Medicine Man. A medicine man or medicine woman is a traditional healer and spiritual leader who serves a community of Indigenous people of the Americas.
Individual cultures have their own names, in their respective Indigenous languages, for the spiritual healers and ceremonial leaders in their particular cultures. 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. The terms medicine people or ceremonial people are sometimes used in Native American and First Nations communities, for example, when Arwen Nuttall of the National Museum of the American Indian writes, The knowledge possessed by medicine people is privileged, and it often remains in particular families.
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 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 medicine cord or whose pu
Individual cultures have their own names, in their respective Indigenous languages, for the spiritual healers and ceremonial leaders in their particular cultures. 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. The terms medicine people or ceremonial people are sometimes used in Native American and First Nations communities, for example, when Arwen Nuttall of the National Museum of the American Indian writes, The knowledge possessed by medicine people is privileged, and it often remains in particular families.
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 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 medicine cord or whose pu
Wikipedia ...