Indigenous Healing Practices Research Articles

Two anthropologists recall Dominique Buchillet

Dominique Buchillet (Janet Chernela) Dominique Buchillet, the anthropologist who pioneered medical anthropology in the Upper Rio Negro of Brazil, passed away on June 9, 2018 in Brest, France. She was recognized for her tireless research and publication in the field of indigenous health practices as well as her dedication to the people with whom she worked. In 1975 Buchillet received an undergraduate degree in psychology from the Universite Paris X, Nanterre, remaining at the same institution ...

“SINGING THE HEALING”: THE RITUALS OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES CHURCH IN GHANA

While many in Ghana prefer modern medical systems, others use indigenous means such as those emanating from shrines and indigenous sects. Today, many religious practices in Ghana focus a greater part of their services on healing and the general wellbeing of its members. The formation of African Indigenous Churches (AICs) has played a central role in bridging the gap between indigenous and Christian concepts of worship, healing, and wellbeing. The Twelve Apostles Church, first of the AICs in Ghana, is prominent as far as good health and the wellbeing of its members are concerned. These indigenous musical healing practices are seldom recognised for their significant contribution towards good health and wellbeing. In this article, I use an ethnographic approach, employing interviews and participant observation, to describe the significance of the musical healing rituals of the Twelve Apostles Church in Ghana. The question is, how does drumming, dancing, and singing in the Twelve Apostles Church contribute to good health and wellbeing?

Indigenous Health Practices of the Naga People: Continuity and Change

Indigenous Health Practices of the Naga People: Continuity and Change

Indigenous Health Practices of the Naga People: Continuity and Change

For many indigenous people, health is not merely absence of disease but a state of spiritual, communal, and ecosystem equilibrium and well-being. The indigenous concept of health hence articulates physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional elements, from both individual and communal points of view, and involves political, economic, social, and cultural aspects. The health care activities of the indigenous people are often embedded in the traditional beliefs, customs, folklore, taboos, and prescriptions. Like in most indigenous communities, the living traditions of health care exist in Naga society too, which are passed down orally from generation to generation. They have age-old knowledge of preparation and administration of medicines for different diseases using ingredients sourced from roots, barks, leaves, fruits as well as animal derivatives and other natural minerals. Healing rituals employed for invoking the intervention of supernatural forces are an integral component of the treatment procedure. On the whole traditional medicine helped the Naga people to effectively maintain an efficient health care system long before the arrival of the modern medical system. The current existence of a plurality of health care system in the Naga society brings to the fore the question of relevance and continuity of the indigenous health care system which have served the people well for millennia.

Mental Health Services for Orphan and Vulnerable Children

Children’s mental health problems remain a major problem globally. Very few studies have addressed issues of mental health services for children in developing countries. This study examines access to mental health care services for orphans and vulnerable children in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Descriptive design was used to collect data. The findings indicate inadequate mental health policies, lack of child psychiatrists and professional treatment services, scarce resources and poor research facilities. The local community is reliant on indigenous traditional medicines and faith-based healing practices to treat mental illness. Child support organisations recommend aligning existing services with local and international stakeholders to promote comprehensive mental health services for children.

The psychedelic renaissance and the limitations of a White-dominant medical framework: A call for indigenous and ethnic minority inclusion

In recent years, the study of psychedelic science has resurfaced as scientists and therapists are again exploring its potential to treat an array of psychiatric conditions, such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and addiction. The scientific progress and clinical promise of this movement owes much of its success to the history of indigenous healing practices; yet the work of indigenous people, ethnic and racial minorities, women, and other disenfranchised groups is often not supported or highlighted in the mainstream narrative of psychedelic medicine. This review addresses this issue directly: first, by highlighting the traditional role of psychedelic plants and briefly summarizing the history of psychedelic medicine; second, through exploring the historical and sociocultural factors that have contributed to unequal research participation and treatment, thereby limiting the opportunities for minorities who ought to be acknowledged for their contributions. Finally, this review provides recommendations for broadening the Western medical framework of healing to include a cultural focus and additional considerations for an inclusive approach to treatment development and dissemination for future studies.

