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MODALITIES The collective modalities used in contemporary Alaska Native traditional healing are similar to allopathic medicine in that both share the common principle which emphasizes the importance of fostering the trust relationship between doctor and patient. While allopathic medicine focuses on identifying and treating a specific diagnosis, traditional healing strives to restore the patient's sense of natural balance and harmony with self, community and culture. Traditional healing attempts to nurture the mind-body-spirit connection, and to actively involve the patient in finding renewed commitment to lifelong health and wellness. The following list describing modalities of Alaska Native traditional healing is by no means complete, but reflects those identified at the time of webpage creation. As Alaska's Native groups are distinct in history, geography, and culture, variations may occur from one practitioner to another between regions or cultures. Further, certain practices may be regulated by institutional policy depending upon the location and administrative management of any given traditional healing program. Activity/Exercise: Traditional healers/tribal doctors commonly recommend various forms of activity, stretching and exercise to patients to the extent that the patient is both able and willing. Suggestions may be tailored to the patient's athletic interest and health concerns, and may involve physical therapy or specific exercises to strengthen muscle groups and improve cardiovascular fitness such as skiing, biking, walking, swimming, basketball, baseball, weight training, and gym activities. More traditional activities are also suggested such as camping, dancing and drumming, berry picking, tundra walks, hunting and fishing, wood hauling, dog mushing, and Indian/Eskimo games which youth especially enjoy. Recently the school age students in Atka replaced the regular physical education class with Unangan (Aleut) dance which provides a rigorous and culturally appropriate means of activity during the school day, combining skillful movements with pattern sustained over time. Their vibrant dancing is highly acclaimed at all festivals where they perform across the state. Drumming/Dancing/Singing: These together have been an important means for traditional healing among individuals and whole communities. Music, movement, ceremony and the drum rhythms reach Alaska's Native people in ways that no western medicine can. This is especially good for prevention of suicide, alcohol & substance abuse/dependence, domestic violence as well as for the promotion of healthy lifestyles and overall wellness of mind, body, and spirit. Dancing, drumming and singing are a form of tradition as treatment which allows participants to vigorously express feeling, to connect participants to family, community and culture, to reaffirm the joy of living, to promote physical activity, to practice learning from mistakes, and to establish the powerful bonds of love, care, and support between people.
Hot Springs: Greater than 120 natural hot springs are identified in Alaska. They are sometimes used as a place for healing in an Alaska Native context where relief may be sought for arthritis and back pain, headaches, muscle strains and skin rashes. Soaking in the hot springs is commonly combined with other treatment forms. Healing is enhanced by the cultural, spiritual and social interactions combined with other modalities such as therapeutic massage and manipulation. Poking/Bloodletting: Poking and bloodletting both involve skin punctures. While poking (piercing) may or may not result in any bleeding, the purpose of bloodletting (lancing) is to draw blood. Both are methods used for primarily for relief of aches and pains such as back aches, headaches, sore muscles, inflamed joints. Bloodletting can also be used as a method for reducing infection from an abscess, or draining cysts. Historically, bloodletting was also used to relieve snow blindness by puncturing between the eyes. Poking is specifically used by a few of the Iņupiat Eskimo tribal doctors/traditional healers today in the Northwest Arctic region which includes Kotzebue and the outlying villages. After the skin is cleansed with alcohol or iodine, the tribal doctor uses small needles to pierce the skin and soft tissue below. Acupuncture points are commonly used for needle placement. Massage/Manipulation: Relaxation and breathing exercises may first be used to put the patient at ease. Superficial or deep tissue massage, trigger point pressure and the use of hot or cold packs may be implemented to relieve headaches, back aches, muscle strains, relieve emotional/psychological stress, relieve muscle tension. Areas of massage or manipulation may include the total body from head to toe, or may be focused to the head and neck, specific limbs and joints, back only, or the abdomen. Medicinal Plants: Each of Alaska's Native cultures have significant historical ties to the plants growing in their local regions. Healing knowledge has been handed down through the generations. Different plant parts--such as roots, leaves, flowers, berries, and bark-- are used for different purposes, and are harvested at specific times of year for optimum potency. The plants may be used as teas, poultices, powders, chew, ash, infusions, salves, smoke, oils, compresses, and other applications. Although some contemporary uses of such plants remain among individuals within various cultural groups, the best information source for local knowledge is in the respected hands of traditional healers and tribal doctors. Disclaimer: As with all herbal remedies, one must use extreme caution with medicinal