the experience of indigenous traditional healing and cancer

10.1177/1534735403261833 ARTICLEStruthers, EschitiIndigenous Healing

The Experience of IndigenousTraditional Healing and Cancer

Roxanne Struthers, PhD, RN, HNC, and Valerie S. Eschiti, RN, MSN, CHTP, HNC

Indigenous traditional healing is an ancient, deeply rooted,complex holistic health care system practiced by indigenouspeople worldwide. However, scant information exists to ex-plain the phenomenon of indigenous medicine and indige-nous health. Even less is known about how indigenoushealing takes place. The purpose of this study is to describethe meaning and essence of the lived experience of 4 indige-nous people who have been diagnosed with cancer and haveused indigenous traditional healing during their healingjourney. The researcher used a qualitative phenomenologi-cal methodology to collect and analyze interview data. Inter-views were conducted with 4 self-identified indigenous peo-ple, ages 49 to 61, from diverse tribes. Time since cancerdiagnosis varied from 2 to 20 years; types of cancer includedlung, prostate, sarcoma of the leg, and breast. Four themesand 2 subthemes emerged (1) receiving the cancer diagnosis(with subthemes of knowing something was wrong and hear-ing something was wrong), (2) seeking healing, (3) connect-ing to indigenous culture, and (4) contemplating life’sfuture. This study demonstrates that 4 individuals with can-cer integrated Western medicine and traditional healing totreat their cancer. This knowledge provides necessary dataabout the phenomena of being healed by indigenous heal-ers. Such data may serve as an initial guide for health careprofessionals while interacting with indigenous peoplediagnosed with cancer. Accordingly, traditional healing maybe used to decrease health disparities.

Keywords: indigenous healing; traditional healing; cancer;American Indian; complementary and alternativemedicine; integrative medicine

Indigenous traditional healing is an ancient, deeplyrooted, complex holistic health care system practicedby indigenous people worldwide. In the United States,indigenous persons include American Indian, NativeAmerican, Aboriginal, and First Nations who, fromtime immemorial to present, rely on traditional heal-ers known as medicine men/women who practice theart of traditional healing within their communities.Cohen1 notes many aspects of indigenous healinghave never been documented via written text.Thereby, scant information is available to explain the

phenomenon of indigenous medicine and indige-nous health,2 and thus little is known about thephenomenon of how indigenous healing transpires.

Most individuals acknowledge that a diagnosis ofcancer is serious and life threatening, requiringurgent and sometimes drastic treatment modalities.Among the options available to persons diagnosedwith cancer, some often considered are called alterna-tive, complementary, or integrative medicine. Ernst andCassileth found the prevalence of complementaryand/or alternative therapy use among patients withcancer to be 7% to 64%, with the average prevalencerate of 31.4%.3 Complementary or alternative medicine(CAM) are commonly used terms to refer to the fieldof health care outside of or beyond traditional,allopathic, or Western biomedical medicine.4 CAMincludes treatments and health care practices nottaught widely in medical schools and not generallyused in hospitals.4,5 Individuals use CAM therapies in avariety of ways. CAM therapies used alone are oftenreferred to as alternative. When used in addition toconventional medicine, they are often called comple-mentary. A more recently introduced term is integra-tive medicine, which describes the mingling of Western-based medicine and nontraditional CAM health carefor which there is some high-quality scientific evi-dence of safety and effectiveness.6

Alternative and complementary medicines andtherapies are considered a relatively new phenome-non to health care. However, certain populations,especially indigenous peoples, have their ownapproaches to healing that date back to prehistorictimes. Today, indigenous healing remains part ofindigenous culture and may be a natural method peo-ple of indigenous ancestry seek when faced with a life-threatening illness such as cancer. Understanding theexperience of selected individuals using these

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INTEGRATIVE CANCER THERAPIES 3(1); 2004 pp. 13-23 13

RS is at the University of Minnesota School of Nursing, Minneapo-lis. VSE is at the College of Nursing, University of Oklahoma,Lawton.

Correspondence: Roxanne Struthers, PhD, RN, HNC, Universityof Minnesota School of Nursing, 6-101 Weaver-Densford Hall, 308Harvard St SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455. E-mail: strut005@umn.edu.DOI: 10.1177/1534735403261833

approaches will assist health care professionals work-ing with clients who use indigenous traditionalhealing.

Healing is the process of bringing aspects of one’sbody-mind-spirit to a deeper level of inner knowingthat leads toward integration and balance. Healersfacilitate the healing process. In this instance, thehealers are indigenous medicine men/women; per-sons seeking the healing are indigenous persons fromthe United States. This study is part of a larger qualita-tive phenomenological research study, “The LivedExperience of Indigenous People Healed by Indige-nous Traditional Healers.” The results of the largerstudy are being developed for publication elsewhere.The purpose of this article is to describe the meaningand essence of the lived experience of 4 indigenouspeople who have been diagnosed with cancer andhave been healed by indigenous traditional healers.

MethodsQualitative phenomenological methodology was usedto describe the phenomenon of interest. A pheno-menological research design is used when little ornothing is known about a phenomenon under investi-gation. Phenomenology describes a human experi-ence as it is lived7-9 and investigates the essence of thephenomenon10 to more fully understand the structureand meaning of the human experience.11

The research question, “As an indigenous person,what is the experience of being healed by an indige-nous traditional healer?” was answered during inter-views with 4 indigenous people conducted by theresearcher. The research results cannot be general-ized as they describe the experience of only 4 selectedresearch participants.

