Igbo Folk Medicine Essay

Folk medicine is created through groups of individuals and spreads due to the diffusion of different ethnic groups. Even though folk medicine is isolated to a region, folk medicine is important in creating the knowledge and treatments of illnesses from past generations. Appalachian folk medicine is unique because of the influence of Native American, African American, and Euro-American cultures. Due to isolation of the region, the elements of Appalachian folk medicine is comprised of outside influences, categories within fork medicine, variations of caregivers, and natural remedies.

A specific person (or people) in each tribe are acknowledge as healers. They are usually taught from generation to generation. “Healing does not follow written guidelines. Healers work differently with each person they help. They use their herbs, ceremony and power in the best way for each individual.” (NLM) Ceremonies are a crucial part of the Native healing process, “because physical and spiritual health are intimately connected, body and spirit must heal together. Traditional healing ceremonies promote wellness by reflecting Native conceptions of Spirit, Creator, and the Universe. They can include prayer, chants, drumming, songs, stories, and the use of a variety of sacred objects.” (National Institute of Health) These ceremonies are considered very sacred. Non-Natives are allowed to come by invite only. As one can tell they are very cherished, spiritual, pious ceremonies and not just anyone can be a part of them.

Appalachian folk medicine is a system of healing made up of beliefs and practices that are transferred by oral tradition through families and communities. It was developed in response to a lack of access to modern medical care and combines homemade remedies with superstition and religious beliefs. A general definition of folk medicine is a collection of cures that are handed down by oral tradition and other similar means of heritage and are considered outside of mainstream medicine. Appalachian folk medicine sprung up from the need for health care. In pre-industrial Appalachia, doctors and modern medicine were rare and inaccessible as well as expensive, so people relied on traditional home remedies and superstitious practices to alleviate pain and to cure disease. Practices such as using turpentine and brown sugar to cure worms and the use of magnetism to stimulate the body to heal itself are common for many minor illnesses. The most common aspect of Appalachian folk medicine, however, is the widespread use of herbal and homemade medicines that are believed to have healing powers. It relies on local roots, flowers, fruits, bark, leaves, and seeds that could be gathered and then combined or treated to make them suitable for healing.

Blending old with new, traditional and modern Western medicine and treatment give the Navajo the best of both worlds culturally. Medicine from the Navajo perspective is about healing people by restoring balance and harmony to the spirit. Prayer as well as balance healing rituals like “Walking in Beauty” (O’Brien,

Biomedical physicians and traditional Native American healers are collaborating together to decipher how Native American treatments should proceed in the modern world and how to effectively introduce non-Natives to Native American healing practices. Hospitals and educational institutions including Harvard University, developed their own institution of alternative medicine. Doctor Lewis E. Mehl- Madrona’s 7 to 28 day intensive treatment program inspired by Native American healing traditions proved to have lasting effects on health improvement among those with chronic illness even 5 years after the start of the program. Improvements were also shown by patients who only received conventional treatment with the exception of diabetic patients. The most notable improvements of the diabetic patients were reinforced with the results from the spiritually oriented complementary therapy (Mehl-Madrona,

Native American traditional medicine and spiritual healing rituals go back for thousands of years, these traditions often focus on different variations of alternative medicine. This knowledge is passed on throughout generations, many of the tribes learn that by mixing natural plants such as herbs and roots they can make remedies with healing properties. It is believed that being healthy is when people reach a state of harmony not only spiritually, mentally but physically. To be able to overcome the forces that cause illness people must “operate in the context of relationship to four constructs —namely, spirituality (Creator, Mother Earth, Great Father); community (family, clan, tribe/nation); environment (daily life, nature, balance); and self (inner passions and peace, thoughts, and values)” (Portman & Garret, 2006, p.453). In this research paper I am going to show evidence of the tremendous influence that Native American medicine and spiritual healing have over modern medicine in the course of healing

The Native American woman interviewed has a strong holistic approach when viewing medicine compared to Western civilization. Before seeking any medical attention she states she will first try teas, herbs and other supplements in soothing common ailments. She often bakes

The reliance on western medicine was insufficient. The doctors were die-hard subscribers to western medicine who urgently wanted the child in care, while the parents were resistant and preferred their own customary traditions for addressing the situation according to their mystic “diagnosis.” The clashes provide insights into Hmong culture representative of a pattern of beliefs that clash when patients from other countries face hospital trips in western hospitals. The fact is that all less developed cultures, as western medicine would call them, are reliant on their mythologies and ancient rituals stretching back hundreds of years to determine their course of treatment for their children. In fact, the rituals that they adhere to become so difficult to understand because saving the parents in the ancient spiritual cultures is not the same as saving a patient according to western medicine. The Hmongs are clearly philosophical, and even accepting of the fate of their child, as they believe that the child has already been departed from the body. They hope that the situation is only temporary, and are trying to revive the girl, but also seem prepared to face the spiritual truth if they believe the spirit will not leave. Of course, the doctors feel this is voodoo and they just want to save the child's physical life, or correct her condition. The Hmongs seem more yielding on what they believe to be the fate of their child, and focus on the spiritual character of treatment according to her soul, while the doctors are trying to directly intervene with the physical

