Oliver Amouak and his wife used to use stinkweed. Their daughter still collects it for them. It grows all around here. They take a bath with it and drink it in tea and juice. Olga and Oliver Amouak are old but they're hardly ever sick. They say it's a cureall for almost everything, even for cancer.... Just think, so many things right here and we don't practice using it.

-Josephine Roberts, Athabaskan Elder Tanana, Alaska

We have finally started to notice that there is real curative value in local herbs and remedies. In fact, we are also becoming aware that there are little or no side effects to most natural remedies, and that they are often more effective than Western medicine.

In listening to old people, I hear many tales of the church and the Western authorities telling them that their healings are evil and sorcery and that they are forbidden to practice healing in the old way. What kinds of minds have tried to eliminate effective forms of healing in favor of a "one party" system?

The Old Ones probably have many ways to help us be healthier than we are. We have only to listen.

When they were ready to leave, they called the family together and they checked out. There was rejoicing. There was no illness, no sadness. When my grandmother was ready to leave, there was no illness. She called us all together. They were in touch with the aumakua [spiritual ancestors].

-Angeline Locey, Hawaiian Kupuna

Again and again Native people tell us, "We were healthy until the White people came. Our people lived to be a hundred and fifty or more, in health, before contact [before the invasion]." Rarely do we Westerners stop to ask, "How many of the diseases we suffer from are culturally based?" We have bought into the belief that Western medicine is eradicating illness, but just how many illnesses are caused by Western medicine and the Western mechanistic science? Native people the world over believe there are quite a few.

How much of our cancer epidemic is being caused by toxins in our air, water, food, and artificial chemicals? Native people believe it is a lot.

How much of our psychological and spiritual illnesses are caused by our estrangement from ourselves, from one another, from nature, from our dead ancestors, and from the God of our knowing? Native people are asking these questions.

As I open myself to questions being posed by those from other systems, I gain perspective on how many of my beliefs are system based.

I'm the spirit's janitor. All I do is wipe the windows a little bit so you can see out for yourself£

-Godfrey Chips, Lakota Medicine Man
American Indian

All great healers know that they do not do the healing. In fact, when they believe that they do the healing, they move from being healers to being technicians.

Most real healers know that healing is a process that takes place between a person and his or her Creator or Higher Power.

Sometimes it helps us to have someone "wipe the windows for us." The best window washers know to remove the fog and then stand back.

There are so many ways to heal. Arrogance may have a place in technology, but not in healing. I need to get out of my own way if I am to heal.

More so perhaps than in Western medicine, the amchi's experience is all-important. His patients are his fellow villagers, so he has an intimate knowledge of their habits and character.

-Helena Norberg-Hodge writing about Ladakhi culture

Since the Ladakhi healer treats the whole person, and almost always uses a spiritual focus for healing, it is important that the healer know the patient well. Living and working in the same community gives the healer the advantage of the greatest possible knowledge of the patient.

In the Ladakhi culture, healers are not considered gods. They are not elevated socially. Nor do they expect to be. Body, mind, and spirit are all recognized as important parts of the person, working together with one another. Illness is seen as a general imbalance.

In almost all Native cultures, the healer who knows you best is perceived as the one who can best facilitate your healing.

Out here our only security was the never-failing cycle of morning dawn and setting sun. It amazed me that the world's most inse cure race, according to my standards, suffered no ulcers, hyper tension, or cardiovascular disease.

-Marlo Morgan From a story about the Australian Aboriginal

What a simple observation! Everything that is supposed to provide security in our culture is lacking, yet here are a people who suffer none of the illnesses that our security is supposed to prevent.

The whole concept of security is so Western. Security is an attempt to try to make the universe static so that we feel safe.

Instead of trying to learn to live with a universe that is evolving and changing, and developing skills to do that more effectively, we have tried to stop the evolution and make life static. No wonder this stresses the body!

Healthy people live with their world.

No time for your health today; no health for your time tomorrow.

-Irish Proverb

We treat our bodies like machines. We believe we can fix them and get new parts. Our children learn to respect their bodies only when they don't work right.

Now is the time to begin doing what we were going to start tomorrow. Good health is not something we can buy. However, it can be an extremely valuable savings account.

Health, especially in an unhealthy society, takes time, energy, and commitment.

We can influence who we will be tomorrow, for tomorrow can only be built on today.

Looking after my health today gives me a better hope for tomorrow.