Michigan's first healing room could be a prototype for hospitals in Traverse City, Frankfort and Kalkaska, said Jeff Couzens, spokesman for Munson Healthcare, which operates the Leelanau hospital. The tribe has nearly 3,500 members in Munson's six-county, northwestern Michigan service area. Healing-room patients will be treated by hospital staff and may be visited by two tribal healers and the band's medical doctor. The room also can be used for baby-naming ceremonies, a sacred rite for infants. American Indian medicine is based on beliefs that the mind, spirit, body and emotions must be balanced for health.
Beliefs differ from tribe to tribe, but some ceremonies are similar nationwide.
Many tribes profess, for instance, that smudging or burning herbs chases away negative energy and summons positive forces. I'm just a helper. All I do is pray and sing for the people, and if the spirits take pity on them, good. And if they don't, I can't be sued. Native American Diane McDonald said she tried traditional tribal medicine for the first time when she suffered a migraine headache several years ago.