Data CollectionTo collect the data, 4 indigenous persons who had can-cer and sought traditional healing for this diagnosiswere interviewed to elicit their stories and reflect ontheir experiences. One participant was interviewedtwice. The other 3 were interviewed once during 60-minute open-ended, free-flowing conversations con-ducted in participant homes and offices between July2002 and May 2003. Approval of human subject pro-tection was obtained from the University of Minne-sota. Written informed consent was obtained fromeach participant.

The researcher (Dr R. Struthers) is indigenous andentered the research field as an insider. To locate theparticipants, the researcher asked traditional healersand other community people who have knowledge oftraditional healing to provide names of indigenousindividuals who sought healing from traditional

healers for cancer. The initial contact was then askedto speak to the individuals with cancer and inquire ifthey would be interested in participating in a researchstudy to describe their experiences with traditionalhealing when they had cancer. If they agreed, theywere referred to the researcher, who then contactedthem by phone or in person.

The interviews were tape-recorded with participantpermission. The interview began with, “Please tell meyour story of your experience of being healed by a tra-ditional healer. I am particularly interested when youused this healing approach for your cancer.” Provid-ing narration in story form accommodates oral tradi-tion, a method in which information is frequently con-veyed in indigenous cultures.12

To ensure uniformity of information gathered inthe interviews, a set of questions was used to guide theinterview process (see Table 1). Each research partici-pant was encouraged to describe his or her experiencecompletely. Probes such as “Please tell me more,” or“What was that particular experience like?” were usedto help clarify and/or elaborate on experiences.Demographic data (age, tribe, and occupation) wereobtained at the end of the interview. Data reached sat-uration or redundancy after the fourth participant wasinterviewed.

Previous knowledge about a phenomenon may biasthe researcher. Therefore, bracketing, a process ofidentifying and holding in abeyance any preconceivedbeliefs and opinions about the research phenomena,13

was used to help the researcher identify personalexperiences and biases.14 A journal15 and field notes8

were also kept in this study and used by the researcherfor reflection and during data collection and analysis.

Research ParticipantsThe purposive sample consists of 4 self-identified in-digenous people (3 female and 1 male), age 49 to 61,from diverse US tribal affiliations (2 Ojibwe, 1 Lakota,and 1 Wailaki). Although occupation was collectedduring the interview, it is not documented in this arti-cle to protect anonymity as indigenous communitiesare small. The type of cancer the participants had var-ied and included lung, prostate, sarcoma of the leg,and breast. The time since cancer diagnosis variedfrom 2 to 20 years.

Data AnalysisAccording to Oiler,16 phenomenology is a qualitativeresearch method that aims to describe an experiencerather than define, explain, or interpret the experi-ence. Phenomenology provides an accurate descrip-tion of the lived experience and essence of thephenomenon. Phenomenological data analysis tech-

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niques described by Colaizzi,17 van Manen,9 and Rose18

were employed during analysis and validation of studyresults.

Qualitative data analysis is labor intensive. The dataare taken apart, arranged, and rearranged intothemes that describe the phenomenon. The data anal-ysis steps were as follows. (1) The researcher listenedto each transcribed audiotape while reading the tran-scripts to verify accurateness and to grasp each partici-pant’s meaning. (2) Each of the participants’ audio-tapes and transcripts was reflected upon separately.(3) The first transcript was reread, and essentialthemes were extracted with supporting significantstatements and thematic descriptions. (4) This pro-cess was repeated for the other 3 transcripts to com-pare and contrast descriptions of all research partici-pants and delete redundancies. (5) Each researchparticipant received a copy of the written transcripts aswell as a brief summary of the research findings andwas instructed to contact the researcher by telephone,fax, or e-mail to clarify and validate the data. (6) Anysuggestions, comments, or recommendations wereintegrated into the final product.

Sandelowski19 states that validity is important inqualitative research studies. Thereby, validity wasaddressed during data analysis. Oiler16 states validity isreached when research findings are recognized to betrue by those who live the experience. Validity was con-firmed when the indigenous participants verified theresearch results.

ResultsFour essential themes and 2 subthemes emerged fromthe research data during analysis. These are (1) receiv-ing the cancer diagnosis (with subthemes of knowingsomething was wrong and hearing something waswrong), (2) seeking healing, (3) connecting to indige-nous culture, and (4) contemplating life’s future. Todescribe being healed by an indigenous traditionalhealer when having a diagnosis or recurrence of can-cer, the narratives are told in story form and are listedunder each theme according to the participant’s typeof cancer. Mostly, the words of the participants areused to depict the nature of their experience.

Receiving the Cancer DiagnosisThe 4 research participants shared how and when theyreceived their cancer diagnosis. For each, getting thediagnosis of cancer was different. Two subthemesemerged within the essential theme of receiving thecancer diagnosis. The subthemes are knowing some-thing was wrong and hearing something was wrong.

Knowing Something Was WrongUpon reflection, all the participants knew somethingwas amiss before the actual cancer diagnosis. Two weremisdiagnosed by Western medicine, 1 knew that hefelt different than before, and 1 suspected she mighthave cancer due to an extensive family cancer history.Also, 1 participant knew something was not right be-cause she saw a white owl, which in her tribe signifiessomething is very wrong, and because she kept havingrepeated dreams about her situation.

