Healing Touch/Acupressure
Native Americans have always considered touch to be therapeutic. The Creator
touches patients and transfers power to them through medicine people or shamans
who are healing instruments. Touching, an expression of loving care, is essential for
the healing process. It cleanses the affected area and relieves pain. The healer’s will-
ingness to touch demonstrates no fear of contamination. Healing touch is a power-
ful way to remove barriers and create or restore relationships.
Some tribes have used a form of acupressure since ancient times. Compared with
traditional Chinese practitioners, Native Americans use fewer pressure points but a
similar process. Prior to using acupressure, medicine people warm their hands over a
fire so that the Great Being can send healing warmth through them to the patient. It
is believed that no harm will be done to a person as long as the pressure is applied
slowly and in a relaxed way. Medicine people are taught that acupressure should
only be done with the utmost gentleness and love.
Herbs
Native Americans have long used herbs in maintaining health and treating disease.
Botanical remedies are supplemented with ceremony and prayer during the healing
process. The beneficial properties of herbs as medicines often depend on the green-
ness or ripeness of the plant and the part of the plant to be used such as roots,
barks, twigs, bulbs, rhizomes, fruit seed, tubers, leaves, and flowers. Knowing the
best time for cutting and digging each type of plant, for peak effectiveness, is part of
the knowledge of the Native healer. Whether it be in summer, winter, spring, or
autumn, the timing must be appropriate for each plant. An herb gathered with
prayers, at the correct time and prepared properly will restore a person from illness
to health.
Ancient Native people considered nature to be their pharmacy. They did not have
aspirin but they did have willow bark, which contains salicylic acid. The active
ingredient in squaw tea is ephedrine, the main ingredient in many cold cures now
on the conventional market. The active ingredient in foxglove is digitalis, which was
used to brew tea to help people with heart problems. Particular molds, similar to
those forming the basis for penicillin, were used to treat infections. Purple coneflower
(echinacea) is an immune system booster and antibiotic, which is held in high
esteem by many people today. Goldenseal, which is a good disinfectant that pro-
motes scab formation, is one of the most important Native American medicinal
plants. Currently, it is also used as a gargle for sore throat or as a mouth rinse for
canker sores, tonsillitis, and infected gums. More information about herbal cures can
be found in Chapter 6, “Herbal Medicine.”
CHAPTER 5 NATIVE AMERICAN HEALING 77
