HEALING THE WORLD'S SICK

Over 25% of all medicines today come from plants and other natural sources. Over 200 modern drugs have their origins in Native American medicinal practice.1).  Following is a list of a FEW of the medicines used by American Indians and shared with the world:
QUININE: used to treat malaria, perhaps the most endemic killer of human life. Malaria was not native to the Americas, but was brought over with early European settlers. Native healers quickly discovered this wonder drug's curative powers over malaria and untold millions of lives have been saved due to its effectiveness.
IPECAC: used to purge the body of ingested poisons and to combat amoebic dysentery.
DIGITALIS: extracted from the foxglove plant to treat heart ailments. Today this drug is one of the most important in modern medicine for regulation of heart rhythm.
RHAMNUS PURSHIANA: the world's most commonly used laxative.
CURARE: A muscle relaxant used in surgery.
SPIGELIA MARILANDICA: used to combat intestinal worms.
ASPIRIN: used to combat pain and fever. Native Americans derived this drug from the bark of willow and poplar trees. Today we artificially manufacture aspirin from coal tar.
WITCH HAZEL: used to soothe irritated skin and muscles
ARNICA: a drug commonly used to reduce swelling.
PETROLEUM JELLY: an ointment used to soothe skin.
Native People utilized hundreds, if not thousands, of other medicines and drugs, many of which are the basis of many of today's modern medicines and treatments. Much of this Native medicinal knowledge and practice has been lost due to the attempted destruction of their culture.
Today over 500 medicines and  herbal remedies are used in modern medical treatment that were first used by the First Peoples of this land.
The Native People of this hemisphere led a life that was in many ways much more healthy than that of the European Peoples.  Many European People lived in crowded, and unsanitary conditions, often sharing their homes with draft animals..
The early European people considered frequent bathing to be sinful and abhorrent. Queen Isabella, of Spain, once boasted that she had bathed only twice in her life, the first time when she was born and the second time the day of her marriage. And Queen Isabella upon hearing Columbus' reports on the frequency of bathing among the Native People issued an edict that stated in part,  "They are not to bathe as frequently as hitherto."

Feenie Ziner, the author that wrote Squanto's biography,  recorded that Squanto,  "...tried without success to teach them [the Pilgrims] to bathe."1).

The Native people of Mexico were known to hold flowers to their noses when talking with the Spanish Conquistadors in an attempt to mask the malodorous aroma that wafted out from under the armour of the Spanish.  31).
Unfortunately as a result of their clean living standards and lack of exposure to the pathogens of medieval Europe the Native People of this land did not develop the resistance to common European diseases such as mumps, measles and chicken pox, not to mention the deadlier vectors of infection like the Black Death or small pox  Today we recognize the wisdom of Native habits of personal cleanliness. The importance of good hygiene is the foundation of today's modern medicine. And the power of prayer and spiritual faith is being acknowledged by modern science.
So complete was this Native lack of resistance to these diseases that entire bands would be decimated by simple "childhood illness's." In-spite of their vast knowledge of natural cures and treatments, the onslaught of European disease, killed as much as 90% to 95% of the Native People of America. The "Great Plague,"  which nearly brought European society to its knees,  only had mortality rates of approximately 25%.  The European diseases that afflicted Native Americans were the deadliest plagues ever suffered in all of known human history.  22). 6).

The European plagues that decimated Native populations came in wave after wave,  with some plagues individually, and others collectively having mortality rates of up to 95%. These diseases were for the most part introduced incidentally,  though at times with purposeful  deliberation,  but nearly always noted with celebration or observed with dispassion and distance.

The stunning death rates of Native Americans to European pathogens was due in part to lack of exposure,  but also due to genetic traits that limited Native Peoples ability to deal with these unseen killers. Native People are free of many genetic diseases but have a relatively narrow genetic range. Four mitochondrial  haplogroups, named A, B, C, and D, 76).account for 96.9% of all Native Americans.  More than 90% of Native People of North American and nearly 100% of Native South Americans have type O blood. Europeans are relatively evenly split between types A and O. More importantly American Indians have only about 17 Human Leukocyte Antigens (HLA's) classes as opposed to Europeans having on average about 35 HLA classes. HLA's are one of the human body's two main lines of defense against sickness.   In addition Native Americans HLA profiles are dominated by a small number of types. There is evidence that the other line of defense in humans against disease,  Helper T cells,  are in the case of Native Americans oriented predominately against parasites but not as focused on bacteria and virus'  as are the immune systems of Europeans.

No where in recorded human history has such a catastrophic depopulation of people as befell the Native People of the Western Hemisphere ever been recorded. These plagues rank as perhaps the most seminal events in the recorded history of mankind. 75). .