Lung cancer. One participant explained,

It was October of 2000 when I had a persistent coughthat never went away. The cough was one that wasmisdiagnosed for about 5 or 6 months because my pri-mary care physician never thought of the word can-cer—because I was a nonsmoker.

Prostate cancer. Another said,

About 3 years ago, I had a urine infection. I went to theIndian hospital and they prescribed a medicine forme and it cleared it up. But I think that was probablythe start of my problem. . . . In 2001, I was feeling kindof funny. I’d been a healthy person all my life. . . . I’venever had a serious ailment, ever. But I was havingtrouble urinating.

Sarcoma of the leg. Another had a long encounter try-ing to get her cancer diagnosed.

I think I noticed something wrong with my left leg orfoot when I was in my early 20s and I was trying to behealth conscious. . . . It was as if I’d stepped on a nail orsomething, up through my heel . . . when I jogged, itwould just be too painful to continue. I used to stretchit out and stuff and walk to my classes. But, it didn’twork.

Eventually, I accepted a job up north and we weredriving up there. It was in the middle of the night andthere was a full moon out. I was driving and I stoppedthe car and undid the top sunroof to look up at the fullmoon. I was parked under a big oak tree. I looked upand there was a big white owl looking at me. It scaredme. It really did. I thought, “What is this?” It just keptlooking at me. I looked away, I looked back up, and itwasn’t there again. I closed the top of the sunroof andI kept driving. I think I made it up north early in the

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Table 1. Interview Questions

Explain why you sought the assistance of a traditional healerState how you located and connected with the healerTell where the session(s) with the traditional healer occurredReport when the healing session(s) took placeConvey a specific example of the healing experienceShare how the healing encounter(s) personally affected you and

your healthDescribe your relationship with the traditional healerDescribe a personal meaning of health and wellness

morning. . . . But, that was the first time I thought ofsomething being terribly wrong.

Then, I used to drive long distances in my work.And in driving, I used to think about my ankle. Andthink about what I saw (the white owl). And I’d thinkto myself, “Something’s wrong.” I used to have dreamsthat I was maybe in a car accident or something hap-pened. I’d lost my leg. That I was really sick and I hadto find homes for my children. And I would think,“Oh, how morbid is that?” But, I’d dream all this stuff.

My relatives were of the Shaker tradition. I wouldtell them that I felt sick, that something was wrong. Ieven told my doctor something was wrong. I knewsomething was wrong. My body had changed. Youknow, there were just signs all about. There was thiscontinual threat over me.

So, I went to several physicians to try to find outwhat was wrong with my leg. For example, I went to adoctor to say, “Look at it. There’s a lump there. Some-thing needs to be done.” He said, “Well, let’s do abiopsy.” He did a biopsy. I remember him talking tome, he said, “Well, we just gouged it out. We just tookeverything we could see there out.” He said, “It looksfine to me.” He said it was the strangest thing they eversaw but, “It looks fine.” He said, “I don’t know whatelse to say. I’m sure you’re fine.” I was very young then.I was like 23.

I finally went to a dermatologist over somethingelse. He looked at it and said, “We have to be con-cerned because it looks like an orange peel. It’s pit-ted.” It was very hot. He said, “This doesn’t look good.”He said, “Do you have a copy of what the laboratory(biopsy) report said?” I said, “No.” He said, “Wouldyou like to see them?” I said, “Yes.” He wrote for themto see what the lab said . . . then, he called me up andhe said, “I don’t like the way this sounds. Would youlike to have your slides sent out to a few more labs?” Hesaid, “We’ll pick 10 labs to have it sent out and see whatthey have to say.” . . . Apparently, the initial lab person,it was his first case, his first day of work. He didn’t knowwhat he was looking at. But apparently he didn’t knowenough to get a second opinion. And so this dermatol-ogist sent it out (the slides).

Breast cancer. Another suspected she might get can-cer someday.

Like in my family, my mother died from it and I had 2sisters that died from it. My uncle died from it. So itwas like. . . . It was inevitable. Somebody in our familywould get it. I just must have been the person. So, theodds were just against me, I guess. Looking back now, Ithink there were a number of different contributingthings in my life that could have caused it (cancer). Iknow stress is a contributing factor in cancer. I like toknow what causes things. If I can prevent it from hap-pening again that’s what I’ll try to do.

Hearing Something Was WrongReactions to the diagnosis were wide ranging. They in-cluded shock, fear, being scared, not knowing what todo, insomnia, a confirmation of something they al-ready knew, and an end to being misdiagnosed. An-other noted that life had presented a new challenge.One, because of high rates of cancer in her family,stated she felt she had received a death sentence.

Lung cancer.

It wasn’t until February of 2001 when I first got diag-nosed with cancer as a result of a CT scan with a tumorthat was about 3 cm in the lower right lung area. It wasnon-small cell carcinoma that was compatible withadenocarcinoma. Which pretty much means, it’s a fastgrowing cancer and it will more than likely metastasizeto other parts of my body. Which, it pretty much did.After having tests and finding out the cancer did travelto the lymph nodes in the middle of my chest and 2 ofthe cancer cells lodged in the right side of my brain, Iwas shocked. I had fear. This was a new challenge forme. I never had to face any health crisis in my life. Ihad never been to a hospital until I had my 2 children.I knew that this would be a different type of a road forme to travel.

