a religious confirmation of believing in God but also a social standard, there was no reason of giving it up: “These attitudes had their origins in the Reformation. As the English historian Keith Thomas has shown, Protestantism repudiated the magical practices permitted by the medieval Church, such as the invocation of saints and images, visits to sacred shrines, and the use of holy water and holy relics” (Starr 3).

Power, at the most rudimentary personal level, originates in dependence, and the power of the

professions primarily originates in dependence upon their knowledge and competence. In some

cases, this dependence may be entirely subjective, but no matter: Psychological dependence is as real

in its consequences as any other kind. Indeed, what makes dependence on the professions so

distinctive today is that their interpretations often govern our understanding of the world and our own

experience. To most of us, this power seems legitimate: When professionals claim to be authoritative

about the nature of reality, whatever it is the structure of the atom, the ego, or the universe, we

generally defer their judgment (Starr 17).

The medical professionalism is therefore about dominance. Although, the medicine man in

contrast is also creating a dominant position, it is not at the expense of the patient of the

particular society. The professionality here however urges to create a sort of ruling

community, a hierarchy almost an aristocracy that would be hard to shake as it deals with

the people’s health. There is no aim to constitute a balance or harmony, but the

professionalism almost aggressively pushes through its standards and believes, moreover

prohibits finding a solution by their opposition of the Native healers and lastly neglects any

form of alternative medicine, arguing that the practitioners are not adequately skilled to

provide any healing practices, moreover to find a solution and provide a positive result:

“The dominance of the medical profession, however, goes considerably beyond this rational foundation. Its authority spills over its clinical boundaries into arenas of moral and political action for which medical judgment is only partially relevant and often incompletely equipped.

Moreover, the profession has been able to turn its authority into social privilege, economic power, and political influence” (Starr 2).

Developing from the English profession, American medicine shared some of key elements stratifying this concept: “After the Newtonian revolution in physics, new medical theories attributed disease to disturbances of solid entities in the body (…) Disease was the result of a single, underlying condition that affected the entire constitution; however, in any given patient, the factors that brought on this condition were individual. The entire focus of treatment was on the patient’s symptoms, which were regarded, not as signs of the disease, but as the disease itself” (Starr 9).

Unlike the Native American belief the each aspect of health is interconnect with person’s inner spiritual balance or following mythological guidelines in appropriate manner, American physicians “were more and more convinced that many diseases are discrete entities” (Waller

15). The inhibitors causing the sickness were in the American view perceived as external disturbances and in order to protect the body or heal it, the doctors needed to “fortify the body so that it could resist the forces of deterioration” (Waller 15). Also “Like all persistent but flawed paradigms, humoralism and solidism could supply easy rationalizations when remedies failed. If a patient did not survive in spite the doctor’s ministrations, then the disease had presumably been too deep ingrained to submit to drugs and dietary changes. All recoveries, however, could be simplistically interpreted as a vindication of both the particular medical theory and the clinical acumen of the physician” (Waller 15). Such attitude could be compared

51 to the critiques of the medicine man within the same century. The medicine-man, in a similar manner, as the doctor, are both being accountable for the patient’s recovery, nonetheless not responsible for the patient’s resistance towards their healing practices. Critiques of the medicine man are very much similar to criticism of the professional figures in medicine, concerning his social position and healing via hit or miss.

6.2.1. Alternative medicine: influence of Native American culture

According to Starr, within the American medicine there were “countercultures” to this established rational medicine that were on the verge of “folk medicine” (closer to the principal of native medicine) and the professional one, Starr calls it the “popular” or “lay medicine”, being a result of the democratic freedom: “Folk medicine and lay healing typically include ideas and practices taken over from professional and authoritative sources. Popular culture develops partly by a process of ‘cultural sedimentation’. Like a residue of the past, the theories and remedies of learned traditions filter down to the lower classes, where they remain even after the learned have abandon them” (Starr 5). Starr notes that ‘such implications were seen for example in the Thomsonian medicine or homeopathic remedies which had its supporting communities in the 19th century’ (Starr 3).