plants because harm or death may result due to inappropriate use or interaction with other prescribed and/or non-prescribed substances. Much remains to be learned regarding toxicity, dosing, efficacy and drug interactions. As always, approach use of medicinal plants with caution, as much of this information is obtained from historical sources. No uses are advocated by the author of this webpage, and the information provided within is for educational purposes only. Follow this link to a sampling of Alaska Native medicinal plants. Nutrition/Diet: Traditional Native foods are important to the overall well-being of people within the Alaska Native community. The food is both a physical and spiritual source of sustenance. Different food sources are harvested from region to region and at different seasons. Among some of the favorites are meat from caribou, moose, bear, dall sheep, beaver, seal, walrus, and whale, as well as ducks and geese. Some meats such as seal or whale also provide a rich source of fat in the form of seal oil or whale blubber. Additionally, fish is harvested from rivers and sea all year long depending on the species, and includes tomcod, lingcod, five species of salmon, whitefish, sheefish, Arctic char, grayling, varieties of trout, halibut plus seafood such as crab, clams, sea urchins, and shrimp. The land also provides a bounty of delicious berries such as blue-, cran-, rasp-, salmon-, nagoon-, and assorted currants. Alaska's Native people are deeply connected to the land, rivers, and seas as much now as the ancestors before them
Relaxation: The tribal doctor/traditional healer may employ a variety of techniques to help the patient have a receptive attitude to treatment and healing technique. Such methods may include any alone or in combination such as getting into a relaxing posture or position, listening to music or nature sounds, creating an environment that is both physically and visually appealing, imagery, and breathing exercises. Smudging (smoke cleansing) with sage sweet grass, cedar and labrador tea are also used to help the patient develop an open approach to treatment. Storytelling: The ancient art of sharing traditional knowledge and wisdom through stories continues to be used by Alaska Native elders and traditional healers to foster problem solving, promote insight, and to motivate individuals or groups, as well as to teach listening skills, raise cultural awareness and pride, and to empower individuals with the strength of their ancestors. Storytelling may be done one-on-one as in a counseling situation, or in private intimate gatherings, or larger group settings such as talking circles, schools, university classes, auditoriums, correctional facilities, conferences, or culture camps. Steams/Sweats: Steams, or sweats, are where individuals or small groups gather to restore the self to balance. Traditionally, sweats were to be done with others, never alone, and usually segregated by sex. The purpose is for talking, sharing, listening, telling stories, laughing, bonding, and opening oneself to others. Some people sweat to also "remove toxins." Others may sweat alone in commercial saunas to relax mentally or relieve sore muscles. In old times, particularly along Alaska's tundra coastline, the use of hard-to-find driftwood would necessitate sweats in larger groups because wood was such a scarce and valuable commodity. Today, dry heat is raised commonly by wood-fueled stoves, with steam created by splashing water on rocks that become heated on top of the stove. Other sweats build a large outside fire in which the stones are heated first, followed by the careful placement of stones into the sweat lodge where steam is then created with water splashed on the red-hot stones. Ceremony may sometimes precede or accompany sweats or steams, or they may be less formal without ceremony but maintained as a regular part of one's personal therapy routine. Follow this link to the author's personal account of "Sweating Among Friends." Talking Circles: In western psychotherapy practices, this would be the rough equivalent of group therapy sessions. In the Alaska Native context, however, talking or healing circles are based upon traditional Native values of sharing, acceptance of personal responsibility, humility, respect for others, listening non-judgmentally to others, and taking ownership of one's own healing. Often, participants will gain insights by listening to others' stories, and enhance their own personal sense of self-discovery. Networks of support may emerge from consecutive talking circles, and may be carried beyond the circle as bonds are formed between participants. Typically, the circle begins with a prayer and a cleansing such as with a smudging of sage or other local plant, and proceeds in clockwise fashion as a feather is passed around representing one's turn to speak. Follow this link to the author's personal account of the "Talking Circle, Healing Circle." Traditional Counseling: Methods vary but may combine western psychotherapeutic models with culturally-derived methods. Focal emphasis is upon the patient in context of their family and community as opposed to a particular dysfunction, and family members may be involved. Practices may include guided imagery, journeying, dream interpretation, prayers, blessing, and smudging with sage or other local herbs. Additional emphasis may be on assisting the patient in recognizing their own healing source from within, and to free the self from obstacles to healing such as the use of addictive substances or relationships which are negative, harmful, or violent. Traditional counseling may be also used with other forms of healing.
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