The medicine men
Subtitle: Oglala Sioux ceremony and healing
By: Thomas H. Lewis.
Series: Studies in the anthropology of North American Indians
Publisher: University of Nebraska Press in cooperation with the American Indian Studies Research Institute, Indiana University
Published: 1990
Place of publication: Lincoln
Language: eng
Number of pages: 219
Subjects: Oglala Indians -- Medicine.; Oglala Indians -- Rites and ceremonies.; Sun dance -- South Dakota.; Traditional medicine -- South Dakota.; Pine Ridge Indian Reservation (S.D.) -- Social life and customs.
Description: For the residents of the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota, mainstream medical care is often supplemented or replaced by a host of traditional practices: the Sun Dance, the yuwipi sing, the heyok?a ceremony, herbalism, the Sioux Religion, the peyotism of the Native American Church, and other medicines, or sources of healing. Thomas H. Lewis, a psychiatrist and medical anthropologist, describes those practices as he encountered them in the late 1960s and early 1970s. During many months he studied with leading practitioners. He describes the healers?their techniques, personal histories and qualities, the problems addressed and results obtained?and examines past as well as present practices. The result is an engrossing account that may profoundly affect the way readers view the dynamics of therapy for mind and body.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 193-210) and index.