BDLL. 30] 



MEDICINE AND MEDICINE -MEN 



837 



sucking), blood-letting, poulticing, clys- 

 mata, sweat bath, sucking of snake poison 

 or abscesses, counter irritation, tooth pull- 

 ing, bandaging, etc. Dieting and total 

 abstinence from food were forms of treat- 

 ment in vogue in various localities. Veg- 

 etal medicines were, and in some tribes 

 still are, numerous. Some of these are 

 employed by reason of a real or fancied 

 resem))lance to the part affected, or as 

 fetishes, because of a supposed mythical 

 antagonism to the cause of the sickness. 

 Thus, a i^lant with a worm-like stem may 

 be given as a vermifuge; one that lias 

 many hair-like processes is used among 

 the Hopi to cure baldness. Among the 

 Apache the sacred tule pollen known as 

 ha-dn-tin is given or apjilied l^ecause of its 

 supposed supernatural beneficial effect. 

 Other plants are employed as remedies 

 simply for traditional reasons, without 

 any formulated opinion as to their modes 

 of action. Finally, all the tribes are 

 familiar with and employ cathartics and 

 emetics; in some cases also diaphoretics, 

 diuretics, cough medicines, etc. Every 

 tribe has also knowledge of some of the 

 poisonous plants in its neighborhood and 

 their antidotes. 



The parts of plants used as medicines 

 are most often roots, occasionally twigs, 

 leaves, or bark, but rarely flowers or 

 seeds. They are used either fresh or dry, 

 and most commonly in the form of a de- 

 coction. Of this a considerable quantity, 

 as much as a cupful, is administered at a 

 time, usually in the morning. Only ex- 

 ceptionally is the dose repeated. Gener- 

 ally only a single plant is used, but 

 among some Indians as many as four 

 plants are combined in a single medicine; 

 some of the Opata mix indiscriminately a 

 large number of substances. The pro- 

 prietary medicines are sold at a high 

 price. Some of these plants, so far as 

 they are known, possess real medicinal 

 value, but many are quite useless for the 

 purpose for which they are prescribed. 

 There isaprevalcnt belief that the Indians 

 are acquainted with valuable specifics for 

 venereal diseases, snake bites, etc., but 

 how far this belief may be true has not yet 

 been shown. 



Animal and mineral substances are also 

 occasionally used as remedies. Among 

 Southwestern tribes the bite of a snake 

 is often treated by applying to the w'ound 

 a portion of the ventral surface of the 

 body of the same snake. The Papago use 

 crickets as medicine; the Tarahumare, 

 lizards; the Apache, spiders' eggs. 

 Among the Navaho and others red ocher 

 combined with fat is used externally to 

 prevent sunliurn. The red, barren clay 

 from beneath a campfire is used by White 

 Mountain Apache women to induce ste- 



rility; the Hopi blow charcoal, ashes, or 

 other products of fire on an inflamed sur- 

 face to counteract the supposed fire which 

 causes the ailment. Antiseptics are un- 

 known, but some of the cleansing agents 

 or healing powders employed probably 

 serve as such, though undesignedly on 

 the part of the Indians. 



The exact manner of therapeutic action 

 is as absolutely unknown to the Indian as 

 it is to the ignorant white man. Among 

 some tribes the term for medicine signi- 

 fies "mystery," but among others a dis- 

 tinction is made between thaumaturgic 

 practices and actual medicines. Occa- 

 sionally the term "medicine" is extended 

 to a higher class of greatly prized fetishes 

 that are supposed to be imljued with 

 mysterious protective power over an indi- 

 vidual or even over a tribe (see Orenda). 

 Such objects form the principal contents 

 of the so-called medicine-l)ags. 



In many localities there was prepared 

 on special occasions a tribal "medicine." 

 The Iroquois used such a remedy for heal- 

 ing w'ounds, and the Hopi still prepare 

 one on the occasion of their Snake dance. 

 Among the tribes who prepare tisni'ii, or 

 tesrino, particularly the Apache, parts of 

 a number of bitter, aromatic, and even 

 poisonous plants, especially a species of 

 datura, are added to the liquid to make 

 it "stronger"; these are termed medi- 

 cines. 



The causation and the nature of disease 

 being to the Indian in large part myste- 

 ries, he assigned them to supernatural 

 agencies. In general, every illness that 

 could not plainly be connected with a 

 visible influence was regarded as the 

 effect of an introduction into the body, 

 by malevolent or offended supernatural 

 beings or through sorcery practised by 

 an enemy, of noxious objects capable of 

 producing and continuing pain or other 

 symptoms, or of absorbing the patient's 

 vitality. These beliefs, and the more 

 rational ones concerning many minor in- 

 dispositions and injuries, led to the de- 

 velojiment of separate forms of treatment, 

 and varieties of healers. 



In every Indian tribe there were, and 

 in some tril)es still are, a number of men, 

 and perhaps also a number of women, 

 who were regarded as the possessors of 

 supernatural jjowers that enabled them 

 to recognize, antagonize, or cure disease; 

 and there were others who were better 

 acquainted wdth actual remedies than the 

 average. These two classes were the 

 "physicians." They were oftentimes dis- 

 tinguished in designation and differed in 

 influence over the people as well as in 

 responsibilities. Among the Dakota one 

 was called wakan witshasha, 'mystery 

 man ', the other pejihuta witshasha, ' grass- 



