Post on 27-Apr-2018
transcript
SOCH111 – History of Healing
www.endeavour.edu.au
Session 6
Traditional Medicine in the
Pacific
Department of Social
Sciences
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Session Aims
o To describe the cultures of Hawai’i, New
Zealand, Samoa, and Fiji
o To describe the spirituality of the Pacific Islands
o To describe the concept of health in Pacific TM
o To identify traditional healing practices in the
Pacific region
o To identify similarities and differences in Pacific
TM
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By User:Kahuroa - Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12011484
The Pacific Islands
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The Pacific Region
o Hawai’i
o Papua New Guinea
o Guam
o Fiji
o Samoa
o Cook Islands
o Solomon Islands
o Tonga
o Tahiti
o Easter Island
o Aotearoa - New Zealand
o Australia
o Vanuatu
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Hawai’i
By Jacques Descloitres - NASA. Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curi
d=11359528
o Northern-most Polynesian
islands
o 7 major, inhabited islands
o Formed by series of
volcanoes due to
movement of tectonic plate
over undersea magma
hotspot
o Active volcanos continue
on Big Island and off its
south coast
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History of Hawai’i
o Prior to colonisation:
• Hawaiians followed Kapu
system
• Culture thrived, illness not
common
o ~800,000 Hawaiians prior to
Captain Cook’s landing in
1778
• By early 1800s: 180,000
• Current: 368,600
Native/part-blood, 6,000-
8,000 pure Hawaiian
By User:Makthorpe - Artist: John Webber, artist
aboard Cook's ship. Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid
=1000748
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o Without health (ola) there is no
life
o Mind, body and spirit are one
o Nature and health are
inseparable
• Maintaining the land (aina)
promotes the health of the
people
• Mana – healing energy felt by
the soul from the Islands
o All things in nature are
interrelated by creative power
from the gods
Hawaiian Culture
CC BY-SA 3.0,
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/in
dex.php?curid=3879439
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Healing Philosophy
o Lokahi – harmony between
man, nature and the gods
o To live a prosperous life,
important to keep peace
with the self, the family, the
gods and the land
o Sense of wholeness from
lokahi – ho’omana
o Illness comes from
• being without lokahi
• punishment for breaking
rules or participating in
evil
By Jacques Arago - Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/ind
ex.php?curid=16863378
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Hawaiian Healing Practices
Practice Description
Ho’oponopono Traditional Hawaiian family problem
solving process to make things
"right/good"
Lomi lomi Traditional, spiritual and physical
massage
La’au Lapa’au Healing with the use of traditional
Hawaiian herbs
Pale Keiki Maternal-child care, before, during and
after birth
La’au Kahea - Spiritual or faith healing through prayer
and chants - a form of exorcism.
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Hawaiian Healers
o Kahuna – Priest,
teacher, healer
• “Keeper of the
secret”
o Chosen within the
family
o Diagnostics, herbs,
treatments,
procedures, bone
setting, sacred
prayersPublic Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AHawaiian_
Kahuna_Kahiko_(PP-33-11-023).jpg
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Types of Kahuna
Healer Healing
Kahuna Haihai iwi Bone setting
Kahuna haha Diagnose illness by palpation
Kahuna hoohanau keiki Childbirth (delivery, and provide pale
keiki for mother and child)
Kahuna paaoao Diagnose and treat illness in infants
Kahuna lomilomi Healing through traditional massage
Kahuna aloha Induce love
Kahuna la’au lapa’au Herbalist
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Hunao Uses the power of the mind to:
• re-establish balance (people, objects, places,
circumstances)
• accomplish healing and spiritual development
o Understanding the 10 elements of the self and learning
how to talk to the self
• 3 selves (superconscious, conscious, subconscious)
• 3 invisible bodies of self
• 3 energies (mana)
• the physical body
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Impacts of Non-Native Influenceso Traditional Hawaiian forms of healing are treatment of choice
in areas of more dense Native Hawaiian population
o Japanese and Chinese immigrants brought acupuncture,
shiatsu, tai chi, which have been assimilated
