My plan this week was to focus on my Lumbee heritage. In order to kick off my research, I wanted to take my daughters to the local university museum of Lumbee culture. Turns out, that’s not happening. My oldest daughter has strep throat and my youngest just randomly vomited yesterday.

Yeah, more than what you wanted to know, but it’s just another lesson in not attaching to one’s plans.

Man this month is difficult. I wanted to focus on my cultural/religious heritage as well as fringe elements of faith and, because of unexpected events, we’ve touched on neither so far.

But I’m not throwing in the towel. We can use this to our advantage.

If one daughter has a sore throat and the other is nauseous, how would my Native ancestors (and many modern Lumbees) treat the ailments? Due to the introduction of modern medicine and Christianity, Lumbees who can afford treatment typically seek it through a medical professional and augment this with faith in Jesus for healing. But what about before all of that? Are their natural remedies still around today?

So, the hunt is on. As I write this post, I am searching for some “old-time medicine” to help my daughters (along with the medication provided by a physician) come around. This is what I’ve discovered:

To treat a sore throat, one has a few options: 1) Rub kerosene on the neck to relieve the pain. 2) Drink tea derived from the bark of a peach tree or use the tea as a direct salve by soaking a rag in the fluid and applying it to the back of the throat.

The treatment for nausea isn’t clear at the moment, however I have run across more teas using peppergrass and mint as possibilities.

Of course, prayer among the Lumbee is often a compliment to any medicinal application.

Though I am a huge fan of tea, my girls won’t drink much beyond water and fruit juice. This in and of itself is a good thing, however it doesn’t make them good test subjects.

For the moment, this is where my research is taking me. My plan (here we go again with plans) is to finally take them to the museum tomorrow and stop by the library to pick up a book on remedies. Initial findings indicate that the Lumbee, like most tribes, had a tea or medicine to treat everything from simple cuts (stuff with spider web) to helping folks maintain their “courage” (sexual drive). Hmm, perhaps my wife could use that one the next time I practice a more meditative tradition…

She’s going to kill me for that one.

So while I’m trying to get my kids to drink odd teas, what are some old-fashioned home remedies from your culture? How do you think older, natural remedies fit within modern medicine?