They Called Her Mother—Not Medicine. The Lost Wisdom of Native Healing We’re Finally Waking Up To 🌿

Before America had borders, banks, or big pharma… this land was medicine.

Long before European ships kissed these shores, North America thrived with the wisdom of over a thousand Indigenous tribes. Not 500. Not 560. Try 1,500+ sovereign nations of Earth-connected, plant-knowing people—each with their own language, ceremonies, and systems of care.

These weren’t primitive people. They were keepers of the land, scientists of soil, and guardians of herbal knowledge passed down for millennia.

But you won’t hear this in a textbook.

Because when colonizers came, they didn’t just bring steel, fire, and disease—they brought disconnection.

🧬 What Happened to the Healers?

Disease wiped out up to 90% of Native populations. Smallpox. Measles. Flu. These weren’t just biological invasions—they were cultural collapses. And yet… somehow, the healing traditions survived.

Not in textbooks. Not in clinical trials.

But in oral stories, sacred ceremonies, and the hearts of grandmothers who remembered.

Today, the U.S. government officially recognizes around 560 tribes—but that number doesn’t scratch the surface of who was here… and what they knew.

Let’s talk about it.

Nature Was the Original Pharmacy

Tribes didn’t see nature as something to dominate. They listened to her. They worked with the Earth—not against her.

From the Cherokee to the Lakota, from the Hopi to the Haudenosaunee, Native peoples had detailed knowledge of the plants around them:

• Echinacea wasn’t just for colds—it was sacred.

• Yarrow wasn’t just a field weed—it stopped bleeding, calmed nerves, and protected wounds.

• Sweetgrass wasn’t a decoration—it was a purifier, a spiritual antenna.

• White Sage was never meant to be a trend—it was a tool for energetic balance and ceremonial prayer.

And yes—modern science is finally catching up to what Indigenous people have always known.

Smudging, Ceremonies, and Collective Healing

Healing wasn’t just physical. It was spiritual, communal, and sacred.

• Smudging wasn’t superstition—it was vibrational hygiene.

• Drumming and dancing weren’t hobbies—they were somatic trauma release.

• Ceremony wasn’t religious dogma—it was cellular recalibration.

We’ve been taught to see this as folklore. But what if we’ve been looking at ancient science all along?

🌿 Real Herbalism Honors the Roots

As herbalists, health seekers, and conscious mamas—we must honor where this wisdom came from.

We don’t reclaim our health by bypassing the past. We reclaim it by remembering.

And remembering starts with reverence.

Barefoot Activity: Take Your Kids on a Medicine Walk

Let’s make this real.

👣 Grab your littles and head out on a barefoot (or booted) nature walk.
👀 Look for wild herbs and plants in your area—dandelion, plantain, elderberry, red clover.
📚 Research their Indigenous uses.
🎨 Let your children draw what they see or journal their discoveries.

Teach them that nature is not a backdrop—it’s the source.

🌱 In a World That Forgot, Let’s Be the Ones Who Remember

You don’t need a lab coat to learn herbal medicine.
You don’t need permission to listen to the land.
And you sure as heck don’t need to be told what’s “safe” by people who profit from your sickness.

Let’s reclaim our roots.
Let’s teach our kids the truth.
Let’s walk the land with new eyes—and ancient wisdom.

Drop a 🪶 if this stirred something in you.
Share this with a mama or healer who’s ready to remember.
💬 Comment your favorite plant ally or tradition you’re reclaiming.

We’re not just healing bodies.
We’re restoring lineages.

Love,
Amanda Rae
Founder of Barefoot.Health | @the_barefoot_truther