o Many Hawaiians distrust Western medical practices today,
though conventional medicine has made efforts to integrate
some traditional approaches and philosophies
o Increased chronic diseases (diabetes, cancer, alcohol/tobacco
use) and reduced life expectancy much more prevalent in
Native Hawaiian population
o When they return to their native diet, disease incidence falls
dramatically
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Traditional Practices Today
o 60-80 Kahuna estimated in
Hawai’i today, average age
of 75
o Nature of relationship with
the patient is deeply
personal, loving and
spiritual
o Positive and empowering
atmosphere
o Encourage patient to look
within themselves in order
to heal
By Makana Chai - personal photo, Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid
=10558670
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Herbal Healing - La’au Lapa’au
Botanical Indication
Kava *caution
with consumption*
Anxiety, insomnia
Awapuhi (Ginger) Ringworm, sprains, bruises, headache,
toothache, stomach ache
Kalo (Taro) Root rubbed on wounds to stop bleeding,
prevents inflammation from stings
Mai’a (Banana) Nervousness in children. Sap – chest pain
Noni (Indian
Mulberry)
Kidney problems, high blood pressure, loss
of appetite, diabetes, immunity, joint pain
Pohuehue (Beach
Morning Glory)
Skin infection and inflammation
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 16
Lomi Lomi
o Form of massage that has
both physical and spiritual
aspects
o Called “loving hands” though
forearms and elbows are
more used
o Both stroking and deep tissue
techniques
o Relaxes body, relieves pain,
increases circulation
o Transfers positive thoughts,
channels mana to release a
sense of wellbeing
By Thomas Wanhoff from Phnom
Penh, Cambodia - CC BY-SA 2.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/ind
ex.php?curid=2735045
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Ho’opono’pono
o Counseling, mediation and
personal practices to heal and
balance relationships and resolve
conflicts
o Objective is to remove obstacles
to being well, which can include
emotions, self-esteem issues, or
lack of forgiveness of self or
others
o Prayer and mantra to cleanse
heart and mind of negative
thoughts and feelings
I’m sorry
Please forgive me
Thank you
I love you
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 18
Revision Questions
o What is the Hawaiian word for vital healing energy
and where does it come from?
o List 3 healing practices from Kahuna medicine and
what each is used for.
Other food for thought:o We now see a pattern of the declining health of
indigenous people due to influx of Western culture
and diet—what do you see as the reasons for this
based on your existing knowledge and life
experience?
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 19
Aotearoa – New Zealand
o 900s-1300 CE – Māori
settlement from Polynesia
o 1642 – Able Tasman (Dutch)
o 1769-1770 – James Cook
(English) navigation and
French
o 1814 – arrival of missionaries
o 1840s-1850s – British Colony
“Treaty of Waitangi”
o Māori population decline into
early 1900s, ~15% populationBy New_Zealand_location_map.svg
SRTM30, CC BY-SA 3.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/in
dex.php?curid=11833349
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 20
Traditional Māori Healing
o Hauora Māori – Māori Health
• Spiritual, physical, emotional and
psychological
o Rongoā Māori - Traditional Māori
healing system
• Oral knowledge of diverse healing
practice, spiritual dimension of health
• Remedy and prevention against
illness and death
• Spiritual connection to nature
• Illness is a symptom of disharmony
with nature By Gottfried Lindauer - Visual
Archives, Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/
w/index.php?curid=16560762
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Mauri – Life Force
o From Io, the Supreme God
o Gives life to all living
organisms
o “when a person is born, the
gods bind the two parts of
body and spirit of his being
together. Only the mauri or
power of Io can join them
together” (Barlow, in Rollo)
o Manawa, heart, provides the
breath of lifeBy Photography by Wikipedia
User:MrX, CC BY-SA 3.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/
w/index.php?curid=38632806
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Aspects of Health
o Taha Hinengaro: mental state
o Taha Tinana: the physical body
o Taha Wairua/mauri: the spiritual being
o Manawa: the heart, life source
o Hā: the breath, breathing
o Hauora: the breath of life, the ‘wellbeing.’
