Editing Medicine man

{{Short description|Native American traditional healer and spiritual practitioner}}
{{About|the Indigenous healers of the Americas|other uses|Medicine Man (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
[[Image:Ojibweherbalistmedicine.png|thumb|An [[Ojibwe people|Ojibwe]] {{lang|oj|[[Midewiwin|midew]]}} 'ceremonial leader' in a {{lang|oj|mide-wiigiwaam}} 'medicine lodge']]

A '''medicine man''' (from [[Ojibwe language|Ojibwe]] ''mashkikiiwinini'') or '''medicine woman''' (from Ojibwe ''mashkikiiwininiikwe'') is a [[traditional healer]] and spiritual leader who serves a community of [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Indigenous people of the Americas]]. Each culture has its own name in its language for spiritual healers and ceremonial leaders.

== Cultural context ==
{{sa|Heyoka}}
[[Image:Yupik shaman Nushagak.jpg|thumb|[[Yup'ik]] "medicine man exorcising evil spirits from a sick boy" in [[Nushagak, Alaska]], 1890s<ref name="fienupriordanphoto">Fienup-Riordan, Ann. (1994). ''Boundaries & Passages: Rule and Ritual in Yup'ik Eskimo Oral Tradition''. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, p. 206. [[Nushagak, Alaska|Nushagak]], located on [[Nushagak Bay]] of the Bering Sea in southwest [[Alaska]], is part of the territory of the [[Central Alaskan Yup'ik people|Yup'ik]], speakers of the [[Central Alaskan Yup'ik language]].</ref>]]

In the ceremonial context of [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas#North America|Indigenous North American communities]], "[[White magic|medicine]]" usually refers to spiritual healing. Medicine people use many practices, including specialized knowledge of [[Native American ethnobotany]].<ref name=thomas>{{cite journal |last1=Thomas |first1=William Isaac |title=The relation of the medicine-man to the origin of the professional occupations |journal=The Decennial Publicatoins |date=1906 |volume=4 |issue=6 |page=6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U0ROAQAAMAAJ |publisher=University of Chicago}}</ref> Herbal healing is a common practice in many Indigenous households of the Americas;<ref name=Alcoze>Alcoze, Dr Thomas M.  "[https://www.bgci.org/resources/article/0429/ Ethnobotany from a Native American Perspective: Restoring Our Relationship with the Earth] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180104202906/https://www.bgci.org/resources/article/0429/ |date=4 January 2018 }}" in ''[[Botanic Gardens Conservation International]]'' Volume 1 Number 19 - December 1999</ref><ref name=Moerman>{{cite journal|doi=10.1016/0378-8741(79)90002-3|title=Symbols and selectivity: A statistical analysis of native american medical ethnobotany|journal=Journal of Ethnopharmacology|volume=1|issue=2|pages=111–119|year=1979|last1=Moerman|first1=Daniel E.|pmid=94415|hdl=2027.42/23587|url=https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/23587/1/0000549.pdf|hdl-access=free}}</ref><ref name=USDA>Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry, "[http://na.fs.fed.us/stewardship/pubs/biodiversity/sustaining-lives-natural-world.pdf Traditional Ecological Knowledge: Sustaining Our Lives and the Natural World]" at ''[[United States Department of Agriculture]], Forest Service''. Newtown Square, PA. December 2011</ref> however, medicine people often have more in-depth knowledge of using plants for healing or other purposes.<ref name=thomas/>

The terms ''medicine people'' or ''ceremonial people'' are sometimes used in [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] and [[First Nations in Canada|First Nations]] communities, for example, when Arwen Nuttall ([[Cherokee]]) of the [[National Museum of the American Indian]] writes, "The knowledge possessed by medicine people is privileged, and it often remains in particular families."<ref name="nmai">National Museum of the American Indian. ''Do All Indians Live in Tipis?'' Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution, 2007. {{ISBN|978-0-06-115301-3}}.</ref>

Native Americans tend to be quite reluctant to discuss issues about medicine or medicine people with non-Indians. In some cultures, the people will not even discuss these matters with American Indians from other tribes. In most tribes, medicine elders are prohibited from advertising or introducing themselves as such.{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}} As Nuttall writes, "An inquiry to a Native person about religious beliefs or ceremonies is often viewed with suspicion."<ref name="nmai"/> One example of this is the [[Apache]] medicine cord or {{lang|apa|[[Izze-kloth]]}} whose purpose and use by Apache medicine elders was a mystery to nineteenth century ethnologists{{who?|date=March 2025}} because "the Apache look upon these cords as so sacred that strangers are not allowed to see them, much less handle them or talk about them."<ref name="ref69jeviq">{{Citation | title=Annual report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Issue 9 | author=Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology | publisher=Government Printing Office, United States Government, 1892 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C5MqAAAAMAAJ | quote=''There is probably no more mysterious or interesting portion of the religious or 'medicinal' equipment of the Apache Indian, whether he be medicine-man or simply a member of the laity, than the 'izze-kloth' or medicine cord... the Apache look upon these cords as so sacred that strangers are not allowed to see them, much less handle them or talk about them....''| year=1892 }}</ref>

