American Indian Healing Arts Herbs, Rituals, and Remedies for Every Season of Life

American Indian Healing Artsis a magical blend of plant lore, history, and living tradition that draws on a lifetime of study with native healers by herbalist and ethnobotanist E. Barrie Kavasch. Here are the time-honored tribal rituals performed to promote good health, heal illness, and bring mind and spirit into harmony with nature. Here also are dozens of safe, effective earth remedies--many of which are now being confirmed by modern research. Each chapter introduces a new stage in the life cycle, from the delightful Navajo First Smile Ceremony (welcoming a new baby) to the Apache Sunrise Ceremony (celebrating puberty) to the Seminole Old People's Dance. At the heart of the book are more than sixty easy-to-use herbal remedies--including soothing rubs for baby, a yucca face mask for troubled skin, relaxing teas, massage oils, natural insect repellents, and fragrant smudge sticks. There are also guidelines for assembling a basic American Indian medicine chest.

E. Barrie Kavasch is an herbalist, ethnobotanist, mycologist, and food historian of Cherokee, Creek, and Powhatan descent, with Scotch-Irish, English, and German heritage as well. She is the author of two books on Native American foods, <b>Enduring Harvests</b> (1995, Globe Pequot) and <b>Native Harvests</b> (1979, Random House), which was hailed by <b>The New York Times</b> as "the most intelligent and brilliantly researched book on the foods of the American Indians." She has studied with many acclaimed native healers--some of whom contributed to this book--and is a research associate of the Institute for American Indian Studies in Washington, Connecticut. Her work has been featured in <b>The New York Times</b>, <b>Martha Stewart Living</b>, and many other publications, and she has been a guest lecturer at the New York Botanical Garden, the American Museum of Natural History, and the Yale Peabody Museum.<br><br>Karen Baar has a degree in public health from the Yale University School of Medicine and writes about gardening and health for <b>The New York Times</b>, <b>Self</b>, <b>Good Housekeeping</b>, and <b>Natural Health</b>, among other publications.