Prostate cancer. The male participant said,

The doctor gave me an examination and he told thathe found some nodules on my prostate. I didn’t knowwhat he was talking about. He said, “Well, it could becancer.” He said I’d have to do a biopsy. It was a weeklater that a biopsy was scheduled. They were prettydarn sure I had cancer. It took another week for me tofind out the results. Sure enough, the biopsy cameback positive. I had cancer. I had a blood test also. Theblood test was called a PSA. They give you a number.My number was 13, which is pretty high, although itgoes up into the hundreds for some people. But, minewas 13. There’s nothing worse than waking up (atnight) for that period of when I found out that I hadcancer. I didn’t sleep well. I was scared. They did sur-gery, but the doctor told me he was 90% sure I’d stillhave cancer. And it proved to be true when the medi-cine women healed me, she found it (the cancer).

Sarcoma of the leg. For the individual with the canceron the leg,

All 10 [slides] came back with the type of malignancythat I had. There was evidence of vascular invasion. Bythen, it was 7 years out. It was severe. . . . I continued tohave dreams that something was wrong. But I justknew I was going to survive. I kept feeling like I wouldlose my leg, I might be in a wheelchair, but everythingwould be OK. So I agreed with the physicians that I

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needed to have surgery. In fact, when the doctor saidthat to me, that was part of my dream. I dreamed thathe was going to say to me, “I’m sorry. You will lose yourleg.” So, I knew exactly what he was going to say.

I phoned my mother to tell her that I was going tolose my leg and she was grief stricken. She said, “Youcan heal yourself. We can pray for you. Just wait. Youcan heal yourself.” I said, “It’s gone way beyond that,Mother. There’s vascular invasion. I fooled aroundwith this thing too long. They misdiagnosed it. Theytold me I was too young to have cancer. Now, I’m in amess.” She was trying to explain to me, “Don’t do it.”You know, “This is not done. You cannot lose bodyparts. Please don’t have them do this to you.” But, Ihad the surgery to amputate my leg.

Breast cancer. A participant stated,

Almost 4 years ago, around July of 1999, I found outthat I had cancer. It was caught on a mammogram.When I first found out, there’s a period betweenwhere you’re diagnosed, when the doctor finds it,when they operate on you, where you don’t know—how far it is, or how advanced, or whatever. They saythat that period is the scariest time. . . . It was really,really scary.

I got the call. I was alone. And I didn’t know what todo. . . . I knew that if my mother would have been alive,she would’ve been there for me. So, what I did was, Itried calling different people that I knew. I couldn’tget a hold of anybody. I finally called one of my friendsand got a hold of her and let her know. She talked tome and really helped me to calm down a lot because Ididn’t know. You know, it’s like, when you hear thatword and you hear that illness. It’s automatic. It’s affili-ated with death. I thought, “OK. I’m going to die.”

Seeking HealingWhen diagnosed with a serious illness like cancer, onesearches for ways to get well and heal the self. The 4 re-search participants integrated and incorporated cura-tive methods of Western medical care, indigenoustraditional healing, as well as other alternative andcomplementary therapies during their illness. In oneinstance, the participant first used Western medicineand later relied on traditional healing only.

Lung CancerWestern medical treatment, indigenous traditionalhealing, and other sources of alternative and comple-mentary therapy, such as healing with crystals andmaximizing a healthy diet, were used by 1 researchparticipant to heal her fast-growing, metastasized lungcancer. However, on diagnosis, her first instinct was tocall a medicine man from her home reservation. Hewas a Yuwipi man, a type of healer sometimes called a

spiritual interpreter. A Yuwipi is a nighttime curingceremony conducted in a darkened room by a medi-cine man who has been bound and wrapped like amummy. Yuwipi is also a term for the tiny, sacred stonesgathered from anthills for use in ceremonies. To gethelp with a problem, the person seeking help gener-ally initiates the ceremony by approaching a personwho conducts Yuwipis and requests assistance. If anagreement is made, preparations begin. Food is pre-pared for a feast following the ceremony as well asother preparations as directed by the medicineperson.20

The participant said,

I had met him [the medicine man] about a year priorto my diagnosis. He is a younger medicine man and heknows our Indian people travel and that many, likemyself, live in concrete jungles [cities or urban areas].Thus, some of us don’t get back for ceremony. Somepeople have problems with our medicine people leav-ing home. They feel that they need to be there specifi-cally to take care of the people. Because of his age andhis youthfulness, he had no problems traveling andbringing his healing ways into the urban area.

I called him and told him about the cancer. Ofcourse, medicine men already know things that aregoing on. You can’t surprise them at all. So when I toldhim, he said “I already know.” He said, “It’s alreadyspread to other parts of your body.” And this wasbefore I had even started getting the other MRIs andX-rays and stuff. So, that pretty much gave me a headsup. It kind of let me know, “OK, we’re dealing withsomething pretty serious here.”

I went ahead and started going through the pro-cess. They [Western doctors] wanted to hurry up andstart giving me radiation and chemo. And, of course, Ihadn’t decided at that point in time if that’s what Ireally wanted to do. . . . I called him [the medicineman] back and I told him, I said, “Well, they want tostart it right away.” He said, “Well, we need to have cer-emony right away.” But he also told me, “Go aheadwith the gamma knife surgery.” So, I had the gammaknife treatment for the cancer on my brain. After that,I had radiation and chemotherapy. My right lung evencollapsed. I was in the hospital a few times. But all thewhile, I was also going to sweat lodges, Yuwipi cere-mony, and the Sun Dance.

