Record Details
1 of 1
Book cover

A Cree healer and his medicine bundle : revelations of indigenous wisdom

Details the life and healing practices of medicine man Russell Willier, with extensive photographs and materials on the plants used by Willier in addition to valuable information on the active ingredients in these plants and their uses in alternative therapies

Book  - 2015
615.321 You
1 copy / 0 on hold

Available Copies by Location

Location
Community Centre Available
  • ISBN: 9781583949030
  • ISBN: 1583949038
  • Physical Description xiii, 223 pages : color illustrations, color maps ; 23 cm
  • Publisher Berkeley, California : North Atlantic Books, 2015.

Content descriptions

General Note:
NFPL Indigenous Collection.
Formatted Contents Note:
Part I. Russell Willier, Cree healer -- Chapter one. Willier's life as a healer -- Becoming a medicine man -- Approaching a healer -- My cosmology -- Grandmothers and grandfathers -- Collecting plants -- Common problems treated -- Survival of Native medicine -- Working with non-Native doctors -- The future -- Chapter two. Ecological issues important to Willier -- Clearcut -- Fish -- Ducks -- Moose and deer -- Plants -- Fires -- Chapter three. My favourite healing stories -- Near death experiences of patients -- Predicaments in which healers can find themselves -- Part II. Russell Willier's medicine bundle -- Chapter four. Field trip, summer 2011 -- Chapter five. Plants used by Russell Willier -- Part III. The efficacy of Native medicine -- Conclusion -- Appendix A: Maps of areas where Willier collects his herbs -- Appendix B: Common English names for the plants used by Willier -- Appendix C: Cree names for the plants used by Willier -- Appendix D: English names used by willier for the plants he uses.

Additional Information

Syndetic Solutions - Summary for ISBN Number 9781583949030
A Cree Healer and His Medicine Bundle : Revelations of Indigenous Wisdom--Healing Plants, Practices, and Stories
A Cree Healer and His Medicine Bundle : Revelations of Indigenous Wisdom--Healing Plants, Practices, and Stories
by Young, David.; Rogers, Robert; Willier, Russell
Rate this title:
vote data
Click an element below to view details:

Summary

A Cree Healer and His Medicine Bundle : Revelations of Indigenous Wisdom--Healing Plants, Practices, and Stories


With the rise of urban living and the digital age, many North American healers are recognizing that traditional medicinal knowledge must be recorded before being lost with its elders. A Cree Healer and His Medicine Bundle is a historic document, including nearly 200 color photos and maps, in that it is the first in which a native healer has agreed to open his medicine bundle to share in writing his repertoire of herbal medicines and where they are found. Providing information on and photos of medicinal plants and where to harvest them, anthropologist David E. Young and botanist Robert D. Rogers chronicle the life, beliefs, and healing practices of Medicine Man Russell Willier in his native Alberta, Canada. Despite being criticized for sharing his knowledge, Willier later found support in other healers as they began to realize the danger that much of their traditional practices could die out with them. With Young and Rogers, Willier offers his practices here for future generations. At once a study and a guide, A Cree Healer and His Medicine Bundle touches on how indigenous healing practices can be used to complement mainstream medicine, improve the treatment of chronic diseases, and lower the cost of healthcare. The authors discuss how mining, agriculture, and forestry are threatening the continued existence of valuable wild medicinal plants and the role of alternative healers in a modern health care system. Sure to be of interest to ethnobotanists, medicine hunters, naturopaths, complementary and alternative health practitioners, ethnologists, anthropologists, and academics, this book will also find an audience with those interested in indigenous cultures and traditions.