Analysis: Healing Secrets Of Native Americans

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Marqus Miller Professor Brown English 101 (7074) 6 December 2013 Porter Shimer: Healing Secrets of the Native Americans Native Americans were the first inhabitants on the North American continent. They inhabited many places including the Arctic, Subarctic, Northeast, Southeast, the Plains, Southwest, the Great Basin, California, the Northwest coast and the Plateau. They were a very smart bunch of people. They believed balance was a necessary key to life. They looked at all living things and different aspects of nature, like rivers, mountains and weather as relatives. Native American psychotherapist Robert Blackwolf Jones once said “We share our breath with all that is visible−The deer, bear, hawk, snake, tree and shark” (Shimer 11).…show more content…
Other physical healing techniques include, but are not limited to hydrotherapy (similar to a traditional sweat) and various types of massages, visualizations and healing ceremonies. Most of these are led by shamans. They’re the equivalent to doctors and they are mediums to the spirit world. Native Americans discovered the therapeutic value of touch and with that study came many techniques of massage. They used different types of massages for different things. Friction massages were used to bring flexibility to ligaments and tendons. Kneading (which is similar to the way dough is kneaded) is another kind of massage they used. Kneading is when you pull a muscle slightly away from the bone and squeeze it between fingers, palms or thumbs. This technique of massage is used to increase blood flow within the muscles. Sprains and swellings could be healed by this technique. They used massage in many ways. These manipulations to the body are essential for the muscles when needed. They sometimes mix massages with ointment treatments, so it can be potent. For example as stated in Healing Secrets of the Native Americans, a colonel’s wife had severe and seemingly incurable leg pains. She was treated by a Native American who went into the woods, cut twigs and cuttings of dogwood, removed the bark, and boiled them in water then used the water to rub the woman’s legs. Her pain disappeared in 2 or 3…show more content…
Researchers estimate that more than twenty-five percent of drugs that are used today are extracts of what Native Americans used thousands of years ago. Drugs like Aspirin, Morphine, Digitalis and Tamoxifen are a few examples. There are also spas that specialize in steams, hydrotherapy and massages that Native Americans found useful for healing. Therapists, spirituality coaches and most importantly doctors are available today. Their natural remedies could be categorized as before their time, but I think the total opposite. Native Americans found these cures and treatments through Mother Nature and we most definitely are using them in some form to help us with our everyday

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