Traditional Medicine: A call for Dignity

As an indigenous person, I have grown tired of the arrogance and ignorance of the western mind imposing their false “beliefs” onto indigenous persons and our way of life. I can’t stand how western society tries to create a perception that traditional medicine is less than western medicine. The westerns love to call it "alternative medicine". This is the typical attitude and language we see from colonizer consciousness.

Traditional, plant-based medicine is mischaracterized as "alternative" when it is, in fact, the foundation of all medicinal knowledge. Western medicine, with its heavy reliance on synthetic derivatives and processed pharmaceuticals, overlooks the long-standing wisdom of indigenous and traditional healing practices because they are blinded by the greed and need to patent and own life. By calling our medicine "alternative," it diminishes the authenticity and value of these ancient methods, which have been used for thousands of years to treat ailments naturally.

"Traditional medicine" should indeed be recognized as the primary or original medicine, as it is the source from which modern pharmacology draws its roots. The United Nations acknowledges the importance of traditional medicine as a human right, emphasizing its role in cultural heritage and personal sovereignty. To mislabel it as "alternative" is not just dismissive, but it erases the legitimacy of indigenous knowledge systems.

Reclaiming language and refusing to accept these imposed labels is essential in the battle to preserve and respect the wisdom of traditional medicine. Traditional or ancestral medicine more accurately reflects its primacy and universality, as opposed to the synthetic and derivative nature of much of Western medical practice.