Gingko Bilboa Case Study

A majority of Native American tribes have their own traditions about health and illness. These traditions are not based on todays modern sciences. Instead, they derive from the tribe’s beliefs on harmony. “Healing occurs when someone is restored to harmony and connected to universal powers.” (NLM) To what extent are native cultures entitled to ownership of native medical practices and curatives?  Should they be financially reimbursed or are they ethically entitled to refuse to share native knowledge?

Another important item was that the Europeans introduced to them were different types of medicine. The Indians already had medicine and healing (herbs) of their own, but the European way was much more effective. In return, the Indians also gave the Europeans some herbal treatments.

Medicine, to the modern day world, is a way of healing the sick and helping people experience life to their full potential. It is an ingredient of a culture that allows the culture to survive through decades and centuries at a time. But what if the medicine that we know as helpful is actually harmful? When a child cuts their knee the first thing an adult would do is check the scrape and then assess the damage. After assessing the damage, the adult would normally plan a course of treatment to ensure the child would not lose a limb in the near future. After treating the child with a mixture of antibacterial wipes, bandages and ice cream, what if the child is not better, but actually worse? That is what happens when you compare the medical practices of the Hmong to the medical practices of the Americans, both cultures believe that the others will cause more damage than good in respect to healing the soul and body.

Many Alaskan Natives and Native Indians, also known as American Indians, share the same or similar views on health and medicine. Their definition of “traditional medicine” incorporates medicine and religion, various chants and rituals, and being one with Earth (Broome, B., Broome, R., 2007). “In the United States we are challenged to think about health care from our tradition as a cultural melting pot. Therefore, we must address the large range of individual health care needs from populations living the inner-city and suburbia to those in rural environments.” (O 'Brien, Anslow, Begay, Pereira, & Sullivan, 2002). It is important for healthcare workers to understand the views of American Indians in order to integrate their traditional medicine as well as western medicine. Examining areas such as common health conditions, treatments, and attitudes towards health, natural and alternative health will lead to a better capability of providing culturally competent care.

Adding to the conversation, academic scholar Daniel Carlock notes, “health disparities between Native Americans and the general population of the United States are a major health concern” (Carlock, Danielle). Hence, an inherent culturally based issue arises where natives are disregarding modern medicine and Western medical practices and instead turning to a traditional holistic approach. Alternative to standard science being the leading factor towards understanding illness and medicine, a cultural barrier divides indigenous peoples perception of the effectiveness of Western science in regards to traditional beliefs. This creates much difficulty for the U.S. government agency the Indian Health Service providing health care and assistance to federally recognized tribes and indigenous peoples. Commenting on Native American health discrepancies, professor James E. Cheek finds “the infectious disease rate in Native Americans populations was significantly higher than that of Whites”(Cheek, James E). This connects Native American cultural beliefs to an increase in medical disparities in relationship to following standard Western medical practices. With tradition ingrained in Native American culture, indigenous medical practices fail to focus on pathology and curing the disease, instead restoring balance between one's mind, body, and spirit is the focus of natives. Consequently, this is leading to standard Western medical practices and medicine being disregarded because Western culture in terms of medicine has been seen to impede important native spirituality beliefs. “The rates for the top ten underlying causes of death were significantly higher for Native American persons than those for whites” (Cheek, James E). This study accounts for the disparities in regards to

There is a high amount of Co-occurring issues when it comes to Native Americans, they want the treatment they need and are seeking the treatment out, however some of the natives are failing with treatment due to the facilities lack of knowledge of cultural and spiritual preferences. For a native their beliefs and life style is the most important thing

Stories of Native Americans contributions to the advancement of health and medicine traces were discovered in a small town in Nali, Africa. The very first onset of the beggining of modern pharmacology is the substance called "quinine". This is the substance that came from a bark of a tree that grew in high elevations. The Indians has been using this substance to cure malaria, cramps, chills, hear-rythm disorders and many other ailments. Prior to the disovery of quinine, the old world suffers enormously because the lack of medical knowledge that the old world posess. Quinine would have probably been introduce somewhere in 1630, as it was mention in

Since many Native Americans (American Indians; Indigenous peoples; First Nations) integrate traditional healing practices with Western biomedicine, it is important to gain the views of Indigenous men healers. This is particularly true because of the differences between Indigenous healing and Western

The two important focal points that I saw when reading module one and chapter one was that Native Americans have developed an everlasting culture and are long-standing decedents. The Calusa had created techniques based on a very minimalistic knowledge base. Creating items such as the knots that were used in fishing nets and different types of medicine for illnesses. (Becnel, 3) In addition, they knots and plants used in their medicines are still used in modern day medicine which just shows how much we have actually learned from these people. Many medical industries have tried developing, new and improved, medicines when they sometimes fail to realize what we have already in nature. That we don’t need all the inserted chemicals which can have

"Native American medicine is based on widely held beliefs about healthy living, the repercussions of disease-producing behavior, and the spiritual principles that restore balance." -Ken "Bear Hawk" Cohen (Chrisman 1).

This lecture covered stimulants and hallucinogens, such as the morning glory which has alkaloids similar to LSD, but has about 10th the potency of LSD. Typically the seeds are coated with an herbicide so users must be cautious when using morning glory. Mescaline is derived from the peyote cactus, and is not legal in America, but is permitted in some states for the use among Native American religious ceremonies. Plants with hallucinogenic properties such as belladonna, mandrake, henbane, and Datura have all been around for centuries, and have serve various purposes other than just the psychoactive effects. Henbane has been used as part of a cure for alcoholism, as well as being used to poison hamlets father. The ancient Chinese used Datura to

As funds appropriated to Native nations by the U.S. federal government are continually inadequate, this practice of medicalisation, which constitutes a cheaper and simpler short-term measure, indeed often takes precedence, maintaining an endless burden for tribal healthcare that “cannot afford a single dollar lost” according to experts (Duran & Duran, 1995: 112; National Indian Health Board, 2013: iii).

Besides Ginkgo Leaf Extract, Folic Acid, Ashwagandha Root Extract, N-Acetyl L-Tyrosine and Acetyl L-Carnitine and L-Theanine, Cogniforce also contains ingredients that are vital in preventing brain shrinkage and cognitive decline.

As stated above due to my mother’s psotionality I have been exposed to both natural medicine and criticism on such views, but many others grew up with severely negative or dismissive teachings and views. This brought out a type of curiosity that only increased throughout my schooling, specifically what do people believe and what were they taught. Thus, the purpose of my paper is to discover what stereotypes are known and believed to be associated with Indigenous medicine and how does familiarity with the topic influence these views. The study looks at variables such as positionality as well as relationships to the teachings, allowing for an accurate depiction without making any assumptions. This will allow me to analyze with as little bias

The Monacan Indian Nation owns a part of its ancestral land in Amherst County, VA and still hunt and dig ginseng on their land for their own use and to sell. How do you feel about native peoples in remote areas being compensated for help in discovering of plants that can have medicinal benefits? I believe that they should be compensated either as a lump payment for their assistance or paid a fair price for what they can sustainably harvest. Any harvest of plants needs to be done sustainably so that we can continue to reap the benefits of the plant without endangering it. We do not need to create another situation like we have with American ginseng where the demand and price is creating an unsustainable