In this case study on cross cultural medicinal beliefs and practices, Anne Fadiman addresses the rift between Hmong spiritual and medicinal customs and the culture of American biomedicine by telling the story of a young Hmong child, Lia Lee. Lia’s journey started when she was three months old and she suffered her first of many epileptic seizures. Over the next few months she continued to suffer from her seizures and made at least three emergency room visits. Like most cases of epilepsy, the cause of her grand mal seizures was unknown, however, her parents, Nao Kao and Foua Lee, believed it to be the result of her elder sister slamming the door and scaring Lia awake, allowing a dab, or evil spirit, to steal her soul. After her first visit to the Merced Community Medical Center, it became clear that the language barrier would not allow for an accurate patient history to be recorded. As Lia’s condition worsened, this barrier would further prevent the Lee’s from understanding exactly what was happening to their daughter as well as follow the treatment the doctors were implementing. This eventually lead to the doctor’s believing that Nao Kao and Foua

The cultural values, beliefs, and practices of the AI/AN, influence health care practices within their community. For example, healing is sacred work, the spiritual aspect of the individual needs to be considered to be effective. Contemporary Indians might use “white man’s medicine” to treat “white man’s disease” such as diabetes, cancer, and gallbladder disease and “native medicine” was used to treat “native problems” such as pain, family relationship issues, mental illness and alcoholism aka “sickness of the spirit” (Alvord, 1997; Hendrix, 1999). Many Western medicines were based on Indian herbal medications. For instance, aspirin is derived from willow bark (Alvord, 1997; Hendrix,

쀀쀀e in become more evolved as a nation one of the problem that needs to be address is how to response to diverse faith within our healthcare practices. This essay serves to compare these three different religious philosophies: Yoruba, Hinduism (karma) and Buddhism, to a Christian’s perspective. These religions have wide perspectives but one will key in on health management and what to expect from healthcare point of view while caring for these patients. Yoruba religion is based on nature worshipping and is rooted deeply on respect for the environment. Their divinities is called Òrìsà, when it work is complete they become thunderstorm with lightning. Then the formation of the river adjoining into the ocean all of these actions are classified as divinities (Abimbola 2010). All living things are considered sacred and need to be reverenced. Religion cannot be free from the influence of the culture of the people where it is established, Gaiya substantiating this view wrote that culture and religion are two sides of the same coin and that a change in one affects the other (Awoniyi 2011).One will hear words such as Ori which is the soul or the unconscious mind, Èmí-the divine breathe enclosed in our heart and Òlódùmare, our High God.. (Awoniyi 2011).

The Igbos religious beliefs greatly had to do with the representation of spirits through physical people of a certain type. The Igbo people have a name and representation for medicine itself and have shrines for medicinal purposes as well. ¨The active principle in the medicine had been an old woman with one leg. In fact, the medicine itself was called Agadi Nwayi, or old woman. It had it´s shrine in the center of Umuofia, in a cleared spot.¨ (Achebe 2) As stated in the text, near the barn was a small house, the ´medicine house´ or

For others, it was the structural problems and settings they found themselves in that influenced their use of traditional healers. This was the case with participants who found out their hepatitis B from Africa. In Panya’s case, he linked his treatment with herbal medicines to the place where he lived. He recounted using ’riash’, an emetic herbal medicine. Panya also drank “lacooyi” (a crude brew of fermented sorghum and millet) to “slow down” his hepatitis

I believe that knowledge in medical anthropology would create a significant impact in the research, development, and knowledge management on folk medicine in Thailand. Therefore, I decided to seek an opportunity to pursue my study in this field. As a result, I have successfully won a doctoral scholarship from The Office of Civil Serviced Commission of Thailand to study abroad in the area of Ethnobiology or Anthropology with special emphasis in Medical Anthropology, Traditional medicine, or Ethnomedicine.

Before explorers and missionaries arrived in Kenya, traditional birth attendants and healers existed as health providers. The traditional healers consisted of herbalists, witch doctors, and the elders. The uses of herbs, roots, magic, and the participation in sacrifice rituals to the ancestors, tribe circumcisions, and home births, were common traditions practiced. The Kenyans did not