As the condition of the professional medicine has not yet been ideal, moreover there was lack of doctors (due to requirements to gain a degree in medicine), some authors even note that on the coast the situation was the worse and the lack of doctors continued to the 20th century; many people inclined to Native healing practices as they were (although sometimes strange) stable or towards a blend of the Native remedies with American experience gained via domestic medicine etc., as Vogel states: “Many people were understandably unenthusiastic about entrusting themselves to the care of doctors whose remedies and treatment were often as ill-

52 founded as their theories of the cause of disease. While folk medicine did not originate on this continent, it was doubtless encouraged by the foregoing circumstances combined with New

World conditions. Every household had its stock of native remedies, and in many communities a lay healer, resident or itinerant, enjoyed a considerable practice” (119). This independence upon medical professionals was a result of the disunited medical scene but also a philosophical view on the originators of diseases, dividing population onto a group believing that the illness is external, and the group that was looking for answers in the internal. The external view did not see human body as a unity and also did not take into consideration that there needs to be unity of the body with its surrounding environment. On the other hand, the internal view looked for the answers in disturbance of any balance that was necessary for maintenance of the body satisfied and healthy. However as the balance was grasped as relations between the body, nature and the spiritual world, all remedies were only to be found within the body itself (for example lack of connection with the Great Spirit, wrong actions), in nature which offered herbs or parts of animals for healing, or in the spiritual world (as the spirits messaged through the body what the humanity collectively or the particular human himself/herself might have done wrong). It could be argued, that the American society that was not pulling together with the medical professionalism was in between these two views on human health. Therefore, they inclined to the Native healing and spend time learning from the Indians, however these notions were afterwards adapted to the American culture so that it would be easier for them to practice these remedies. This blend created the domestic and folk medicine used in the American homes which did not rely upon the American doctors. Indeed, Starr argues that in during the first decades in the 19th century “many Americans who already had a rationalist, activist orientation to disease refused to accept physicians as authoritative. They believed that common sense and native intelligence could deal as effective with most problems of health and illness. Moreover, the

53 medical profession itself had little unity and was unable to assert any collective authority over its own members, who held diverse and incompatible views” (Starr 8).

Nevertheless, all of these outside concepts further from the professional healing faded or blended into it and has not become ever a dominant therapy: “In American history, several movements of lay practitioners have developed this kind of organization and then been either absorbed into the medical profession, like botanic medicine” (Starr 2).

Starr considers ‘the greatest alternative for the regular medicine profession in this period, the healing practices using flora, the “botanical medicine”, within the teaching of Samuel

Thomson. This alternative was, of course, again challenging for the built medicinal society, as

Thomson did not graduate the requested medical college allowing him being a qualified physician’, Starr argues that medicinal society due to the numbers of followers of his teachings originated “jealousy (…) from regular physicians because of his success”. ‘After he underwent trial for supposed murder, it “attracted public attention to his ideas” (7).

Nevertheless, he succeeded eventually to establishing a powerful perception on medicine, since “four years later, he managed to obtain a patent from the federal government for his system of botanical medicine, enabling him to sell rights for use of his methods and to claim official endorsement” (Starr 6). Thomson goes back to simplistic views on life and health established by the Native culture:

Thomson system evolved around a few simple principles. All disease was the effect of one

general cause and could be removed by one general remedy. Cold was the cause; heat the

remedy. All ‘animal bodies’ were composed of four elements: earth, air, fire and water. Earth

and water were the solids; air and fire, or heat, the cause of all life and motion. The way to

produce health was to restore the heat, either directly by clearing the system of all obstructions,

so the stomach could digest food and generate heat, or else indirectly, by causing perspiration.

Hence Thomson’s principal medications: a violent emetic known as Indian tobacco, or lobelia

inflate; red pepper and steam and hot baths (Starr 22).

This concept of deviation from the standard that the ‘official’ medicine provided, proceeded from Native American medicine. But as it was mediated through a white practitioner, it was easier to acknowledge it and grasp for the white society that had more interests in alternative medicine than of the professional, for multiple reasons. Eventually, the perception overcame health implications and became a philosophy: “Thomson believed that the study of medicine was ‘no more necessary to mankind at large, to qualify them to administer relief from pain and sickness, than to a cook in preparing food to satisfy hunger’. Medicine, like religion and government, had been shrouded in unnecessary obscurity, but was easily understood. ‘Let mystery be stripped of all pretence (…) and practice be combined with common sense” (Starr

15).

