Sordid Medicine Shows Exploited Indigenous Cures – McGill University

April 5, 2024

Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman — heroine of the 1990s television western of that name — prescribed willow bark tea for just about any ailment, a practice she learned from the Cheyenne. Historical accounts and archeological evidence indicate that Indigenous Peoples in North America really did use willow bark to treat aches, pains and fevers long before 18th-century cleric Edward Stone introduced willow bark as a medicine in England.

Apparently, Stone once chewed on the bark after observing local people were using it to alleviate pain and fever. He found it to be bitter, and knowing that cinchona bark, which at the time was used to treat malaria, also tasted bitter, he thought maybe willow bark could also be used as medicine. Stone had a chance to give it a shot when he developed a fever. It worked! He began to recommend it to his parishioners, and in 1763 he reported his results to the Royal Society.

Today we know that white willow bark contains salicin, a compound that has fever- and pain-reducing properties but irritates the stomach. In 1898, salicin was converted to acetylsalicylic acid and sold as Aspirin by the Bayer company.

Read More: https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/medical-history/sordid-medicine-shows-exploited-indigenous-cures