After I got out of the hospital the second time, Ihad to go and see a thoracic surgeon. He took X-raysof my lungs and he let out kind of like a yell. “Thatright lung is trying to re-expand itself. I’ve never seethat happen before.” I said, “Well, do you think it willever be back to normal size?” He said, “No. No. No.That will never happen.” . . . My saturation level was 95with 1 lung . . . the nurses, they were all amazed too.They said normally people are usually like maybeabout 78 and below. I said, “OK. The spirits are really

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working with me.” I was teaching them [medical doc-tors] and letting them know these things are possi-ble. . . . So, indigenous ways of healing is not just abouthealing self, but it’s having lessons for other people tolearn too. . . . The attitude of some of the doctors, afterI shared with them about indigenous healing, theystarted looking at things differently. I really believethat was part of this journey too. For me, it was impor-tant to represent Indian medicine. . . . I firmly believethat 75% of why I’m going to make it is going to bebecause of Indian medicine. Some how or another it’sworking. I don’t have the kind of faith in your medi-cine that I have in Indian medicine. I still give somecredit to Western medicine and so, I have to give youguys [Western doctors] 25%.

The nurses would come in and they would talk tome. They wanted to know about ceremonies. Theywanted to know about the herbs. They were just realcurious. But it’s like they couldn’t do it in the midst ofsome of their peers. They would have to wait. I don’tknow, maybe it is part of their teaching that they arenot supposed to believe in these ways. So part of thisexperience was to see what I could do to help changepeople’s minds and attitudes about indigenous waysof healing.

Also, this healing journey was not only for the phys-ical part of my body but also my emotional and spiri-tual. The statement the medicine man made to mewas, “Before we can heal your body, we have to healyour mind.” This shell that we have is very short-term.It helps to make up a person. But the real person, thespiritual part of us, comes from within.

The last thing they had was the final healing cere-mony because they [the spirits] gave me a clean bill ofhealth. That’s when I say my official remission was Julyof 2002. They said there was a little bit more of the can-cer that was left and Western machines would not beable to detect it. It had camouflaged itself with discol-oration of lung tissue around it so they weren’t able tosee that. They [the spirits] came, said they took it out,and that would be the last part of it. Then, they saidthey have given me a new voice and a new spirit.

Prostate CancerThey [the doctors] gave me a bunch of options. Iopted for the surgery to get rid of it. They took myprostate out on April 30th. When I came out of the sur-gery, I talked with the doctor and he said he felt asthough some of it (cancer) had escaped from the sem-inal wall. So he didn’t know if he got it all, which wasn’tthe best news that I’d ever heard.

They wanted me to have radiation and/or chemo-therapy. I called the medicine women and we talked itover. I even went to see a doctor about the radiation. Ijust told him no. I went to see her [the medicinewomen] instead. I’m glad I did. I went to a first healingand 2 shake tents with the medicine woman, and ahealing in Canada with a medicine man.

A shaking tent ceremony is practiced among theAlgonquin groups for healing, divining, and prophesying.The person conducting the ceremony has the abilityto summon and communicate with the spirits. Thepresence of the spirits in the shake tent causes it toshake violently, thus the name for the ceremony.20

Sarcoma of the LegThey [the medical doctors] said that they felt theyremoved everything [the cancer] but when theyamputated my leg and they did another biopsy to seethe old scar line and that kind of stuff. They said therewas a place where there was mitosis and giant cells andthings of that nature. But they said it was very weak. Itwasn’t that strong of growth at all. . . . I wondered ifthey weren’t easing my mind to make me feel betterabout it.

I had called my cousins to talk to them about it.They were a part of the Shaker Religion. In betweenhaving my surgery, convalescing, and coming backhome, they had done ceremonies to heal me. TheShaker religion, I believe, is somewhat of a secretivegroup, in that they do not allow photographs. They donot allow publication of their processes and things ofthat nature. I remember lying in bed there [in the hos-pital] after talking to my cousins and them saying thatthey would heal me—that they were going to have aspecial ceremony and they would heal me. I left thephone line open. So, a lot of it was done over thephone with me, when I was in the hospital. A big partof it, I believe, was done after I lost my leg. But, as far ashealing, I have no doubt that that’s what healed me,because I was sick. They [the doctors] had talked tome about this being terminal. They had sent in apriest, who I refused to see because I felt like, no, Ididn’t call this person. I don’t know what they want. Iam not ready to talk to anyone yet.

When I was in the hospital, everyone I worked with,all the Indian communities and Indian relatives I hadcame to see me. They all shared with me the impor-tance of life and death, the sense of community, thesense of belonging. I did not have that with my non-Indian relatives. . . . Because there’s no procedure,there’s no protocol, of how to help a person die, orhow to help a person heal. You turn yourself over tothe health care industry and you end up in the hospi-tal. If you make it, fine. You come home. If you don’tmake it, that’s what happens.