Strangers in Their Own World: Exploring the Relation Between Cultural Practices and the Health of Older Adults in Native Communities in Chile

Abstract In recent years, social gerontology has emphasised the concept of cultural diversity with the purpose of understanding how there is a differentiated ageing process in the life pathways of ethnic minorities. This study analyses the implications of Indigenous cultural practices for the health of a cross-sectional sample of 569 Indigenous Chileans (Aymara = 201 and Mapuche = 368) aged sixty and over. Measures were applied for depression, health problems, consumption of medication, cultural practices and resilience. The data analysis consisted of a linear and logistic regression analysis for scores on health-related measures. The results show significant differences amongst the Indigenous groups. Mapuche participants have more depressive symptomatology, more health problems and lower consumption of medication. There are differences in the explanatory variables for mental and physical health, but the results generally confirm that maintaining Indigenous medical practices, being resilient and engaging in intergenerational transmission of Indigenous culture are related with better health. These results suggest the need to incorporate an Indigenist and/or multicultural perspective into anti-oppressive social work practice by designing interventions and policies that help to maintain and perpetuate Indigenous health practices in community spaces.

Indigenous perspectives on health: Integration with a Canadian model of practice.

The Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission recommend change within the Canadian health care system, respecting and valuing Indigenous health and healing practices. Adjusting the lens through which occupational therapists practice to incorporate Indigenous views of health and wellness is one potential change. This critical interpretive synthesis of the literature incorporates Indigenous perspectives on health and wellness into the Canadian Model of Occupational Performance and Engagement (CMOP-E) framework, strengthening that model to better serve all peoples in Canada. Integrating Indigenous worldviews can add to the CMOP-E the importance of balance among physical, emotional, spiritual, and mental health; the inseparability of person, community, and land; and understanding occupations as dimensions of meaning. These are incorporated in a proposed integrated model (ICMOP-E). Effectively integrating Indigenous perspectives may be an important first step in a longer journey toward engaging more respectfully with Indigenous perspectives on health and wellness.

Traditionally transnational: Cultural continuity and change in Hmong shamanism across the diaspora

Based on ethnographic fieldwork with Hmong communities in central Laos and the United States (California), this paper examines how the power of Hmong shamans and their spiritual healing rituals remain effective across national borders and continue to be practiced transnationally among diasporic Hmong. Although shamanistic rituals can be seen as locally-embedded and territorially-bound, their power and efficacy can be transnationally projected across the Hmong diaspora because of cultural understandings about shamanistic births across borders and the mobile nature of souls, as well as extensive transnational kinship networks. Nonetheless, Hmong shamanism has also been transformed as it has travelled across national borders through the diaspora from a socially rich, localized community event to an individualized and commodified practice, while retaining its ‘traditional’ authority. In short, Hmong shamanism demonstrates how indigenous religious and healing practices are not incompatible with modernity but can remain remarkably resilient in a contemporary, globalized world.

Developing the Alliances to Expand Traditional Indigenous Healing Practices Within Alberta Health Services.

Indigenous people have unique health needs that require culturally appropriate holistic care that addresses physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. Access to both traditional Indigenous healing practices and Western medicine are needed for all encompassing holistic health. This inquiry addresses actions suggested by the United Nations (UN) and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) with regard to traditional Indigenous medicine and healing and was guided by an Organizational Sponsor and Inquiry Team. The fieldwork for this study took place within Alberta Health Services (AHS), established in 2008 when 12 separate health entities merged to become Canada's first and largest fully integrated provincial health system. Two Elders and a Cultural Helper provided perspectives on cultural protocols surrounding the traditional Indigenous sweat lodge ceremony. Three Indigenous community members provided perspectives on AHS services and holistic health through participation in the traditional Indigenous sweat lodge ceremony. Seven AHS administrative employees provided perspectives on implementation. This study was conducted within an action research framework and the researcher conducted a literature review, interviews, and a focus group to allow for triangulation. Throughout the interviews and focus group, participants consistently emphasized the importance of increasing efforts to expand traditional Indigenous healing practices within AHS, giving rise to the primary study theme: Expanding Traditional Indigenous Healing Practices within AHS. Several subthemes emerged in support of this primary focus, including the following: (1) enhancing cultural competency and safety training among leadership and employees; (2) adhering to tradition and protocol; (3) establishing meaningful partnerships; (4) strengthening organizational facets of program delivery; and (5) need for additional financial, human, and logistical resources. During this time of reconciliation with Indigenous peoples in Canada and beyond, health care leaders and providers have an ethical responsibility and important opportunity to help improve the troubling health disparities at hand. This will inevitably require tremendous reflection, humility, courage, and commitment by stakeholders at all levels, as they work to transform health systems that disproportionately disadvantage Indigenous ways of knowing and being while implicitly privileging Eurocentric, biomedical perspectives. This pursuit, despite the barriers that may arise, is a moral, social, and political imperative for all those health care workers who seek to reduce suffering.

