Yellow Bird: Preserving tribal medicine

MONDAY, JUNE 16, 2003

"A friend of mind who was seriously ill with gangrene from his diabetes kept the disease at bay for nearly six months using herb medicines prescribed and fixed by one of the medicine men from Sisseton, S.D. When he finally went to the doctor, the doctor was amazed at how long he'd kept the disease from killing him.

When he asked my friend what he had done to keep the gangrene from spreading, my friend said he used Indian medicine. Of course, the doctor wanted to know what he used. But my friend said that was something he couldn't share.

This is one of the dilemmas of the knowledge some Indian people have acquired about healing roots and herbs. Most of the medicine men are reluctant and suspicious of people who want to know about their cures."

Get the Story:
DORREEN YELLOW BIRD COLUMN: Natural world holds cornucopia of healthful roots and herbs (The Grand Forks Herald 6/14)

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