More Hawaiians Practicing Native Healing

[Guest guest]

More Hawaiians Practicing Native Healing By RON STATON, Associated

Press Writer

Thu Aug 18, 9:14 PM ET

 

 

 

WAIANAE, Hawaii - It was Tuesday and the high school volleyball

player had a painful sprained finger, but she really wanted to play

that Friday.

 

http://news./s/ap/20050819/ap_on_he_me/native_healing

 

So she and her family sought out a practitioner of Native Hawaiian

healing. The practitioner pounded leaves of a plant, mixed it with a

pinch of Hawaiian salt, massaged the girl's arm, and placed the

mixture on the injured finger.

 

"Her mother later told me the pain went away and the girl was able to

play on Friday," said the healer, Alapai Kahuena.

 

A growing number of Hawaii residents are turning to traditional

healing methods long practiced in these lush Pacific islands as an

alternative or in addition to visiting a regular doctor.

 

Despite a shortage of Hawaiian healers, Native medicine is being

combined with standard approaches in state-supported health care

programs. The University of Hawaii also has a new department that

recognizes and studies Hawaiian medicine.

 

With skyrocketing drug and health care costs, Native Hawaiian healing

is part of a national trend in recent years toward non-conventional

approaches to medical care.

 

A Harvard study released in January found that 35 percent of

Americans have used some form of alternative healing. The National

Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, part of the

National Institutes of Health, found that more Americans are using

Yoga, meditation, herbs, special diets and other healing methods.

 

If the number who believe in the healing power of prayer is added,

the study showed that close to two-thirds of Americans have sought

something other than doctors and medicine to treat physical ills.

 

"People are not happy with Western medical treatment and are seeking

alternatives," said Babette Galang, complementary health officer for

Papa Ola Lokahi, a nonprofit group set up to improve the health and

well-being of Native Hawaiians.

 

Traditional healing goes on in a variety of settings around the

islands — in clinics and community health centers as well as private

homes and public parks.

 

"We're not just talking about Hawaiians," said Galang. "The Chinese

brought their medicines, and many Chinese herbal shops are found in

Chinatown."

 

Kahuena frequently uses an herb called olena, a ginger family plant

also known as turmeric, to treat several ailments. It is anti-

bacterial and anti-inflammatory, she said. In the case of the

volleyball player, she used leaves of ha`uoi, a plant also known as

verbena.

 

Kahuena said she tries all herbs before prescribing them, and is

using olena herself for treatment of diabetes and heart problems. She

hopes eventually to be free of her Western medicines.

 

"People want a quick fix but that's not how it works," Galang

said. "It's a whole way of looking at life, a whole way of living,

taking care of yourself."

 

Another major part of traditional healing is the spiritual element.

 

"It's all very spiritual, like how American Indians speak of a higher

power, such as Mother Earth," Galang said.

 

The state realized the need for a greater emphasis on Native healing

in the 1980s after studies found that Hawaiians' health was lagging

when compared to other groups. Papa Ola Lokahi was established to

develop the infrastructure to address concerns of the studies.

 

A lingering concern is regulation. Traditional healers are exempt

from state licensing, but their qualifications are reviewed by elder

councils affiliated with the health care systems, and in turn

reviewed by a Native Hawaiian health board, said Hardy Spoehr,

executive director of Papa Ola Lokahi.

 

"Some say cultural practices are protected under the state

constitution, but others say there needs to be some kind of oversight

from the Hawaiian community," Spoehr said. Papa Ola Lokahi is

organizing a conference early next year to deal with this issue.

 

The University of Hawaii's medical school recently created its

Department of Native Hawaiian Health, which is committed to improving

the health and wellness of Native Hawaiians while embracing

traditional Hawaiian values and practices.

 

"We believe Western medicine can be complemented by traditional

practices to maximize the health of our people," said Dr. Kalani

Brady, a family practitioner and vice chairman of the department.

 

The medical school's new Kakaako campus has a la`au garden that

includes plants used in traditional healing.

 

___

 

On the Net:

 

Native Hawaiian Healthcare:

http://www.nativehawaiianhealth.net/index.cfm

 

University of Hawaii Department of Native Hawaiian Health:

http://www.dnhh.hawaii.edu/Home.asp?tabHome

 

National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine:

http://nccam.nih.gov/