Medicine man
An outsider's word for many different Native American ritual and healing roles, each of which has its own name in its own language.
Also: medicine woman, hataałii, wičháša wakȟáŋ, mide
Medicine man and medicine woman are English terms that settlers and later writers applied to a wide range of Native American roles, treating them as one. Each nation has its own words and its own structure. Among the Diné, a hataałii, singer, learns long chants for healing ceremonies. Among the Lakota, a wičháša wakȟáŋ, holy man, leads rites; among the Anishinaabe, members of the Midewiwin keep a lodge tradition. Many ceremonies are closed to outsiders, and some are taught only within a family or society. Federal policy in the United States banned several ceremonies until the American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978. Non-Native people who sell ceremonies or use these titles are widely criticised by Native leaders.