Although, the alternative medicine was popular within the American society for multiple reason, similarly as the Native healing practices faded, since the scientific approach to knowledge and medicine took over, as Vogel argues: “Several reasons have been given for the decline of folk cures, and of botanical medicines generally, including those which once enjoyed official acceptance. In the first category, the cause has been ascribed to advances in scientific medicine, the introduction of medical insurance plans, free services, and the general availability of medical care today. The lesser use of medicines of botanical origin, which has been noticeable since the late nineteenth century, has been ascribed to the development of organic chemistry” (142). Such transformation onto the scientific approach was due to promotion of the approach as being more accurate, not wasting time with sorts of inadequate mythology, as it stated that “in the laboratory it can be learned to what active principles plants owe their medical value, and what is the molecular nature of those active principles. The chemist is able to build the desired molecular structure synthetically and to produce substances having valuable medicinal properties” (Vogel 142).

The propaganda by the medical society about efficiency of the natural remedies at last (with the growing numbers of graduated doctors towards the end of the nineteenth century) and the

American society started to be dependent on chemistry and the medical professionals. Such transformation also suited the growing economy and the oppression of the Natives as well as re-settlement of the continent.

6.2.1.1.Medicine and women

In contrast with the native healing stands the position of women as healers: “public opinion in the early nineteenth century assigned them, once married, a more strictly domestic role.

Gerda Lerner argues that while the Revolution and its aftermath overturned the hierarchical ideology of colonial life, the new democracy did not include women, whose role became more narrow” (Starr 8). Starr notes that this statement was supported by notes on college degrees necessary for medicinal practice which were necessary to ban women from the practice.

Although in the native practices, the medicine man has been a male figure, women played an important role of midwifery and thus creating life. American culture on the contrary profited from the newly established firm professionalism, on that account, it was difficult for women to get to the profession. However, 19th century experienced first attempt to fit in, as Starr comments: “As a result of popular prejudice against women physicians, they especially needed the credentials of medical education. In the 1840s, encouraged by the women’s right movement, the first woman secured formal medical training in America; the New England Medical College, founded in Boston in 1848, was the first medical school exclusively for women in the world”

(Starr ). Nonetheless, patriarchy was not favorable of women’s enthusiasm to integrate, as “the policy of medical societies was strict ostracism” (Starr). On that account, “women found more sympathy among the irregulars who practiced with roots and herbs” (Starr 9).

According to Starr, ‘these changes underlined shifts in gender roles, as the motherly figure of soothing the ones in pain has evolved to a man’ and only supports the already built patriarchy

(Starr 5).

‘The shortage of prepared doctors and drug specialists on the wilderness made pilgrims rely upon local cures, and even, now and again, on the administrations of Indian medication man.

These conditions, joined with a repugnance against a portion of the brutal medications and shocking practices, for example, seeping, of early doctors likewise offered ascend to a various gathering of white lay healers who regularly professed to have taken in their recuperating craftsmanship from the Indians, as in truth they once in a while had. The pervasiveness of such practitioners in the mid nineteenth century and their allocation of the name Indian specialist, if not the gear of that functionary, is a tribute of the previous high notoriety of Indian therapeutics’

(Vogel 235).

When addressing the domestic medicine: “The family, as the center of social and economic life in early American society, was the natural locus of most care of the sick. Women were expected to deal with illness in the home and to keep a stock of remedies on hand; in the fall, they put away medicinal herbs as they stored preserves. Care of the sick was part of the domestic economy for which the wife assumed responsibility. She would call on networks of kin and community for advice and assistance when illness struck, in worrisome cases perhaps bringing in an older woman who had a reputation for skill of the sick” (Starr 11). Starr describes that this mastery was, as well as the native healing, passed down orally, therefore the emphasis was put onto practical skills rather than proven analysis or word-spitting. However, comparison and degradation of these domestic skills were balanced through publications in this period, which preserved these women-hood skills in time, and thus have the ability to be taken into account if being proven as effective: “The most widely read of these domestic medical manuals had a remarkably self-conscious political as well as practical character. The two aspects were

57 inseparable. Written in lucid, everyday language, avoiding Latin or technical terms, the books set forth current knowledge on disease and attacked, at times explicitly, the conception of medicine as high mystery” (Starr 4).

