| American Indian Contributions to the World: Medicine and Health is an important new release from Facts on File. This new series presents much of the same material found in their popular Encyclopedia of American Indian Contributions to the World rewritten for elementary level readers. The Medicine and Health volume discusses the inventive methods and treatments of North and South American Indigenous Peoples have contributed to our knowledge of medicine. The book explores the ways health of Native Peoples was connected to nutrition and the ways Native Peoples utilized the plants and animals for food. Whether the people were mainly hunters or farmers, they knew what food products were necessary for a healthy lifestyle. The second chapter explores the area of personal hygiene and compares the knowledge of Indigenous Peoples to Europeans of the period. Generally Aboriginal Peoples practiced hygiene habits that kept them healthy and prevented disease. They shampooed their hair, took regular baths, disposed of human waste properly, and controlled pests and insects in their communities. Chapter three discusses disease and disease preventions practiced by Native Peoples. The book outlines the kinds of illnesses that were common prior to European contact and the deadly diseases brought by the Europeans. The next chapters discuss the various types of plant medicines discovered by Native Peoples in North, Central and South America. Surgery and wound treatment is covered in the next chapter. Other types of alternative medicine are described in chapter 8. Here the authors cover the significance of steam baths, massage, bloodletting, bone setting, childbirth practices, and methods of treating the dead. The next two chapters cover dentistry and medicine for the mind and body. Native Americans understood the mind and body connection and practiced alternative treatments for healing that included ceremonies, psychotherapy, and aromatherapy. The importance of keeping healthy personal and family relationships was one way to ensure health in the community. The practice of combining the spiritual, physical, emotional, and mental areas in approaching disease and illness is an area that is gaining popularity in modern medicine. The reference book contains 56 photographs, 17 maps, an index, bibliography, time line, glossary, and listing of Nations by culture region. The reference covers contributions of the past as well as information about contemporary people and the way they continue to contribute to medicine and health. |
