838 



MEDICINE AND MEDICINE-MEN 



[b. a. E. 



root man ' ; among the Navaho one is 

 khathali, 'singer', 'chanter', the other 

 ■izeelmi, 'maker of medicines' ; among the 

 Apache one is taiyin, 'wonderful,' the 

 other simply ^2e, 'medicine.' 



The mystery man, or thanmaturgist, 

 was believed to have obtained from the 

 deities, usually through dreams, but 

 sometimes before birth, powers of rec- 

 ognizing and removing the mysterious 

 causes of disease. He was "given" 

 appropriate songs or prayers, and be- 

 came possessed of one or more power- 

 ful fetishes. He announced or exhibited 

 these attributes, and after convincing his 

 tribesmen that he possessed the proper 

 requirements, was accepted as a healer. 

 In souie tribes he was called to treat all 

 diseases, in others his functions were 

 specialized, and his treatment was re- 

 garded as efficacious in only a certain line 

 of affections. He wa-^ feared as well as 

 respected. In numerous instances the 

 medicine-man com])ined the functions of 

 a shaman or priest with tliose of a healer, 

 and thus exercised a great influence 

 among his people. All priests were be- 

 lieved to possess some heahng powers. 

 Among most of the populous tribes the 

 medicine-men of this class were asso- 

 ciated in guilds or societies, and on spe- 

 cial occasions performed great healing or 

 "life (vitality) giving" ceremonies, 

 which abounded in songs, prayers, ritual, 

 and drama, and extended over a period 

 of a few hours to nine days. 



The ordinary procedure of the medi- 

 cine-man was about as follows: He in- 

 quired into the symptoms, dreams, and 

 transgressions of tabus of the patient, 

 whom he examined, and then pro- 

 nounced his opinion as to the nature 

 (generally mythical) of the ailment. He 

 then prayed, exhorted, or sang, the last, 

 perhaps, to the accompaniment of a rat- 

 tle; made passes with his hand, some- 

 times moistened with saliva, over the 

 part affected; and finally placed his 

 mouth over the most j^ainful spot and 

 sucked hard to extract the innnediate prin- 

 ciple of the illness. This result he apjtar- 

 ently accomplished, often by means of 

 sleight-of-hand, producing the offending 

 cause in the shape of a thorn, pebble, hair, 

 or other object, which was then thrown 

 away or destroyed ; finally he administered 

 a mysterious powder or other tangible 

 "medicine," and perhaps left also a pro- 

 tective fetish. There were many varia- 

 tions of this method, according to the re- 

 quirements of tliecase, and the medicine- 

 man never failed to exercise as much 

 mental influence as possible over his pa- 

 tient. For these services tlie healer was 

 usually well compensated. If the case 

 would not yield to the simpler treatment, 



a healing ceremony might be resorted to. 

 If all means failed, particularly in the 

 case of internal diseases or of adolescents 

 or younger adults, the medicine-man 

 often suggested a witch or wizard as the 

 cause, and the designation of some one 

 as the culprit frequently placed his life 

 in jeopardy. If the medicine-man lost 

 several patients in succession, he himself 

 might l)e suspected either of having 

 been deprived of his supernatural power 

 or of liaving become a sorcerer, the pen- 

 alty for which was usually death. 



These shaman healers as a rule were 

 shrewdand experienced men; some were 

 sincere, noble characters, worthy of re- 

 spect; others were charlatans to a greater 

 or less degree. They are still to be found 

 among the less civilized tribes, but are 

 diminishing in number and losing their 

 influence. Medicine-women of this class 

 were found among the Apache and some 

 other tribes. 



The most accomplished of the medi- 

 cine-men practised also a primitive sur- 

 gery, and aided, by external manipula- 

 tion and otherwise, in difficult labor. 

 The highest surgical achievement, un- 

 doubtedly practised in part at least as 

 a curative method, was trephining. This 

 operation was of common occurrence and 

 is still practised in Peru, where it reached 

 its highest development among American 

 tribes. Trephining was also known in 

 quite recent times among the Tarahumare 

 of Chihuahua, but has never been found 

 north of Mexico. 



The other class of medicine men and 

 women corresponds closely to the herb- 

 alists and the old-fashioned rural mid- 

 wives among white people. The women 

 predominated. They formed no socie- 

 ties, were not so highly respected or so 

 much feared as those of the other class, 

 were not so well compensated, and had 

 less responsibility. In general they used 

 much more common sense in their prac- 

 tice, were acquainted with the beneficial 

 effects of sweating, poulticing, moxa, 

 scarification, various manipulations, and 

 numerous vegetal remedies, such as pur- 

 gatives, emetics, etc. Some of these 

 medicine-women were frequently sum- 

 moned in cases of childbirth, and some- 

 times were of material assistance. 



Besides these two chief classes of heal- 

 ers there existed among some tribes large 

 medicine societies, comjiosed principally 

 of patients cured of serious ailments. 

 This was particularly the case among the 

 Pueblos. At Zuni there still exist sev- 

 eral such societies, whose members in- 

 clude the greater part of the tribe and 

 whose organization and functions are com- 

 plex. The ordinary members are not 

 actual healers, but are believed to be more 