Starr notes that the most significant piece of work denoting this concepts its privilege to be acknowledged was the book Domestic Medicine by William Buchan, with a strive to “ ‘render the Medical Art more generally useful, by showing people what it is in their own power both with respect to the Prevention and Cure of Diseases’. Originally published in the 18th century, this book was edited throughout the 19th century and in this period became “probably the most influential book of its kind” (Starr 3). Domestic medicine also preferred simplicity found among the natural healers, as the medicine man obtained:

“The guides to domestic medicine usually emphasized an intention to simplify the language of medicine. They argued that medicine was filled with unnecessary obscurity and complexity, and should be made intelligible and practicable” (Starr 7). As Buchan advised remedies and drugs were seen by the professional medical society dangerous (for the similar reasons as the

NA medicine), he turned to prevention as a primary perception of preserving health and enabling diseases to evolve, as Starr comments that some of Buchan’s advisements were

“exercise, fresh air, a simple regimen, and cleanliness”. Moreover, he even stated that such prevention is more powerful than any remedy invented. Such contradictions were significant for “counter medicines”, as they have in common the simplicity and returning to already known, proven “traditional” treatments. Advantage of the indigenous cultures was that these treatments that the counter medicine within the American white populace was embracing, was still present for them at the time and so they served as a kind of mentors for understanding the simplistic holism which natural remedy offered. On the other hand, advantage of the professional medicine was their thorough analysis which with their brisk academic language won on the

58 written basis with arguments of the so-called “educated” doctors with degree, proving with a modernistic arrogance that the proof is yet theirs.

In conclusion, ‘one of the huge parts of American society medication is that it went about as a middle advance out and about toward authentic acknowledgment of numerous local cures.

Barely any Indian simples were embraced by standard doctors before they had stood out through an apprenticeship in the possession of lay healers. Numerous medications gained a notoriety during an extensive stretch of residential use before they got official. The Indian effect on

American medication and pharmacology is obviously not measure exclusively by the list of formally perceived medications obtained from them. A great many pioneer Americans never belittled a doctor or drug specialist, yet they had their ills and their medicines. Practically any individual conceived in provincial America before the primary World War, or considerably later, can describe recollections of an assortment of home cures utilized for regular afflictions, in some cases recorded in rancher's chronological registries, and as a rule, these comprised of substances accessible in the quick condition. Undoubtelly the most punctual pioneers in

America looked for plants taking after those recognizable in the Old World and even acquainted some of them with the new land, yet a lot more were obtained from the locals and passed on through ages so American society medication turned into a mix of the natural legend of two landmasses’ (Vogel 235).

All in all, the alternative medicine wanted to find solutions within the Native healing practices and sort to establish its own tribal healing in the American society. Not only would it be practical to have remedies that are affordable and easy to approach, but also there would be more practitioners to call for.

7. Conclusion: The imagery of medicine man to serve political agenda

The significance of duality of the American and Indian culture provides basis for comparison of perspectives on health and medical professions. In the 19th century, the stabilized

White settlement after post-colonialism continues to degrade the Native culture and its values to strengthen its political power, and moreover the position as medicinal superiority. As it would not be suitable for the American society to view the Native healing practices as necessary, due to the 19th century context of American-Indian affairs and issues regarding ownership of territory; there were multiple critiques aimed at the Native healing practices and its representative, the medicine man. Both, Bell and Thomas, provide such critique, as they describe the courses of treatments of the medicine man with commentary on the philosophical and cultural diversity between the American and Native perceptions. They both also agree with the common notion of the Native medicine and its practitioners, that the courses of treatment performed by the medicine man lack of seriousness, due to various mythological conceptions and spiritual beliefs that are outside of the evolving trust in exact approach to phenomena and medicine. Although the alternative movements refer to the Indigenous healing arts as being a valuable source of knowledge, American medical society neglects such contributions being made or even being possible and completely refuses to acknowledge Native perceptions of medicine as valid.