Integration of Indigenous healing practices with western biomedicine in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States of America: a scoping review protocol.

This scoping review aims to explore the following questions.

The Sweat Lodge Ceremony: A Healing Intervention for Intergenerational Trauma and Substance Use

Many traditional healers and Elders agree that strengthening cultural identity, incorporating traditional healing practices, and encouraging community integration can enhance and improve mental health and reduce substance use disorders (SUD) in Indigenous populations. Despite the fact that traditional healing practices have always been valued by Indigenous Peoples, there is very little research on efficacy. Recent research by one of the authors in this group (T. Marsh) has shown that the blending of Indigenous traditional healing practices and a Western treatment model, Seeking Safety, resulted in a reduction in intergenerational trauma (IGT) symptoms and substance use disorders (SUD). This article focuses on the qualitative evidence concerning the impact of the traditional healing practices, specifically the sweat lodge ceremony. Participants reported an increase in spiritual and emotional well-being that they said was directly attributable to the ceremony. This study demonstrates that it would be beneficial to incorporate Indigenous traditional healing practices, including the sweat lodge ceremony, into Seeking Safety to enhance the health and well-being of Indigenous Peoples with IGT and SUD.

Indigenous Healing and Treatment Practices among the Nyishis of Kurung Kumey and Kra Daadi Districts in Arunachal Pradesh

The use of plants and animal as a source of medicine is as old as humanity. Traditional medicine is widely used by the tribes of Arunachal Pradesh as well as North East India and India as a whole. The Nyishi tribe is an indigenous group of people living in some districts of Arunachal Pradesh. For this study, Kurung Kumey and Kra Daadi districts have been taken as the focus areas of study. The paper gives a brief overviews of the indigenous knowledge system of health and healthcare, people’s understanding of health and dieseases and how the people care and heal diseases & illness and drive away illness and sickness by traditional religious ritual and performances.

Localised Communities and Mass Healing Practice: The Case of Guangxi, China

Healing, as a way of maintaining health in human beings, has been derived primarily from social and cultural concepts and events. This article investigates what may be termed as ‘mass healing practice’ and the way in which this form of healing has been passed down through generations in Guangxi’s local communities. It examines the environmental as well as social and cultural elements underlying the localised healthcare tradition and analyses how this form of mass healing practice continues to largely exist on its own in present day Guangxi. This article briefly compares mass healing practice with the practice of modern western medicine and traditional Chinese medicine in other social contexts, and presents the argument that mass healing practice and mass healing education developed in Guangxi’s isolated local communities are more elaborately rooted in the social and cultural matrix of such communities relative to the other forms of healthcare practice. This is because indigenous mass healing practices and education in isolated communities are not only related to people’s everyday life, but are also understood, in varying degrees, as community-wide social activities.

Miýo-pimātisiwin Developing Indigenous Cultural Responsiveness Theory (ICRT): Improving Indigenous Health and Well-Being

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada calls upon those who can effect change within Canadian systems to recognize the value of Indigenous healing practices and to collaborate with Indigenous healers, Elders, and knowledge keepers where requested by Indigenous Peoples. This article presents the Indigenous Cultural Responsiveness Theory (ICRT) as a decolonized pathway designed to guide research that continuously improves the health, education, governance, and policies of Indigenous Peoples in Saskatchewan. Decolonizing practices include privileging and engaging in Indigenous philosophies, beliefs, practices, and values that counter colonialism and restore well-being. The ICRT supports the development of collaborative relationships between Indigenous Peoples and non-Indigenous allies who seek to improve the status of First Nations health and wellness.