I was bound and determined to leave the hospital. Iwas up and about and ready to go and indeed camehome with a nonweight-bearing prosthesis becausemy scars were still so new. I had to get the stitches andstuff out. I know my doctors told me they had neverseen anything like this—this healing so fast. They hadfollowed up on it and told me that the type of malig-nancy I had was terminal. People don’t live from this.They were not expecting me to live. I had vascular

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invasion. . . . That was 20 years ago. . . . I’ve had follow-up scans since then. Nothing has ever turned up sincethen. Likewise, I’ve not ever had a dream again aboutbeing ill.

Breast CancerI think it was the first night I found out [I had cancer],my sister said there was a spiritual person in the com-munity. She said, “He’s kind of young but I heard he’sgood. Let’s go see him.” I said, “Okay.” So we went andsaw him, I gave him tobacco, he did a ceremony,smoked the pipe, and then he prayed. He said that thespirits told him that it wasn’t my time. He said the spir-its told him I have a lot of work yet to do; that I wasn’tgoing to go. That was reassuring in a lot of ways. Ibrought a big pot of wild rice because my motheralways taught me that. When you go to a ceremony youshould bring something because that is your way ofoffering to the spirits. You know, your thanks for themhelping you. That was the beginning of my experiencewith a traditional healer. It was good and it was reassur-ing. It helped to allay a lot of my fears. There was stilllingering fear. There’s this doubt. I think that’s wherefaith comes in. It’s a test of faith. Of how much do Ibelieve? How strong do I believe? How much faith do Ihave that the Creator will just take care of me, no mat-ter what? That whole process was a test, I think, offaith.

After they did the ultrasound, they saw it (the can-cer) and then they had to do a biopsy. My mother’stheory was: use the traditional way and also use thewhite man way. Because she says, “Both ways can helpyou. Don’t ignore one way.” So, I did the lumpectomy.

I contacted another spiritual healer, took himtobacco, and we talked. My sister came with me andmy mate. One of the first things he said to me was,“How do you feel about your sickness?” I thought,“Why is he asking me that?” He says, “I’m asking youthat because it’s important.” He says, “If you just giveup, then you could go right away.” He says, “But ifyou’re ready to fight, then you can beat it.” I said,“Hey, I’m ready to fight. I’m not going to give up.” Sothen we started that whole process of healing.

That was the start of 4 nights of sweat lodges with 2other people who had cancer. One person knewbecause a spiritual man saw the cancer in him. Theother person was a lost cause to Western medicine andthey told her they could not help her. I felt, and I stillfeel that sense of knowing who the Creator is; knowingthe spirits and listening to them. Going into the sweatand singing the songs. Each of us prayed. I’ll never for-get when he first gave me that medicine. He was teach-ing me how to say those words. He said, “You have tosay these words over the pan.” You know as it’s boiling.We had to bring food every night. We had to make themedicine every day, put it in a big jar, and drink all ofthe medicine during the sweat. Boy, did I do a lot ofurinating.

The doctor, he talked me into doing the radiation.He said, “If you don’t, there’s a 50% chance that it willcome back.” . . . He really convinced me. After I wasdone with that, I came back and there was anotherspiritual person who came in and we went to see him.That was really good.

Connecting to Indigenous CultureAll of the participants identified themselves as indige-nous. They sought out traditional healing becausethey were comfortable with, familiar with, and be-lieved in this approach to healing and finding balanceas part of connection to their indigenous culture.

Lung CancerI’ve been going to ceremonies since I was about 16years old because one of my uncles was a Yuwipi man.The first time I went to Yuwipi ceremony with the cur-rent medicine man I work with, was for a friend ofmine. The second Yuwipi ceremony, I ended up tak-ing my daughter. My daughter, who was living on theEast Coast, came home when she was 3 months preg-nant, couldn’t keep any food down, and didn’t want toget rid of the baby. She hadn’t eaten for like 30 days.She looked like a walking skeleton. She was in and outof the hospital. They kept giving her injections forbeing dehydrated. They were really concerned aboutthe baby. They didn’t think that either one of themwas going to have a healthy term. I just got tired of see-ing them stick needles and poke syringes and stuffdown my daughter. So, I took her to a Yuwipi cere-mony. After that, she and her baby were fine. I wasextremely, extremely happy to know that my daughterwas saved in ceremony.

I’ve gotten to the point in my life where I eventhank Creator for the cancer. I thank Creator for allmy life experiences. I think from this point on, it’s justa matter of taking all this information and the con-stant flow of communication with the spirit world thatgoes into my mind on a daily basis, when I’m reallyopen and in tune to it. I get more and more informa-tion about some of the mysteries of life. It’s just soexpansive.

The first love comes from self, I think that we’vebeen provided with everything that we need to live avery balanced way of life. It’s just a matter of us goingback into our [indigenous] memory and trying to tapinto something there that we can bring forth andapply to whatever situation may come up.

Prostate CancerIt all started for me when I was a young boy. My grand-mother, she was probably born in about 1890. We livedin a little town in Northern Minnesota on Lake Supe-rior. Her parents and grandparents had alwaysshowed her how to heal. Not in a traditional sense ofbeing a medicine woman but just the normal, like

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headache medicines, and different things that wouldaffect childhood diseases. But whenever I’d get sick,like, catch cold . . . she’d heal me. People talk abouthow there’s no cure for the common cold. Traditionalhealers have a cure for the common cold. Whether it’sup to snuff with scientists or whatever, I don’t know,but it works. It’s a root that’s burned and you inhale it.By the time you’re done inhaling this root, you canfeel a noticeable difference. The cold is actually gone.I’ve never had a cold medicine over the counter everheal me like that.

