Native American Traditional Healing as a Recognized Whole Medical System

By Dr. Anthony B. James, Director and “Medicine Chief”, Native American Indigenous Church, Inc. FBO Inter-tribal Organization. ©2025 All rights Reserved.

08/09.2025

Table of Contents

Native American Traditional Healing as a Recognized Whole Medical System.. 1

Introduction to Native American Traditional Healing as a Recognized Whole Medical System… 1

Key Points: Holistic Practices and Broad Applicability. 2

Legitimacy and Recognition by Governmental and Non-Governmental Agencies. 3

Legal Recognition of Religious Therapeutics and Exemptions from Oversight. 4

Position: Advocating for Enhanced Protection and Integration.. 5

Bibliography. 5

 

Introduction to Native American Traditional Healing as a Recognized Whole Medical System

Native American (NA) traditional healing represents a comprehensive, holistic approach to health and wellness that has been practiced for millennia across diverse indigenous communities in North America. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and its National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM, now known as the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health or NCCIH), (NA) traditional healing is classified as a “whole medical system.” This designation underscores its status as a complete and independent framework for understanding, preventing, and treating illness, distinct from conventional Western medicine but complementary to it in many contexts.

Whole medical systems, as defined by NCCIH, encompass diverse medical and health care practices not generally considered part of conventional medicine, including systems like Ayurveda and traditional Chinese medicine, with (NA) healing sharing similar attributes in its emphasis on interconnectedness and balance. This recognition highlights (NA)  healing’s role in addressing the full spectrum of human health, body, mind, spirit, and social relations, through bio-psycho-socio-spiritual interventions that evolve to meet contemporary needs.

The synopsis of this topic, drawn from NIH-supported literature and policy documents, reveals (NA)  traditional healing as a dynamic system that integrates physical, emotional, spiritual, and communal elements to promote harmony and wellbeing. It is not merely a collection of remedies but a philosophical and practical paradigm that views illness as an imbalance requiring restoration through rituals, herbs, ceremonies, and community involvement. Importantly, this system is legitimized by federal agencies such as NIH/NCCIH, the Indian Health Service (IHS), and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which have increasingly integrated traditional practices into public health strategies, including through summits, funding, and policy expansions. Legal frameworks further affirm its status, equating (NA)  religious therapeutics with medical beliefs, professions, and practices, while granting exemptions from regulatory oversight to preserve cultural and religious integrity.

 

Key Points: Holistic Practices and Broad Applicability

 

(NA)  traditional healing encompasses a wide range of holistic practices that address illness, disease, and disorder across the severity spectrum—from mild conditions like stress or minor ailments to chronic issues such as diabetes and mental health disorders, and even acute emergencies requiring immediate intervention. These practices include herbal remedies, manipulative therapies (e.g., massage or bone setting), ceremonies involving prayer, music, dance, and community participation, as well as spiritual rituals such as sweat lodges or vision quests. A core tenet is the bio-psycho-socio-spiritual model, which treats the individual as interconnected with their environment, family, and cosmos. For instance, ceremonies may involve the patient, family, and community to restore harmony, utilizing symbols from both traditional Native American (NA) and adapted Christian elements to enhance the healing energy. This approach offers evolving solutions that adapt to modern challenges, such as urbanization and environmental changes, while maintaining efficacy in promoting physical conditioning (e.g., dawn runs), behavioral education through storytelling, and spiritual resilience. These evolving approaches, practices, and protocols may not align with the conventional understanding of historical narratives about (NA) religious therapeutics; however, they remain valid and protected.

Critically, these practices are not confined to specific tribes, tribal organizations, reservations, or even federally recognized groups. These practices are also integral to the belief systems and practices of the tens of millions of (NA) communities and persons in urban off-reservation diasporas. This includes both those tribal communities and persons with various extractions by blood (blood-quotient) to mixed, derivative, and non-blood relations by marriage. In the modern world, literal blood quantum is no longer a rigid or defining eligibility criterion for the expression of (NA) religious beliefs and practices. It is allowed as is the sincere and firmly held convictions of any religion or defined religious community, whether derivative of (NA)  or not. Only the members of the respective community can specify the sum of the religious practices. Provided these practices are not “mala prohibita” felony crimes and there is no compelling state interest, then there is no necessity for either oversight or restrictions by any governmental entity.

Shared health beliefs, such as the necessity of balance and harmony for well-being, transcend individual tribal and organizational boundaries, manifesting in common interventional strategies across (NA) cultures. While tribal variations exist, the foundational principles are pan-Native American, pan-indigenous. aboriginal, applicable in urban, off-reservation communities where many Indigenous people reside. Urban Indian health organizations, as well as urban tribal religious and charitable organizations, often incorporate traditional healing programs, demonstrating their adaptability and inclusivity. This universality of practices between tribal and inter-tribal communities underscores that (NA)  healing is a cultural heritage accessible to sincere practitioners, including non-Natives in specific religious contexts, rather than a proprietary system tied to any one group.