Although sorcery and magic have been practiced in the Native healing rituals for centuries, American scientific approach to medicine discredits the culture for trickery and thus complicates the recognition of the valuable contributions of the Natives upon the evolvement of medicine in the future. The possible aim for this cultural rivalry designed by the White settlers may rely upon the primal success that has been witness by the White colonizers. As they did not understand the spiritual implications on human health and considered the usage of magic, dances, music and shamanism during the treatments of illnesses as ‘savage’, they were not able to apply the findings onto the standard treatments. Hierarchy emerging in the 19th century stratified the Native medicine to knowledge of decay. White society took an official ownership for the entire medical field and therefore dethroned the medicine man placing its medical professionals at the top.

Bibliography

Primary Sources

Bell, Robert. “The ‘MEDICINE-MAN’; or Indian and Eskimo Notions of Medicine.”

Canada Medical Surgical Journal. Ottawa: Gazette Prtg. Company, 1886. EPub.

La Flesche, Francis. “Who Was the Medicine Man?” The Journal of American Folklore.

Vol. 18. p. 269-275. Springfield: American Folklore Society. 1905.

Thomas, William I. “The Relation of the Medicine –Man to the Origin of the Professional

Occupations.” London: Palala Press, 2015. Print.

Secondary Sources

Addiler, Mary. Native American Medicine: The Complete Beginner’s Guide to Healing Your

Body Through Natural Native American Medicine. Columbia: Createspace Independent Pub.

2015. EPub.

Bonvillain, Nancy. Native American Medicine. New York: Chelsea House. 1997. Print.

Brown, Richard E. Rockeffeler Medicine Men: Medicine and Capitalism in America.

Berkeley: University of California Press. 1980. EPub.

Cohen, Kenneth S. Honoring the Medicine: The Essential Guide to Native American

Healing. London: Random Publishing Group. 2018. EPub.

Conley, Robert J. Cherokee Medicine Man: The Life and Work of a Modern-Day Healer.

Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. 2014. EPub.

De Ville, Kenneth. Medical Malpractice in Nineteenth-Century America: Origins and

Legacy. New York: NYU Press. 1992. EPub.

Dufrene, Phoebe. “UTILIZING THE ARTS FOR HEALING FROM A NATIVE

AMERICAN PERSPECTIVE: IMPLICATIONS FOR CREATIVE ARTS THERAPIES.”

Web. 30 July 2020.

< http://www3.brandonu.ca/cjns/10.1/dufrene.pdf>

Gregg, Amy. “Nineteenth-Century American Medicine: The Implications of

Professionalism, Capitalism, and Implicit Bias.” Ohio State University. 2017.

“Guidelines for Health Care Providers Interacting with American Indian (Native American;

First Nation) Patients and Their Families”. Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council. Web.

26 July 2020.

Fuller, Robert C. Alternative Medicine and American Religious Life. Oxford: Oxford

University Press. 1989. EPub.

Jolivétte, Andrew. Cultural Representation in Native America. Lanham: AltaMira Press.

2006. Print.

Leavitt, Judith W. and Ronald L. Numbers. Sickness and Health in America: Readings in the History of Medicine and Public Health. Madison: Univ of Wisconsin Press. 1997. EPub.

Miller, Mary J. Screening Culture: Constructing Image and Identity. Lanham: Lexington

Books. 2003.

Moondance, Wolf. Star Medicine: Native American Path to Emotional Healing. New York:

Sterling Publishing Company, Inc. 1997. EPub.

Orr, Tamra. Native American Medicine. New York: Simon and Schuster. 2014. EPub.

Rife, James P. and Alan J. Dellapenna. Caring and Curing: A History of the Indian Health

Service. PHS COF. 2009. EPub.

Rothstein, William. American Physicians in the Nineteenth Century. Baltimore: JHU Press.

1992. Print.

Starr, Paul. The Social Transformation of American Medicine: The Rise of a Sovereign

Profession and the Making of a Vast Industry. New York: Basic Books. 1982. EPub.

Takaki, Ronald T. Iron Cages: Race and Culture in 19th-century America. Oxford: Oxford

University Press. 2000. EPub.

Tascioglu, Ali O. “Wichascha Wakan: Medicine Man (Lakota Sioux) Native American

Medicine and the Role of the Medicine Man.” Ankara: Hacettepe University Faculty of

Medicine. Web. 26 July 2020.

