Final answer:
Native American medicine includes remedies derived from plants and herbs. They had an extensive knowledge of local plants, utilized by European botanists. Some tribes used warfare as a means to combat disease.
Step-by-step explanation:
Native American medicine includes a variety of remedies derived from plants, herbs, and other natural substances. These remedies are part of the field of ethnopharmacology, which uses traditional indigenous knowledge to treat and heal illness. For example, the Kayapó people identify and cultivate specific plants to treat ailments such as diarrhea, scorpion stings, and snakebites.
The Native Americans' vast understanding of local New World plants was valuable to European botanists seeking new medicinal plants. Additionally, enslaved Africans adapted to their new surroundings by learning about and utilizing medicinal plants. However, European colonizers often disregarded medical knowledge from African or native sources.
Some Native American tribes also had a belief that disease was caused by hostile spiritual forces, leading to the use of warfare as a means to exorcise disease from their communities.