Native American Medicine – Narcotic or Remedy?
When it comes to the Native American medicine, opinions are divided. Some say the Native Americans have always used natural herbs as ingredients for their special mixtures and healing potions, this way providing the sick body and soul what it actually needed - without any toxic additives and serious side effects. Others say the aboriginal healers are simple charlatans and they use natural narcotics to stupefy the patients and make them believe they just went through a magical recovery. But what is the truth?
For many centuries, people believed the Native American medical treatments are simple and primitive, not even worth mentioning. In the 18th century, Father Jakob Baegert wrote that the medical art of the aboriginal people is very limited. However, in the middle of the 18th century, a priest named Miguel Venegas wrote a section about the plants and herbs of the North American lands in his book History of California. According to Venegas, “there is scarce a herb or root which they do not apply to some use”. The priest referred to the fact that the Native Americans have been aware of the benefits of each plant that has occurred on their lands; however, the book mentioned only those plants that were used as food except one, which was used as a medication. That one plant was wild tobacco.
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