The Roots of North American Medicine

Physician, surgeon, pharmacist at one and the same time, the skilled tribal persons operated on the injured, treated disease and effected cures among their people. The system of medicine, surprisingly complete, was handed down unwritten from generation to generation.

While remarkably free of disease, Indian people did have ailments which made it necessary for them to seek curative herbs. The predominant disorders besides besides external injuries, seem to have been arthritis digestive disorders and respiratory infections. Apparently the Native American's generally harmonious quiet way of life, apart from warfare, protected them from a whole category of the white man's ills. It seems that heart disease, arteriosclerosis, and cancer were rare indeed. Neurological and psychiatric disturbances were also uncommon.

Many traditional Native Indian medicines have made their way into the white man's pharmacopeia; and the active agents of many important drugs in use today, such as cascara sagrada - presently the most widely used cathartic in the world - is still widely used in the U.S. Pharmacopeia since so synthetic substitute has ever been found to replace it. Cascara sagrada is derived from the bark of the buckthorn tree. This tree was given the name of the 'sacred bark' by Europeans who were impressed by it's mildness and efficacy.

It is only in comparatively modern times that some of the most astonishing Indian early medical knowledge has been uncovered by scientific investigators. For example, Dr. Frederick Banting, discoverer of insulin, credited Indian healers with the 'pharmaceutical' spade work which lead to his discovery.

As a surgeon, how did the North American Indian compare with his European colleague? Judging by reports of white men, the Indian's surgical technique for the pruning of a human limb was one of spectacular skill since successful operations depended on speed. An amputation at the joint was performed with a knife of flint. Blood vessels were sealed with stones heated to redness, thus arresting hemorrhage. Deer sinews were used as sutures. Other materials used in the joining together of two edges of a wound or incision included human hair, vegetable fibres, and those of the light, soft, durable, basswood. Excess bleeding was arrested by spider webs or pulverized puffballs.

With regard to patient-comfort, the aboriginal surgeon knew a great deal about pain-allaying medicines to put him patient "under". In fact, as far as anesthetics were concerned, the Indian medical practitioner was centuries ahead of the European 'conquerors'.

In the treatment of wounds one of the most remarkable aspects of Indian practice was the use of some form of aseptic technique. It was the late 19th century before Europeans or white doctors learned the necessity of keeping wounds clean. One historical report indicates that when an Indian of the Illinois tribe was wounded by shot or arrow, a quantity of warm water with diluted drugs was poured into him.

As a bone setter, the North American Indian dexterously and with care, set fractures of the bones. Splints of cedar were applied, padded with leaves or grass and then bound with soft, pliable branches of the young birch. Dislocations were reduced by the simple medium of force.

The sweat bath was also considered an important remedy for painful conditions of joints and muscles as well as a means of cleanliness. Again, in contrast to the derogatory disdain with which many white people viewed Native American life, North America's original inhabitants were practically 'health nuts' in this respect. Almost all Europeans commented on the custom of frequent bathing whenever these Indians lived near water.

To rid the body of venom from a reptile or insect bite and to draw off pus from an infected wound, the healing technique of sucking was employed rationally and effectively. Treatment included a preliminary does of snakeroot powder taken by both patient and treatment giver.

In the Indian's pharmaceutical supply of both humble week and bright flower, roots, herbs, plants, tree barks, even odors served a medicinal purpose. An example is the powdered roots of buttercups which, when inhaled, relieved headaches. All medications were stored in skins to keep them clean and dry.

So far, we have talked about the persons who we would identify as the 'doctors' in the tribe. What about the 'nurse', the other half of this first North America Native medical team? She was a woman of the tribe, gentle and confident in her skills. Hollywood not withstanding, she did not shake rattles, blow dust, or do weird dances to fight off the maladies that beset her patient. If she crooned softly while wiping the perspiration from a fretful patient's brow, she soothed worries as well as wounds. Observing and charting a patient's progress in her own manner was an important responsibility. So also was the brewing and making of poultices and other applications from nature's pharmaceutical array. This latter task was an art in itself and one of the nurse's duties. An Indian woman's reliability could be judged by the faithfulness in carrying out orders in the absence of the healer ('doctor') A patient's life might depend on it.

There were many kinds of wounds to dress, for injuries were common affairs in the life of hunting and engaging in warfare. But the women of the tribe treated them all and probably cheered their patients with their gentle ways.

Almost all the Indian's diseases came about by the weather, and hardships such as famine and injuries. It was only with the arrival of the white man that the North American Indian's system of medicine broke down. New, and to the Native 'doctors' and 'nurses', unknown diseases such as scarlet fever, tuberculosis, smallpox, and other frightful diseases spread through the tribes like a devastating flame. It is noted that the entire western plains region of Canada was ravaged by smallpox in the fall and winter of the 1870's. An estimated five thousand Cree and Blackfoot died. The fatal blossoms of smallpox almost decimated the Indian population. In the providence of God, only the discovery of a vaccination by an English physician, Edward Jenner, saved the North American inhabitants. In a sense, western medical science gave back to Native Americans a little of what it owed.