The Native American Artist Harnessing ‘Old Indian Tricks’
Sage, an ancient and revered tree in Indian country, has long been used as the source of many medicines, and the Cherokee have employed it to heal ailments on a variety of levels, from simply treating cuts and abrasions to helping one recover and fight disease.
But in the last year, there’s been an unusual surge in the use of sage to help address a much broader range of problems, from alleviating depression to aiding people with PTSD, and potentially helping them avoid a plethora of potentially dangerous conditions, from cancer to chronic pain.
“We were always looking for more indigenous remedies,” says Chris Bannister, who is a member of the Peachtree-Pine Hill chapter of the Cherokee Nation and part of the team developing a line of the herb-based painkiller called “Old Indian Tricks.”
“For many years, we have been using sage as a treatment for ailments ranging from headaches to arthritis, and I think we’ve just tapped into a whole new level of application of this plant,” Bannister says. “It’s a powerful healing tool.”
Sage has been used for centuries by Native Americans to treat everything from arthritis to arthritis pain, wounds, and cuts.
For many years, the Cherokee have been using sage as a treatment for these ailments.
For example, in one traditional Native tradition, there’s a song that was passed down from grandparents to children to grandchildren to friends, and now to the Cherokee Nation:
The Cherokee call this herb “Old Indian Trick,” and there’s just something about the name that appeals to me. It appeals to me because it’s been a mystery plant for so long. It’s been a mystery plant for so long, and people have used it and looked at it and tried to figure out its properties. And I’m really excited about this medicine, and so many of these plants are really mysterious but it’s also fun, because you get to try and solve the mystery.
The Cherokee call this herb “Old Indian Trick,” and there’s just something about the name that appeals to me. It appeals