I know that everything seems to go around swamptea. Swamp tea was probably the first and foremost tra-ditional way of treating a lot of childhood diseases.You had to drink swamp tea. All of these healing thingsare done with a prayer. You make an offering to thespirits, the 4 directions—North, East, South, andWest. But once my grandmother passed, those kindsof things passed with her.

The medicine women and my grandma had intu-ition and knew stuff about what was happening with-out anyone telling them. My grandmother always toldme never to be afraid of the spirits. They’re there for apurpose. Their purpose is to heal you. They’re notthere to scare you. I burn sage, sweet grass, and smokemy pipe. I offer my tobacco as tobacco is offered foreverything. I pray to the Great Spirit, with my eaglefeather. At night, I pray for lots of people. I pray fortheir good health.

Sarcoma of the LegMy cousins are members of a Shaker village in WarmSprings. They have ceremonies in the lodge. So, I hadexperienced that in my life. I think what really madethe difference in me getting well was getting thosephone calls and those visits. People who just called upand said they loved me. They said that my life wasimportant to them and to the community—because Ididn’t really know what contributions I made. Theysomehow held me up through that process. Theyhelped me through those terrible weeks. Theythought enough to just call and to be there. It’s noteven what they said. When I got out of the hospital tohave them come by and see me—to sincerely care forthe person. To let you know that all life is important.Your life on earth is important and to extend to youtheir strengths. And, of course, that’s not what theycan ever give you in the hospital.

Breast CancerI really listened a lot to my mother and my dad. But,more my mother, so she influenced me more. Youknow, spiritually, later on in life. To be healthy meansto feel good with my spirit and with my heart. I knownow that in order to feel good, I have to take care ofmyself. To pray helps me to feel better.

Contemplating Life’s FutureThe participants know cancer can recur at any time. Inthis manner, they talked about their lives, their mortal-ity, and the future. They also discussed people impor-tant to them and how cancer has affected some of theirrelationships.

Lung CancerThe word “cancer” itself was enough of a shock. Whenyou have death facing you, you think of all the thingsthat you wanted to do. “I wish I would’ve done this. Iwish I would’ve done that.” . . . A lot of times when peo-ple are facing death and are told they have a chronicillness, right away, they feel anger toward the Creator.It’s like, “Why me? Why did you pick me?” I think onceyou can move past that and realize that “Hey, this is allpart of your journey.” If you don’t handle it in this life-time, it’s going to come back again and it might beworse the next time around. To accept the illness as achallenge and an opportunity. I looked at it also as away for a complete change. I think even at the cellularstructure in my body. It’s almost like being rebornagain.

I don’t think I would be here if I didn’t reach out toceremonies. I was supposed to, according to Westernmedicine, have crossed over to the spirit world inNovember 2001. That’s the length of time they gaveme to live, even with treatment. Because I was atstage IV, because I’d lost 1 lung, they just knew for surethe other lung was going to collapse too. They hatedto tell me that. But according to their data and statis-tics, this was the length of time that “a person in yourcondition would live.” If I chose to believe them, Iwould have ended my journey. I would have crossedover last November. So words are very powerful.

When a person is going through healing, it doesn’tjust affect them, it affects the entire family. I told myhusband that if you feel that you can stay in this mar-riage out of responsibility, or guilt, or worried aboutwhat our families are going to think—it is not going towork. You will have ill feelings afterwards. The onlyway it’s going to work is unconditional love. I said, “I’mwilling to give you a divorce. We can be the best offriends. You can still be a part of the healing process.But, I don’t want that piece of paper to make you feelobligated.” I said, “Don’t tell me right away. Comeback in 4 days. Let me know in 4 days.” That’s what ourpeople used to do. Really think about it. When hecame back, he said, “I’m in it for the long haul.” I said,“Okay. I don’t know how you’ve been touched or what-ever made you make that decision, but I trust it.”

Prostate CancerI’ve always been a healthy person. I never ever suf-fered any of the debilitating diseases that have hap-pened to other people. When I turned 60, I realized

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my own mortality. When she [the medicine woman]told me, “It [the cancer] is all gone,” the only way thatI could find out for sure was to get a blood test. Myblood test wasn’t due until 6 months after the surgery.I was on pins and needles. I’d gone back to work. Mywife and I both work the same shift, at the same place.I’m sitting here one day and the phone rings; it’s thenurse. She says, “I’ve got your PSA results. They are.002.” She said, “It’s all gone.” I cried. I called the med-icine women and we cried. I called my daughter and Icried. My wife and I sat here and cried. Then, I hadanother 6-month wait for another blood test. It was.004. It’s still gone. I just had another one, 3 weeks ago.It’s back down to .002.

Sarcoma of the LegMy relatives healed me. I was able to persevere in thehospital, that’s such a horrible place. It’s so horrible tohave them tell you that you have a terminal illness, tohave the feeling that they’ve turned their back on you.That’s the worst thought in the world; that you’re notworth it anymore. That it’s going downhill anyway.They would come and talk over my bed as if I didn’teven exist anymore. The inhuman treatment, the ster-ile treatment. The power plays that go on in there—they take your identity away and they take your per-sonal possessions. No sense of being at all in theseplaces. How can people heal? Really? Truly?

