Native Plants as Medicine
Native Medicinal Plants
The concept of medicine for many Native Americans and Indigenous people is more than just the treatment of a specific ailment. Rather, healers holistically treat the whole patient through diverse remedies based on each indigenous groups' culturally specific forms of healing. Native Americans have used a wide variety of indigenous plants to treat their ailments, and knowledge about medicinal plants and other healing methods have been passed down from generation to generation. This lore included characteristics of specific plants, proper times for harvesting plants, and methods for preservation and preparation. Indigenous peoples have long known about the healing properties of many medicinal herbs native to North America including Hydrastis or Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis), Echinacea (Echinacea spp.), Witch-hazel (Hamamelis virginiana), and Black Cohosh (Actaea racemosa).
European colonists were familiar with herbal medicines and brought many with them when they settled North America. Over time, colonists also integrated native medicines into their own medical care. Throughout the course of westward settlement, settlers encountered new native herbal medicines that were essential for their survival. Native plant cures—first developed by Indigenous peoples—for ailments such as constipation, lung problems, snakebites, burns, and rheumatism, have since been adopted by non-Native doctors.
