Customer Reviews

Powwowing Among the Pennsylvania Dutch: A Traditional Medical Practice in the Modern World (Pennsylvania German History and Culture)

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I have almost finished Mr. Kriebel's book and have found it to be scholarly and yet quite readable. His examination of this American shamanic tradition in it's Pennsylvania setting is accurate and respectful to the tradition and its practioners.

How do I know? I have read about, studied and practiced Powwow for over thirty years and have written on the subject myself for academic and popular sources. If you really want to understand the history, social culture and practice of Powwow, read this book. Especially interesting are the interviews with actual Powwows and others involved in the practice. The research is well-documented for those of us who enjoy reading and checking the footnotes. Every library should have a copy.

This book is destined to becomne a classic! Well done!

Being of PA German lineage on my mother's side of the family, I have always been interested in the various customs and practices of the many different sects and practices of the PA Germans. I discovered the pow-wow or braucherei concept as an adult and now believe that my great-grandmother may have been a braucher. Family stories refer to her as a nurse or doctor's assistant, or sometimes a mid-wife; she apparently assisted a local MD in his practice. My suspicions come from the fact that in addition to her assisting in mainstream healing, she seems to have handed many practices down that just reek of pwo-wowing mysticism. (My mother would always place a stained dishrag out in the back yard under the light of a full moon to bleach it properly.)

So, with that persepctive, I found this book to be very interesting. I read up on the practice of pow-wow out of curiosity. This book, while seeming to have a sympathetic undercurrent to the custom, is a good study of the practice and what it is about, how it is viewed inside and outside the PA German communities, and also addresses the relatve successes and failures of the practice.

All in all, a great read for those of us who want to learn more about the practice in a scholarly way.