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 23
Traditional Healerso Tohunga – practitioner of Rongoā
Māori
o Learned through passage of
knowledge from elders
o Seen as earthly medium
o Determine imbalance causing illness
• Treat by addressing spiritual,
psychological, emotional, cultural,
social, environmental, family and
physical aspects of health
o Treatment individualised to tribes,
areas, local plants and individual
needs
By Wilhelm Dittmer - Book: Te
Tohunga, Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/
w/index.php?curid=16561418
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Healing Practices
o Rongoā rākau: plant remedies
o Mirimiri: massage, physical therapies
o Karakia: prayer, spiritual healing
http://blog.tepapa.govt.nz/wp-
content/uploads/2014/10/Ron
goa-Tutu-Otaki_021.jpg
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Rongoā Rākau
Botanical Indication
Kawakawa (Maori
Pepper Tree)
Wounds, bruises, arthritis, chest
congestion, pain
Mamaku (Black Fern
Tree)
Boils, sore eyes, expel placenta,
breast pain
Kumarahou
(Gumdigger’s soap)
Coughs, colds, asthma, bronchitis,
blood purification
Manuka (tea tree) Anti-inflammatory, anti-septic,
pain, sedative, kidney and urinary
problems, fever
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 26
Karakia
o Ritual chants invoking
spiritual guidance and
protection
o Requests to the gods
(Atua) for a favourable
outcome
o Links the ill person to Atua
o Used in many settings
other than in healing, such
as in ceremonies and
meetings and as greetingsBy Carving by Bernard Makoare, Manos Nathan, and Lyonel
Grant.Photograph by Avenue. - Own work, CC0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17042022
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 27
Rongoā Māori Today
o Resurgence of Māori culture in recent decades has
brought Rongoā back into wide practice
o Holistic approach is more appealing to Māori
patients than the narrow physical approach of
conventional medicine
o Geographic and financial barriers also lead some
Māori to attend Rongoā healers
o Steps have been taken to include traditional Māori
healing in public health system
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 28
Revision Questions
o Compare the physical and non-physical aspects of
the Māori healing tradition.
o List the 3 major healing practices of Māori
medicine.
Other food for thought:o What are some similarities between Māori and
Hawaiian healing traditions?
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 29
Samoa
By CloudSurfer at the English
language Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/in
dex.php?curid=2245155
o Population: 180,000
o Settled by British,
Germans and Americans
o Early 20th Century –
Britain ceded to Germany
o 1918 – 1962: New
Zealand control
o 1962 – Samoan
Independence
o America Samoa (US
Territory) - Tuitila and
eastern islands
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 30
History of Health
o No written records of traditional medicine prior to the
landing of European colonisers
o Health of population prior to arrival of European
influences was good given their lifestyle and living
conditions
o Colonisation brought foreign diseases, but also foreign
herbal medicines
o Traditional indigenous medicines are used to treat
endemic diseases, and introduced herbal or other
Western medicines are used to treat introduced/Western
diseases
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 31
Traditional Healing Practices
o Good health dependent
upon balance of natural,
social and spiritual
worlds
o Fofo = traditional healer,
folk medicine, massage
o Taulaitu = spiritual
healer, source of healing
for internal ailment or
those with no obvious
cause
By Bartlett Tripp (1842-1911) Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?c
urid=8524420
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 32
Traditional Herbal Remedies
Botanical Indication
Nonu (Indian
Mulberry)
Skin infections, respiratory and urinary
tract infections, repelling spirits
thought to cause some illnesses
Mamala (Native
Bleeding Heart)
Hepatitis
Fue manogi Mouth ulcers, sore throats, infected
wounds
Matalafi Skin inflammation, infected wounds,
drive out possession by spirits, in the
coffee family
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 33
