Bush medicine

Bush medicine, also called traditional medicine, is the sum of the total knowledge, skills and practices based on the theories, beliefs and experiences indigenous to different cultures, whether explicable or not, used in the maintenance of health as well as in the prevention, diagnosis, improvement or treatment of physical and mental illness. Bush medicine is also connected to the holistic worldview in such a way that the interplay between the physical, emotional, social and spiritual aspects is crucial in attaining wellbeing.

Generally, bush medicine is made from plant materials, such as bark, leaves and seeds, although animal products were used as well.

A major component of traditional medicine is herbal medicine, which is the use of natural plant substances to treat or prevent illness.

Aboriginal remedies varied between clans in different parts of the country. There was no single set of Aboriginal medicines and remedies, just as there was no one Aboriginal language.

The modern world and indigenous culture have differing approaches for health. Whilst conventional medicine deals with direct causes of illness and science-based views of health, the aboriginal view on health as defined by the National Aboriginal Health Strategy considers "not just the physical well being of the individual, but the social, emotional and cultural well-being of the whole community. This is the whole-of-life view and it also includes the cyclical concept of life-death-life".

A variety of bush medicine techniques were and are still being used. In Western Australia and the Northern Territory, eucalypt kino was drunk for influenza, colds and coughs.

Mitchell Park, situated near Sydney Basin in NSW, had many plants that were used as remedies for Aboriginal people. Nine species of eucalyptus present in the park could act as remedies. The red gum exudate, known as kino, are known to be rich in astringent tannins. Additionally, this park also contained native pants that were actually used by early European settlers. The nectar-laden liquid from banksia flowers was used as a cough syrup, and from the native grapes (Cissus hypoglauca) a throat gargle was made.

In Warrabri, the Northern territory, for instance, the cure for earache is squeezing the fatty part of a witchetty grub into the sore ear. While in Uluru, the cure is squeezing rabbit urine into the ear.

In general, there are two types of accepted causes of illness in aboriginal tribes - natural, and supernatural. Natural causes would be treated with natural remedies, and supernatural illnesses could only be treated with a spiritual cure. It was believed that evil spirits caused any illness without an obvious explanation and these would be treated by the tribe's medicine man who would specialize in spiritual cures. They mainly use bush animal dung or plants in their medicine.

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Wikipedia