Native American traditional and alternative medicine

productive, and nutritional research with the Blackfeet Indian Nation in Montana. Projects to date have focused on lifestyle change and risk for chronic diseases in Black-feet women and the development of culturally competent dietary assessment instru-ments. Her career trajectory also has included the practice and teaching of biomedicine as a physician assistant. ABSTRACT: Native American traditional medicine is alive and vi-brant in many North American societies, although not all. These tra-ditions coexist with other forms of healing, and the particular pat-terns of existence, interaction, and meaning vary among groups. The literature examining these issues is likewise diverse. This article ex-plores, through a selective review of the recent literature, how social and behavioral scientists, among others, are focusing their investiga-tions of traditional and alternative medicine in Native American communities of the United States and Canada today. Issues include how native practices have persisted and changed, how they are bein