 

Legitimacy and Recognition by Governmental and Non-Governmental Agencies

 

(NA)  traditional healing enjoys robust legitimacy from multiple agencies. The NIH/NCCIH (National Institutes of Health/National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health) explicitly recognizes it within its framework of complementary and integrative health, aligning it with whole-person health models that mirror (NA) traditions. The Indian Health Service (HIS), responsible for providing health services to American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN), actively integrates traditional healing practices into care, as evidenced by awards for clinics that incorporate these practices and policies under the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (IHCIA), which supports traditional healers ((NA) Religious Therapeutics). Recent Biden-Harris administration actions have expanded coverage for traditional medicine practices, affirming their value in AI/AN health. Non-governmental bodies, such as the American Medical Association (AMA), have adopted resolutions endorsing traditional healing for nutrition, access, and mental health. Health and Human Services (HHS) summits further promote collaboration between traditional Native American (NA) religious and therapeutic practitioners and researchers, recognizing the role of healing in addressing disparities.

 

Legal Recognition of Religious Therapeutics and Exemptions from Oversight

 

A pivotal aspect of (NA) traditional healing is its synonymity with religious therapeutics, where “Medicine Men” (traditional religious therapeutics practitioners) function as ministers, priests, or pastors in other faiths. This framing grants legal protections under federal laws, such as the American Indian Religious Freedom Act (AIRFA) of 1978 and its 1994 amendments, which safeguard access to sacred sites, objects, and rites (practices and professions), including the use of peyote (botanical entheogenic, plant based medicine otherwise regulated under federal criminal code) in ceremonies, for many tribes and tribal organizations, a key healing ritual. AIRFA declares such practices lawful, exempting them from prohibitions and penalties, extending to non-Native participants in bona fide ceremonies. Although there are tribes that do restrict their respective religious ceremony and healing practices to those of “full blood” only, this is exceptional to those tribes and there is no rule or law to enforce such restrictions outside of the individual tribe holding that rule.

This is worth reiterating. These protections and patent exemptions extend to non-native, non-blood-quantum individuals, based solely on sincere and firmly held convictions related to the religious expression. Qualifications for membership or participation vary according to the individual tribal community. Inter-tribal communities, such as the Native American Indigenous Church tribal organization, may comprise multiple tribes and their relatives, with varying levels of membership participation. NAIC, for example, currently has over forty (40) different federally (Department of the Interior) recognized tribal entities. The balance of the membership is either “Urban off-reservation”, mixed, or no blood-quotient by ceremony of adoption.

The Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) of 1993 and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) of 2000 further protect (NA) practices by prohibiting substantial burdens on religious exercise unless justified by compelling interests and least restrictive means. RLUIPA, for instance, applies to land use affecting commerce with Indian tribes, exempting religious assemblies (including healing sites) from discriminatory zoning. These laws equate (NA) healing rituals with religious practices, exempting them from federal drug laws (e.g., Controlled Substances Act exemptions via DEA petitions) and state medical board regulations, as they are not considered “medical” in the conventional sense but rather spiritual (religious therapeutic).

Comparable exemptions apply to clergy in other religions, such as confidential communications privileges for ministers or priests, as well as accommodations for religious beliefs in health mandates (e.g., Title VII protections). For (NA)  Medicine Men, this extends to healing as a religious exercise, free from licensure or oversight, as seen in peyote exemptions and IHCIA provisions. State efforts also increase access without regulation, emphasizing cultural competence. The observable fact that these practices are remedial, healthful, generative or enhancing of wellness of spirit, mind, body, preserving, and maintaining health and freedom from disease and “unwellness” in virtually every area of life is technically irrelevant, a moot point, as the rights and legalities confirming the legitimacy of the (NA) religious expressions have been settled as a point of law.

 

Position: Advocating for Enhanced Protection and Integration

 

This position paper argues that (NA) traditional healing, as an NIH-recognized whole medical system, merits full legal and institutional support to preserve its integrity amid ongoing health disparities in American Indigenous/ American Native (AI/AN) communities. By emphasizing its non-tribal universality and exemptions from oversight, policies should expand integration into urban and off-reservation care, while strengthening protections under AIRFA, RFRA, and RLUIPA, as well as any other relevant US Code against encroachment. Such measures not only honor religious freedoms but also advance equitable and holistic health outcomes, countering historical suppression and promoting bio-psycho-socio-spiritual-functional integrative wellness for all.

 

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