Native American Heritage Month

November is the month identified as Native American Heritage Month and interestingly I have not seen much mention of it in either my personal or my professional network. For the last four days I have thought much about the contributions of the Native Americans to our land, our people, influences in medicine, understanding of weather patterns, harvesting food and the list can go on. I was fortunate to listen to stories and tales about the Native American tribes when I was a kid. My Uncle, a Cherokee, would tell me many stories. He was a talented carver and basket weaver, I still have several of his carvings and one which sits on my desk. She is a young woman, standing alone but appears she has a great sense of direction. She reminds me to pay respect to those who have come before me and to keep a clear sense of direction. My clear direction is changing cancer; my Uncle the Cherokee, suffered from colon cancer, at that. As I think about what ‘medicine’ is today, in the Native American Heritage Month, I want to recognize that the work in ‘medicine’ that our Native American tribes did has lent us much knowledge for developing modern medicines we have today. “Many modern medicines are based on plants and herbs that Indians used for thousands of years. In fact, more than 200 botanicals, derived originally from Native Americans, have been or are still in use in pharmaceuticals.” (Native American Medicine – Legends of America). Not only in November should we celebrate Native Americans, we should reflect often and be thankful for the many incredible contributions of these important and special people.