The term ''medicine man/woman'', like the term ''[[Shamanism|shaman]]'', has been criticized by Native Americans, as well as other specialists in the fields of religion and anthropology.{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}}

While non-Native anthropologists often use the term ''shaman'' for Indigenous healers worldwide, including the Americas, ''shaman'' is the specific name for a spiritual mediator from the [[Tungusic peoples]] of [[Siberia]],<ref>Smith, C. R. [http://www.cabrillo.edu/~crsmith/shaman.html "Shamanism."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120212200839/http://www.cabrillo.edu/~crsmith/shaman.html |date=12 February 2012 }} ''Cabrillo College''. (Retrieved 28 June 2011)</ref> which has been adopted by some Inuit communities but is not preferred by Native American or First Nations communities.

== See also ==
[[File:Philly Med Man.jpg|thumb|''[[The Medicine Man (Dallin)|The Medicine Man]]'', an 1899 sculpture by [[Cyrus Dallin]] exhibited in Philadelphia]]
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* {{anli|Bomoh}} 
* {{anli|Cleverman}}
* {{anli|Cultural appropriation}}
* {{anli|Curandero}}
* {{anli|Dukun}}
* {{anli|Folk healer}}
* {{anli|Herbalism}}
* {{anli|Holism}}
* {{anli|Keewaydinoquay Peschel}}
* {{anli|Kallawaya}}
* {{anli|Kennekuk}}
* {{anli|Medicine bag}}
* {{anli|Native American ethnobotany}}
* {{anli|Native American religion}}
* {{anli|Plastic shaman}}
* {{anli|Prehistoric medicine}}
* {{anli|Quesalid}}
* {{anli|Shamanism}}
* {{anli|Trance}}
*[[Witch doctor]]
{{div col end}}

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|30em|refs=Jump up ^ Fienup-Riordan, Ann. (1994). Boundaries & Passages: Rule and Ritual in Yup'ik Eskimo Oral Tradition. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, p. 206. Nushagak, located on Nushagak Bay of the Bering Sea in southwest Alaska, is part of the territory of the Yup'ik, speakers of the Central Alaskan Yup'ik language.
2.Jump up ^ Alcoze, Dr Thomas M. "Ethnobotany from a Native American Perspective: Restoring Our Relationship with the Earth" in Botanic Gardens Conservation International Volume 1 Number 19 - December 1999
3.Jump up ^ Moerman, Daniel E. "Symbols and selectivity: A statistical analysis of native American medical ethnobotany" in Journal of Ethnopharmacology Volume 1, Issue 2, April 1979, Pages 111-119
4.Jump up ^ Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry, "Traditional Ecological Knowledge: Sustaining Our Lives and the Natural World" at United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. Newtown Square, PA. December 2011
5.^ Jump up to: a b National Museum of the American Indian. Do All Indians Live in Tipis? Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution, 2007. {{ISBN|978-0-06-115301-3}}.
6.Jump up ^ Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology, Annual report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Issue 9, Government Printing Office, United States Government, 1892, "There is probably no more mysterious or interesting portion of the religious or 'medicinal' equipment of the Apache Indian, whether he be medicine-man or simply a member of the laity, than the 'izze-kloth' or medicine cord... the Apache look upon these cords as so sacred that strangers are not allowed to see them, much less handle them or talk about them...."
7.Jump up ^ Smith, C. R. "Shamanism." Cabrillo College. (Retrieved 28 June 2011)
8. "Cherokee Medicine Men and Women". Cherokee Medicine Men and Women, Cherokee Nation , 16 Nov. 2016, www.cherokee.org/AboutTheNation/Culture/General/CherokeeMedicineMenandWomen.aspx
9. "Native American Legends". Native American Indian Legends - Cherokee Medicine Man - Cherokee, First People , www.firstpeople.us/FP-Html-Legends/Cherokee_Medicine_Man-Cherokee.html. 
10. Weiser, Kathy. "Native American Medicine - History and Information". Native American Medicine - History and Information, Legends of America, 1 May 2015, www.legendsofamerica.com/na-medicine.html}}

== External links ==
{{wikiquote}}
{{Wiktionary|medicine man|medicine woman}}

{{Indigenous peoples of the Americas}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Religious occupations of the Indigenous peoples of North America]]
[[Category:Traditional healthcare occupations]]
[[Category:Shamanism of the Americas]]