“We have the opportunity to build a Rainbow bridge into the Golden Age. But to do this, we must do it together with all the colors of the Rainbow, with all the peoples, all the beings of the world. We who are alive on Earth today are the Rainbow Warriors who face the challenge of building this bridge,"
~Brooke Medicine Eagle, Daughter of the Rainbow, Crow and Lakota ~
(510) 761-4448; Email: kmtribe@aol.com
The Medicine Manual of
Kautantowit's Mecautea
ORIGIN OF THE TERM 'MEDICINE'
As we covered in our Apprentice manual, the term 'medicine', as it applies to Native American traditions, tends to sound a bit misleading. Its origin is actually a corruption of the word 'Midewiwin' (mih-day-i-win), the name for the Grand Medicine Society of the Anishinabe. From this corruption, we derive the word 'medicine', which refers to traditional healing herbs and to many aspects of spiritual practices. We also get the term 'Medicine Man', which in popular use has become a catch-all term for someone who is knowledgeable about traditional herbal remedies, or who carries out certain spiritual ceremonies.
The major difference between Native American healing and conventional medicine, both in the past and present, is the role of spirituality in the healing process. Native Americans believe that all things in nature are connected and that spirits can promote health or cause illness. Therefore, it is necessary to heal not only the physical parts of an individual, but also their emotional wellness, and their harmony with their community and the environment around them. In addition to herbal remedies, the community often came together to help an ill person in ceremonies, dances, praying, and chanting.
The Medicine Man was also a priest in addition to being a doctor. Believing that disease could be caused by human, supernatural, or natural causes, the healer was equipped to treat illness in any of these categories. Masks, which were often grotesque and hideous, were worn by healers to frighten away the spirit causing the disease or pain. Beating drums and shaking rattles while dancing around the patient were also used to exorcise the demons. The Medicine Man combined rights of exorcism with other practical procedures, using plant and animal substances. In addition to herbal remedies, suction tubes or cups were also used by many healers, as well as purging and purification.
Tools were used by the healers which were made from nature, including fur, skins, bone, crystals, shells, roots, and feathers. These were used to evoke the spirit of what the tool was made of, calling for the assistance of the spirits of the tree or animal from which the tool was made. Feathers, linked to the air and wind, were often use to carry the message to the Great Spirit. In some cases, the healer may go into a trance state and seek the help of “spirit guides.”
CEREMONIAL MEDICINES
There are a number of sacred medicines that are used commonly for ceremonial purposes by Native American peoples, including the Mi'kmaq. In general, these are used for purification prior to participating in a ceremony, or for daily spiritual cleansing. This process is referred to as 'smudging', and simply involves burning the medicine to produce smoke, and using the smoke to cleanse. According to teachings, the smoke attaches itself to negativity within us, and carries it away; when the smoke vanishes, so does the negativity. In addition, these medicines can be used as offerings when desired.
TRADITIONAL HEALING
Many plants were used in traditional healing. In some cases, the plants were well-known folk remedies, such as willow bark, which contains salicylic acid and was self-prescribed as required as a pain reliever. However, in more serious illnesses a spiritual element is required in addition to the botanical element, and the combination of medicines for one person may not be the same as for another person with the same condition. A true Healer or Medicine Person will receive guidance from the spirits regarding what combination will work in a particular case. For this reason, it is generally ineffective (and possibly dangerous!) to try to use Native American healing preparations that have not been given specifically to you for your condition.
SWEETGRASS
Sweetgrass (hierochloe odorata, or vanilla grass) is often used for smudging. Sweetgrass grows wild all across North America, and is one of the most commonly-used medicines among the First Nations. When it is burned, it produces a sweet-scented smoke similar to some incenses. This scent is attractive to spirits of all types. Sweetgrass is most often available in braids, as shown, and is thought of as the hair of Mother Earth. Mi'kmaq tradition names sweetgrass as the sacred medicine of the East direction.
SAGE
Sage is another very common smudging herb. While any sage will do the job, white sage (salvia apiana) is generally preferred. This sage is known by a number of different names regionally. Its thick leaves and tendency to smolder well and produce a very pungent smoke are what make it perfect for smudging. Sage smoke is attractive to spirits of good intent, but is repellent to spirits that intend harm. For this reason, sage is particularly useful for smudging and purifying people, objects, areas or structures. Placing crumbled sage leaves with an object is considered to be protective as well. For the Mi'kmaq, sage is the sacred medicine of the South direction
CEDAR
Cedar is the sacred medicine of the West direction, and is used for cleansing and energizing. We frequently use cedar to line the floor of our sweat lodge, and have prepared a number of combinations of different cedars for smudging. Cedar smoke has a fresh, invigorating scent. Since cedar is not common throughout the Maritimes area of Canada, the Mi'kmaq frequently used juniper, a close relative, for the same purposes.
FUNGUS
Fungus is the traditional Mi'kmaw medicine of the North direction, but it has been largely ignored today and replaced by tobacco. Fungus can be used by women to protect men from the draining effects of moon-time. A particular favourite is locally called deer-foot fungus, and is a subspecies of hoof fungus (polyporus fomes fomentarius) that grows on birch trees.
