Native American and First Nations Healing: A Respectful Overview

Start here: many nations, not one tradition

"Native American" and "First Nations" are broad terms for hundreds of distinct nations, each with its own language, history and ways of caring for health. The Center for Health Care Strategies counts 574 federally recognized Tribes in the United States alone, and notes wide variation in their traditional health practices. [1] Nothing here describes a ceremony, a sacred plant or a "Native American healing method" that could apply to everyone. It summarizes what Native-run health organizations say publicly.

Words for healers differ by community. The sources below use "tribal doctors," "Traditional Healers," "Traditional Indian Medicine practitioners" and similar terms. We use the term each organization uses and do not suggest that any individual is licensed or authentic. [2] [3] [4]

How Native-run health organizations describe traditional care

Southcentral Foundation (Anchorage, Alaska). Its Traditional Healing Clinic says it offers Alaska Native approaches in an outpatient setting alongside other services. Tribal doctors use practices such as traditional physical care, traditional counseling and talking circles. [2] It also describes a healing garden of edible and medicinal plants used for generations. [2] Patients are referred through their primary care provider. [2]

First Nations Health Authority (British Columbia, Canada). The authority says traditional healing refers to health practices, approaches, knowledge and beliefs that incorporate First Nations healing and wellness, and that these include ceremonies, plant, animal or mineral-based medicines, energetic therapies and hands-on techniques. [3] Its stated vision is a partnership between traditional healer practitioners and the Western medical system. [3]

Seattle Indian Health Board (Seattle, Washington). It describes traditional medicine as a wide array of healing practices based on the Indigenous knowledge of Native people, and says services may include consultations with practitioners and cultural and spiritual guidance, integrated with other care. [4]

These are the organizations' own descriptions of their programs. They are not clinical evidence, and they do not tell outsiders how to perform any practice.

Why you may not find details

Many practices are sacred, ceremonial or limited to certain people. US waivers that allow Medicaid coverage of traditional care include no list of services, in part because of the wide variability of practices and their sometimes religious or spiritual meaning. [1] See what is public and what is restricted. If something is not explained here, that is intentional.

Access and policy

• Medicaid coverage (United States). In October 2024 the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services approved waivers in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Oregon. [1] The facility providing the services decides which are offered and who can serve as a practitioner. [1] Rules change; check current state policy.
• Urban access. A 2015 review by the National Council of Urban Indian Health reported that 71% of American Indian and Alaska Native people lived in urban areas (citing 2012 US Census data), where access to Indian Health Service programs is lower. [5]
• Ceremony in hospitals. Alberta Health Services (Canada) adopted a policy to support Indigenous patients to practice their ceremonies on health care premises, and the authors say it had to address open flames and ceremonial smoke. [6] In a small US study of nine hospitalized American Indian patients, the researchers concluded that smudging in hospital contributes to patient well-being and satisfaction. [7] See smudging and white sage.

What research shows

Proper evidence not found for "Native American healing" as a whole, and it would be inappropriate to test it that way, because it is many different practices. We looked for systematic reviews and trials of traditional healing in these communities and found a 2015 literature review that says funding has swung toward practice with a formalized research base, which creates challenges for tribal and urban Indian programs, and that valid, culturally based methods are needed to substantiate Indigenous wellness. [5] The First Nations Health Authority states that studies and reports suggest incorporating traditional healing into health services improves health and wellness [3], but this is the authority's summary, and we did not verify the underlying studies. Qualitative studies describe patients' experiences and are not trials of treatment effect.

Learning respectfully

Look first for health organizations and cultural centers run by the communities themselves. Be cautious with sellers who use words like "medicine man" or "shaman" for products. See cultural safety and humility and the Indigenous and community traditions overview.