A medicine man or medicine woman is a traditional healer and spiritual leader who serves a community of

Indigenous people of the Americas The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are the inhabitants of the Americas before the arrival of the European settlers in the 15th century, and the ethnic groups who now identify themselves with those peoples. Many Indigenous peoples of the Am ...

. Individual cultures have their own names, in their respective languages, for spiritual healers and ceremonial leaders in their particular cultures.

Cultural context

In the ceremonial context of Indigenous North American communities, "medicine" usually refers to ''spiritual'' healing. Medicine men/women should not be confused with those who employ Native American ethnobotany, a practice that is very common in a large number of Native American and First Nations households.Alcoze, Dr Thomas M.
Ethnobotany from a Native American Perspective: Restoring Our Relationship with the Earth
" in ''

Botanic Gardens Conservation International Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) is a plant conservation charity based in Kew, Surrey, England. It is a membership organisation, working with 800 botanic gardens in 118 countries, whose combined work forms the world's largest plan ...

'' Volume 1 Number 19 - December 1999Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry,
Traditional Ecological Knowledge: Sustaining Our Lives and the Natural World
at ''

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of comme ...

, Forest Service''. Newtown Square, PA. December 2011 The terms ''medicine people'' or ''ceremonial people'' are sometimes used in Native American and First Nations communities, for example, when Arwen Nuttall (

Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, th ...

) of the

National Museum of the American Indian The National Museum of the American Indian is a museum in the United States devoted to the culture of the indigenous peoples of the Americas. It is part of the Smithsonian Institution group of museums and research centers. The museum has three ...

writes, "The knowledge possessed by medicine people is privileged, and it often remains in particular families."National Museum of the American Indian. ''Do All Indians Live in Tipis?'' Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution, 2007. . Native Americans tend to be quite reluctant to discuss issues about medicine or medicine people with non-Indians. In some cultures, the people will not even discuss these matters with American Indians from other tribes. In most tribes, medicine elders are prohibited from advertising or introducing themselves as such. As Nuttall writes, "An inquiry to a Native person about religious beliefs or ceremonies is often viewed with suspicion." One example of this is the

Apache The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño a ...

medicine cord or whose purpose and use by Apache medicine elders was a mystery to nineteenth century ethnologists because "the Apache look upon these cords as so sacred that strangers are not allowed to see them, much less handle them or talk about them." The 1954 version of ''Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language'' reflects the poorly-grounded perceptions of the people whose use of the term effectively defined it for the people of that time: "a man supposed to have supernatural powers of curing disease and controlling spirits." In effect, such definitions were not explanations of what these "medicine people" are to their own communities but instead reported on the consensus of socially and psychologically remote observers when they tried to categorize the individuals. The term ''medicine man/woman'', like the term ''

shaman Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spir ...

'', has been criticized by Native Americans, as well as other specialists in the fields of religion and anthropology. While non-Native anthropologists often use the term ''shaman'' for indigenous healers worldwide, including the Americas, ''shaman'' is the specific name for a spiritual mediator from the

Tungusic peoples Tungusic peoples are an ethno-linguistic group formed by the speakers of Tungusic languages (or Manchu–Tungus languages). They are native to Siberia and Northeast Asia. The Tungusic phylum is divided into two main branches, northern (Evenic ...

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part ...

Smith, C. R
"Shamanism."
''Cabrillo College''. (Retrieved 28 June 2011) and is not used in Native American or First Nations communities.

Frauds and scams

There are many fraudulent healers and scam artists who pose as Cherokee "shamans", and the Cherokee Nation has had to speak out against these people, even forming a task force to handle the issue. In order to seek help from a Cherokee medicine person, a person needs to know someone in the community who can vouch for them and provide a referral. Usually one makes contact through a relative who knows the healer.

Notes

External links

{{Authority control Religious occupations of the indigenous peoples of North America Traditional healthcare occupations

Cultural context

Frauds and scams

See also

Notes

External links