But I think also that was a turning point in my life.Because I didn’t really understand the healing mecha-nisms of tribes until I went through that. I didn’tunderstand how much they care for one another. Ihaven’t seen some of those people for decades really.Even now, I know they think about me because I stillget cards from them. It was truly the extension of theFamily of Natives. You know, to say, “We care for you.You’re one of us. We’re there for you.” It made the dif-ference. They did. It really, really did. So here I am.Still here.

Breast CancerWhen I think through it all too, my bottom linewas . . . I came to terms with my own death. I’m OKwith dying. I’m OK with passing. To me, it wasn’t theend. I’ll be with my mother, my dad, my grandma, mysister, and all others that went before me. So I was OKwith that. What I was not OK with was the way it[death] would have been. Because I witnessed it and itwas so undignified in a lot of ways. I thought I don’tknow if I can do that. I don’t know if I can live throughthat, put my family through that. That’s why I was notokay with it—the undignity of going in that way.

Initially, my mate didn’t support me. I think he wasjust so in fear. I had my cousin come over and I askedher if she would talk to him for me because I couldn’tget through to him. So, she talked to him a long, longtime. Like 2 hours. Then finally she got through and

he started becoming supportive. All through it, afterthat, he was supportive of me through that sickness inevery way. I was so appreciative.

DiscussionCAM is widely used for cancer and other chronic con-ditions.21 The use of complementary therapies is com-mon among cancer patients22 and is increasing.23

Thus, rates of CAM usage are usually higher thanamong the general population.24 In Hawaii, resultsfrom a study indicated that 34% of newly diagnosedcancer patients used complementary treatments.25

Even so, no other studies were found that describedthe experience of indigenous people being healed byindigenous healers when they had cancer.

In this study, 4 themes with 2 related subthemesemerged from the data that describe the experienceof indigenous healing and cancer: (1) receiving thecancer diagnosis (with subthemes knowing somethingwas wrong and hearing something was wrong), (2)seeking healing, (3) connecting to indigenous cul-ture, and (4) contemplating life’s future. Thesethemes are important as they provide an initial explo-ration of this phenomenon.

This study illustrates that culture, belief system, andinterpretations of the meaning of illness have animportant effect on what approaches to treatment aresought when illness strikes. When confronted with alife-threatening illness such as cancer, an option forpeople who are familiar with, comfortable with, andbelieve in traditional healing is to integrate Westernmedicine with traditional healing. According toEngebretson, culture and health, complementary andalternative therapies, as well as spirituality and healthare factors that stimulate a reconceptualization ofhealth and illness in modern-day society.26 In this man-ner, the health-illness experience has expanded andaccordingly takes into account the life ways of indige-nous culture. For example, traditional healing acceptsthe wondrous, impossible, magical, and mysticalaspects of healing without doubt or question. The 4accounts attest to this healing approach. Traditionalhealing also acknowledges that healing occurs as aresult of the connection with the spirit world and thatthe interconnection of life and healing in indigenousculture is a paramount, natural phenomenon.27 How-ever, indigenous healers also recognize the impor-tance of Western medicine and recommend usingWestern medicine in combination with their healingapproach.

The powerful accounts given by indigenous peoplewith cancer who sought treatment from indigenoushealers highlight the nature of holistic healing.

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Holistic healing involves the mind and the spirit, aswell as the body. The 4 participants made reference tothe mental and the spiritual, as well as the physical ele-ments of their being upon reflection of their healingjourney.

Study limitations exist. Only 4 indigenous peoplewere interviewed for this study. Further research isneeded. A larger study that includes a larger numberof individuals from other tribes is essential to ascertainwhether the findings are replicated or similar. Even so,these findings serve as an initial guide for health careprofessionals in their interactions with indigenouspeople diagnosed with cancer.

A review of the Surveillance, Epidemiology, andEnd Results Program on cancer data revealed thatfrom 1992 to 2000, American Indians and AlaskaNatives have a cancer incidence that is stable ordecreasing in relation to specific types of cancer. How-ever, this population experiences increased deathrates and lower survival rates when diagnosed withcancer.28 In this era, the recognition of health care dis-parities present among the indigenous peoples of theUnited States is coming to the forefront.29,30 It is vital toimplement interventions that facilitate the highestlevel of health for indigenous people. EncouragingNative indigenous people to seek assistance with theirhealth care needs through ancient healing practicesmay help alleviate and minimize such disparities.

An effort to provide education and awarenessabout treatment approaches such as indigenous tradi-tional healing is needed. Research in this area is vitalto examine specifically how cultural healingapproaches can be used to assist with wellness in cul-turally diverse populations. In particular, theories andconcept development based on the culture are signifi-cant to initiate understanding and integration ofindigenous traditional healing as it relates to cancer,as well as other health imbalances. Thus, further workis necessary.

ConclusionThis research advances scientific knowledge by pro-viding vital data about the phenomenon of beinghealed by indigenous healers. This study demon-strates that 4 individuals with cancer integrated West-ern medicine and traditional healing to treat theircancer. Even so, this topic requires further explora-tion as it remains virtually unexamined from ascientific research perspective.

AcknowledgmentsThis study was funded by a University of MinnesotaPresident’s Faculty Multicultural Research Award

(R. Struthers, PI). We wish to thank the indigenouspeople who shared their stories. We also want to ac-knowledge and thank Dr Barbara Holtzclaw for hertechnical writing assistance.

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