Customer Reviews

American Indian Medicine (Civilization of the American Indian Series)

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Vogel's book has been updated in some areas, but remains the beginning place for the "grand view" of the many applications of American Indian medicine, including everything from suturing wounds to calming childbirth. It contains a wealth of sources leading the student to further study. It also lists common as well as scientific names of medicinal plants.

American Indian Medicine written by Virgil J. Vogel is a compilation of what the American Indian used for medicine to aid in the treatment of disease.

This book is NOT a step by step process pharmacopoeia with all the weights and preparation steps but is a good general book on what was used. Granted the author states this in his preface and he is not a medical practioner, but what he has given us is history of Indian Medicine in the Americas.

Native American Medicine has long intrigud me and the collection of the herbs, roots, bark, and leaves of plants is what pharmacognsy was to the settlers . This book has been divided into eight sections with a bibliography that helps the reader in further study.

The chapters are as follows:

What the red man gave us
Indian theories of disease and shamanistic practices.
Early observation of white man on indian medicine.
Service of indian doctors to whites.
The influence of indian medicine on folk medicine, irregular practioners, and patent medicine.
Indian health and disease.
American Indian therapeutic methods
Conclusions

The author has a rather "folksy" style to the prose and is very easily readable making for a fast read. The American Indian had treatments for most of the first-aid that we have today, but the practice of asepsis and surgery interested me.

All in all, this was a well-written and thought-provoking book and is well worth a read.

I will say this is not what I first expected, that when I was gifted this book, I had thought it would be just like any basic herbal medicine book and outline plant medicines with their dosage and usage. But while it was not what I had first thought, it has become an invaluable member of my library. There's wonderful sections included about the treatments of problems that were not curable by simply herbs.

There is pharmacology just as there is talk of surgery. It's a candid explanation that provides a wide spectrum of information in regards to their medicine practices as a whole, rather that a diagnostic assistant.