Present Day
o Estimated 150 full-time
practitioners of traditional
medicine in 2001
o Practice is unregulated
and traditional
practitioners not
considered to be
breaking laws against
unregistered practice of
medicineBy Neil - CC BY 2.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.or
g/w/index.php?curid=9406299
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 34
Fiji
By Zamonin - Source: At least one of the following Public
Domain data sourcesETOPO1 (Resolution 1° = 1,8km)SRTM
4.1 (Resolution 3' = 90m), CC BY-SA 4.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=47175615
o Settled by indigenous
Melanesians 3000-4000
years ago
o Became British colony in
1874
o British brought in Indian
contract labourers
o Current population of
900,000, half of
Melanesian descent and
half of Indian descent
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 35
Traditional Healing Philosophy
o Mate vayano: minor
physical problems, seen
as accidental, treated
physically
o Mate ni vanua: ‘diseases
of the land’, due to
influence of spirits, treated
supernaturally
o Dauvakatevoro: sorcerers
(shamen)
o Herbs used both physically
and supernaturally
By Thomas Williams (possibly) (1871) Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11
53978
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 36
Traditional Herbal RemediesBotanical Indication
Yaqona (Kava) Used in ceremonies to treat “diseases of the land”
or of spiritual interference; also coughs, cold,
headache, sore throat and parasites
Vesi Rheumatism, bone fractures, asthma, mild colds
Gasau Diarrhoea, urinary problems, eye injuries and age-
related eye problems
Wa yalu Constipation and other GIT complaints, infected
wounds, scabies, contraception and period pain
Nui (coconut
palm)
Massage oil and ointments, aches and pains from
many causes
Wabosucu
(mile a minute)
Cuts and bruises, wasp and other stings, boils
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 37
Present Day
o Rural Fijians are highest users of traditional medicine, but
increasing in popularity in urban areas
o 60-80% of population use traditional medicine, over 2000
traditional medicine practitioners
o Many conventional practitioners also practice traditional
medicine
o Training remains informal and by an oral tradition
o Traditional medicine seen to be more effective and cost-
efficient than conventional, but there is strong faith in
conventional as well
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 38
Revision Questions
o What are two herbs that are used in more than one
of the traditional medicines of the Pacific studied in
this session?
o What is the relationship of spirits in the view of
health in these cultures?
Other food for thought:o What do you think are some advantages and
disadvantages to how the traditional and
conventional Western medical systems are
operating in friendly parallel in Samoa and Fiji?
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 39
Referenceso Auckland Libraries, Rongoā Māori – Māori Medicine, viewed 25 June 2016
<http://www.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/EN/maori/teaomaori/maorimedicine/Pages/maorimedicine.aspx>.
o ‘Demystifying Rongoā Māori: Traditional Māori Healing’ 2008, Best Practice Journal, Vol.13, viewed 25 June 2016, <http://www.bpac.org.nz/BPJ/2008/May/rongoa.aspx>.
o Hilgenkamp, K & Pescaia, C 2003, ‘Traditional Hawaiian healing and western influence’, California Journal of Health Promotion, Vol. 1, Special Issue, pp.34-39, viewed 25 June 2016 <http://www.cjhp.org/volume1_2003/issuehi-textonly/34-39-hilgenkamp.pdf>.
o Kayne, SB 2010, Traditional medicine: a global perspective, Pharmaceutical Press, London.
o Rollo, TM (nd), Mā te waika piki ake te hauora, viewed 25 June 2016 <http://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10289/8917/Ma%CC%84%20Te%20Wai%20Ka%20Piki%20Ake%20Te%20Hauora.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y>.
o Wilson, J, 'History', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, viewed 25 June 2016, <http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/history>.
o World Health Organisation 2001, Legal status of traditional medicine in complementary/alternative medicine: a worldwide review, viewed 26 June 2016, <http://apps.who.int/medicinedocs/en/d/Jh2943e/>.