Indigenous Healing

European settlers in colonial America relied heavily on indigenous botanical knowledge and healing practices. Native peoples’ expertise with local plants proved so valuable that indigenous remedies quickly became standard treatments in colonial apothecaries. Indigenous healers also participated in the emerging medical marketplace of the eighteenth century. Hannah Freeman, a Lenape woman living in Chester County, Pennsylvania, successfully marketed her medical services within the local economy. Click here to learn more and to see all the materials in this collection.