Articulation between health services and "indigenous medicine": Anthropological reflections on policies and reality in Brazil.

This paper contributes to the dialogue between the social sciences and social medicine in Latin America by exploring therapeutic pluralism in indigenous health policies and services in Brazil. It reviews recent anthropological research, concepts and current debates to critically examine Brazilian indigenous health policy and its concept of "differentiated care," which proposes articulation between official health practices and indigenous therapies. A number of contradictions and tensions are present in the structural organizational of the indigenous health subsystem at the national level and in the daily practices of health teams at the local level. Guided by the hegemonic ideology of biomedicine, health professionals fail to recognize the dynamics and agency expressed in indigenous health practices.

Indigenous Women of the Amazon Forest: The Woman Shaman of the Yawanawa Tribe

ABSTRACTAmong the most diverse and indigenous areas of the world is Latin America, specifically the Amazon river basin and its rain forests. Indigenous tribes and indigenous healing practices from these areas have recently gained more attention and popularity. However, less is known about experiences of tribal women related to indigenous practices, including the long-standing legacy of patriarchal and Christian colonization. This contribution offers the voice of one of the few known women-shamans in the area: Hushahu of the Yawanawa tribe. This first full public interview in a Western publication provides not only a perspective on indigenous healing, but also on experiences of indigenous tribal women in light of their history of colonization and oppression.

Indigenous Healing Practices and Asian Immigrant Women

ABSTRACTThe current article highlights the importance of indigenous psychology for Asian immigrant women. A brief overview is provided about Asian American immigration and the importance of understanding women’s experiences with the contextual lens of gender, ethnicity, and race. Key values relevant to help-seeking and service utilization are also presented. Complementary alternative approaches to Western-based mental health treatment are discussed as ways in which feminist and multicultural treatment approaches can be integrated. Given the inherent diversity of Asians and Asian Americans, which includes over 60 ethnic subgroups, the article is not meant to provide an exhaustive list of available native practices nor to reflect the experiences of Asians as a homogenous group. Instead, the goal of this article is to provide readers with an understanding of how culturally based healing practices and concepts are needed to complement and contribute to our extant understanding of help-seeking. We conclude by highlighting the ways in which Western-based healthcare would benefit by integrating indigenous practices with gender and ethnic/racial cultural perspectives.

Indigenous Healing Practices in Australia

ABSTRACTIndigenous Australian women are among the most disadvantaged women in the world. Over two centuries of colonization have had a damaging impact on perceptions of their gender roles and status as well as many other consequential oppressions. These experiences have affected the social and emotional wellbeing of Indigenous women of all ages, resulting in socio-economic ghettoization, higher suicide rates, psychological distress, illness, and poverty. Generations of women have experienced the forced removal of their children, resulting in complex forms of historical trauma. Despite this, Indigenous women have also maintained strong leadership roles and have kept families and communities intact. In the last few decades, the Australian Indigenous mental health movement has emerged within the context of a broader self-determination movement, restoring and strengthening women’s traditional therapeutic practices. This article offers an overview of the social and emotional wellbeing of Indigenous women within neocolonial Australia and explores women’s relationship to traditional therapeutic practices. Future directions and key issues for the capacity building of Indigenous women’s healing are explored.

Different Indigenous Techniques Practiced for Tackling Obesity among Children in China and India

In the present times, obesity has been considered one of the major hindrances to the health and beauty and productivity of a person along with its other known problems and once it turns to epidemic face, it becomes difficult and complex to handle. Obesity among children is now becoming a global cause of concern covering all aspects such as economical, psychological as well as socio-cultural aspects of life and work. It is already an epidemic in the western world and now encroaching rapidly the developing countries such as India. India and China are old civilizations among eastern countries and share many common practices, food habits and approaches to health and wellbeing. Both the countries have a long and rich history in their indigenous health practices. Therefore, the present article explores the indigenous methods and techniques, lifestyle and food habits, do’s and don’ts related to the cause, effect, and treatment of obesity among children. There are many treatments and techniques of obesity available and suggested in the literature. The present paper focuses only the indigenous treatment and techniques to address obesity among children.