United States and Canada
n the United States and Canada, modern medicine is also the main institutionally-established form
of health care provision, but some room has been
made for traditional medicine. It is important to
emphasize that in this part of the world, traditional medical practices which are embedded in the
culture and life of the indigenous peoples of the continent, such as those of the American Indians,
the First Nations, the Inuit and the Métis communities, still survive. A common feature of these
practices is their holistic approach to health,
based on the interrelationship between physical,
mental, spiritual and emotional aspects, which ar
e seen as integral parts of individual and
community health. These interrelationships are in
turn related to environmental and social health
determiners, such as education, housing, economic status and social capital. In treating their
patients, traditional healers use a wide range of
therapies, including herbal preparations, ritual
purification, purges, blood purification, burning of certain herbs, as well as chanting and prayers.
The healers’ powers are said to be either inherited through their lineage or gifted by a protective
spirit following an “initiation” that involves suffering and recovering from a serious illness. An
important feature of the traditional medicine of the Canadian First Nations, Inuit and Métis is the
idea that everyone – from before birth until after death
– is connected with a specific spirit, which is
identified by a name and a colour. The only way to understand the root cause of a person’s illness
and how to restore him or her to health is believed to be by communicating with this spirit.
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