Toledo-Pereyra, Luis H. A History of American Medicine from the Colonial Period to the

Early Twentieth Century. New York: Edwin Mellen Press. 2006. EPub.

Trafzer, Clifford E. and Diane Weiner. Medicine Ways: Disease, Health, and Survival among Native Americans. Lanham: AltaMira Press. 2001. EPub.

Van der Leeuw, G. “Religion in Essence and Manifestation.” Princeton Legacy Library.

Princeton: Princeton University Press. 1986. EPub.

Vogel, Virgil J. American Indian Medicine. Civilization of the American Indian Series.

Volume 95. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. 1970. Print.

Waller, John C. Health and Wellness in 19th-century America. Santa Barbara: Greenwood.

2014. EPub.

Whorton, James C. Nature Cures: The History of Alternative Medicine in America. Oxford:

Oxford University Press. 2004. Print.

Wolfson, Evelyn. From the Earth to Beyond the Sky: Native American Medicine. Boston:

Houghton Mifflin. 1993. Print.

Resumé

During the 19th century, the major competitors in the medicine were the newly established medical professionals following a scientific based medicine, and Native American healing practices comprising deep knowledge of the land’s fauna and flora. Not only was the

American medical society in dispute with the Native American medicine, but also within the

American culture itself aroused criticism around the American medicine, as there were multiple movements established, practiced during this period, gravitating towards Native healing practices.

The perceptions of medicine during this century offers analysis at the cultural level as these two counterparts differed culturally in great manner. The medicine man offers an example of such diversity, as this figure is the target of many written critiques encompassing the cultural gap between the American and Native belief system evolving around medicine. To support the views of the American politics and the ideology of the medical society, White authors sustained at the critique of the medicine man and the depiction of the Native American culture.

The aim of this thesis is therefore to analyze the cultural imagery of the figure of the medicine man. In that regard, the work deals with historical and cultural context of medicine

65 during 19th century in America, to depict the contrast between the perceptions of medicine and propose that these stances are deeply interwoven with politics and hierarchy, as the newly established scientific approach of American medicine ultimately neglects any other perceiving of phenomena, and mostly performance of the healing practices.

Résumé

Tato práce se zabývá rozborem přístupů k medicíně během 19. století v Americe. Hlavními konkurenty v této periodě byla nově vznikající odborná americká lékařská společnost, která stála v opozici proti domorodé kultuře vycházející, v oblasti medicíny, z mytologie a spirituálních koncepcí. Vzhledem k tomu, že psané záznamy byly v tomto období vedeny pouze americkými autory, setkáváme se s řadou kritik popisující léčebný koncept Indiánských kmenů, bez protiargumentu. Přestože byly domorodé vědomosti předávány bez psaných záznamů, evidujeme přínosné percepce ohledně těchto znalostí na základě alternativních směrů uvnitř americké medicíny, která k tomuto konceptu inklinovala.

Tyto dva odlišné pohledy na léčebné procesy a principy lidského zdraví vytváří podklad pro kulturní analýzu v historickém a politickém kontextu, zahrnující americko-indiánské války a vznik samotného zdravotnictví. Pro kulturní syntézu, nabízí nejvyšší postava domorodého léčitelství znamenitý příklad kontrastu percepcí těchto tak odlišných kultur v jedné zemi, jakožto terče americký kritik s důrazem na vágní přístup k medicíně založeného na nedostatečné implementaci vědeckých postupů do tohoto oboru. Negativní vyobrazení indiánského léčitelského umění otevírá hlubší problematiku, vkomponovávající historické, politické a kulturní souvislosti během této periody.

Medicína 19. století v Americe představuje kontrast mezi praktikami indiánů a vývojem exaktní vědy zpochybňující nedostatečný vědecký přístup ve formování oblasti medicíny.

Pohled na léčebné procesy domorodců sčítaly větší míru negativních recenzí, které zastínily jejich kompetence, stejně tak jako přidanou hodnotu ve vývoji medicíny. Cílem této práce je analyzovat účel a formu kritiky domorodých obyvatel Spojených států americkými autory v 19. století, na pozadí historického a kulturního rozboru.