Bush Medicine

Bush medicine is a term describing medical knowledge and practice of the Australian Aborigines. Remedies and methods of healing differ from community to community. Different parts of plants like leaves, bark or seeds are used. Let's take for example a paperbark (Melaleuca leucadendron). Its leaves are chewed to reduce headache.

Paperback (Melaleuca leucadendron)

Sometimes people use animals like for example emu fat or goanna lizard. To heal an ill person Aborigines also use methods like steaming, smoking and heating. According to their beliefs there are natural and supernatural causes of illnesses. Cause determins the remedy. That is why illness caused by natural cause is treated with natural remedies. On the other side supernatural illness is healed with a spiritual cure. Supernatural illness is the one that can not be reasonably explained. Such an illness is treated by the tribe's medicine man.