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Edited by Suzanne J. Crawford O’Brien
236 pp, $49.95
Westport, CT, Praeger Publishers, 2008
ISBN-13: 978-0-2759-9013-8

JAMA. 2009;301(9):975-976.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

The history of the conquest and subjugation of Native Americans is a tragic one. Persecuted for engaging in traditional rituals, they were forced to adopt foreign ways and live in circumscribed parcels of land, all in the name of civilizing and protecting them. Yet Native Americans did (and do) have their own civilizations in which they lived in harmony with the land and with animals. Because the Native American culture is radically different from that of the dominant white, West-European heritage, mutual misunderstandings of each others' ways were (and still are) common.

Perhaps this is best illustrated by the Native American approach to illness and healing. While the dominant, Western, medical culture sees disease and seeks cure, the Native American healing arts see illness and seek healing. Furthermore, while Western medicine identifies the disease first, Native American healing practices identify the person with the condition first, because those practices . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Pat Fosarelli, MD, DMin, Reviewer
Ecumenical Institute
Baltimore, Maryland
pfosarelli@stmarys.edu

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