TOBACCO
Tobacco is very commonly used for offerings by most First Nations, and is often an ingredient used in smoking preparations for the sacred pipe. The familiar tobacco plant did not grow in the Maritimes area; instead, the Mi'kmaq used a plant called "Indian tobacco" (lobelia inflata.) This was frequently used in a smoking mixture called 'kinnikinnik' which also usually included alder and red willow bark and bear berry leaves, among other herbs.
​
Contemporary Native Ceremonies
A number of important tribal ceremonies take place all across the United States,
serving various important functions such as giving thanks, providing opportunities
for rites of passage, and connecting communities. Each tribe has its own ceremonies
that are unique to that tribe in terms of both intent and the way in which they are
performed. Typically, ceremonies mark important changes in an individual’s life as
people move through the life-circle from birth to coming-of-age to death. In addi-
tion, ceremonies highlight important times of the year such as the winter and
summer solstices, or other significant transitions of the natural environment. There
are ceremonies for healing sickness, renewing relationships with spirit beings, initiat-
ing people into religious societies, assuring success in hunting, planting, and growing
crops, bringing rain, and giving thanks for the harvest.
Blessing Way
Across tribal nations, the Blessing Way has the very simple, but powerful, purpose of restoring harmony and balance to the individual, family, clan, community, and nation. It may take different forms that are tribally specific in terms of format, language, and practice. Healing and restoration of harmony are believed by Native Americans to take place through singing or chanting. The following excerpt is from a Navajo Blessing Way chant:
​
Earth’s feet become my feet, thereby I go through life.
Its legs become my legs, thereby I go through life.
Long life-happiness I am wherever I will go.
Before me it is blessed wherever I will go,
Behind me it is blessed wherever I will go,
It has become blessed again, it has become blessed again!
Traditionally, mornings begin with, and daily activities are accompanied by, the
prayers and songs from the Blessing Way
Smudging Ceremony
Another Native American purification healing ceremony is the Smudging or “Clear-
ing Way” Ceremony. This healing ceremony requires the burning of certain herbs to
create a cleansing smoke. The smoke is considered a very powerful cleansing spirit
and is used to purify people, ceremonial grounds, homes, and sacred objects, or to
send messages to a greater spirit. Various Native American groups have their own
methods of mixing herbs and grasses for the specific healing purposes being
addressed. Some tribes choose to use pure or “doctored” tobacco in the smudging
ceremonies, which may be called “smokings” by some traditional Native American
groups. The principal herbs used are sage, cedar or juniper, lavender, and sweet
grass. Many traditional Indians believe both “good” and “bad” medicine can be
passed to an individual who walks through the smoke of a stranger.
Pipe Ceremony
The Pipe Ceremony is a healing practice used to connect physical and spiritual
worlds. Some traditionalists describe the Pipe Ceremony as a means of translating
the prayers of the person into smoke. The sacred ceremony includes the rising of the
pipe smoke as a means of integrating the prayers into the spiritual and physical
worlds. The use of the four directions as a part of this healing practice again
connects these worlds
Sweat Lodge Ceremony
The Sweat Lodge Ceremony is a purification ceremony. Sweat Lodge Ceremonies are probably the most widely recognized form of Native American healing. It is considered by some to be a re-birthing experience. For example, the birth process
brings new life and a new beginning, whereas participation in the sweat lodge ceremony can be viewed as a cleansing and a fresh start to life.
As a Native American tradition that has been practiced by many Native nations since ancient times, the Sweat Lodge Ceremony honors the process of transformation and healing, and is central to the modern-day practice of Native traditionalism across nations.
The Sweat Lodge Ceremony is used for purification by embracing the natural powers of the Universal Circle, giving thanks
and requesting blessings for others and oneself. As such, the Sweat Lodge Ceremony is a widely accepted and practiced tradition that serves to purify those undergoing any sort of transformation or healing.
The use of Medicine Sweats, as they are known, is still very widespread across “Indian country” today. For example, it is common in many Native communities to see small sweat lodges of varying kinds beside or behind people’s houses. From a Native traditional perspective, for many who use the Medicine Sweat on a regular basis, it is a practical and spiritual way of life to keep in good relations and to maintain mental, physical, and spiritual wellness in a traditional way.
Similarly, the application of some form of Native American Sweat in therapeutic settings has increased over the past few decades. In many instances, use of the Native American Sweat Lodge in therapeutic settings has centered on attempts to offer culturally responsive services to Native clients in a way that is congruent with their cultural way of life.
For example, in some instances, application of traditions such as the Sweat Lodge Ceremony has been
used with many Native clients as a way to approach a mending of the “Broken Circle”. Broken Circle is a Native American concept indicating the neglect of traditional ways that can result in “dis-ease” or disharmony within the individual. This concept of disharmony, for example, has been central in the application of traditional Native ceremonies in the treatment of alcoholism and other substance dependency at facilities such as residential treatment centers, both on and off reservations.
The Sun Dance requires “each dancer to make a vow to the ‘One Who Has Made Everything’, or to his or her own
guardian spirit to give of him or herself, going without food and water and ‘drying up’ to help another” (p. 227). A Sun Dance usually lasts over 3 days but some may span 4 days. Participants offer prayers for others, receive visions, or may be treated by medicine men for sickness. Sun Dance participants may experience skin-piercing during the event. A Sun Dance is a typically a private Native American community event that is very spiritual. Many people are needed to help with the activity so that the dancers can complete the Ceremony.
​