What Is Native American Healing

Native American medicine is a term that refers to the historical collection of information, and treatment modalities of many different North American tribes, over thousands of years.

From the Native American perspective, medicine belongs more to the realm of healing than curing. These two concepts are not identical. Physicians aim to cure disease, to vanquish it, to make it go away. Traditional indigenous healers emphasize healing, in the sense of “making whole” by establishing, enhancing, or restoring well-being and harmony.

The philosophy is one that strives to bridge the unseen relationships that exist between man, and the natural world that surrounds him. At the core of the approach is a respect for the impact each has upon the other. Overall balance, and through it, health, is a target that is achieved by taking into full consideration the forces that flow within, and without one’s body, and in the growth of his/her understanding of the apparently simple truth that all life relies inherently upon all other life.