The attitude of Benjamin Rush (1746-1813) towards Native American medicine

Benjamin Rush was the first American physician to create a medical system that was distinct from European models. He was furthermore critical of shortcomings in European medicine and of aspects of 'modern' lifestyle, notably idleness and self-indulgence, which he regarded as detrimental to health. Nevertheless, he was Eurocentric and he believed that European and particularly British medicine was the best foundation for further progress although he also thought the final conquest of disease would come in America rather than in Europe. Rush manifested a deep interest in Native Americans and their medicine but in several key writings he deprecated Indian medical practice and characterized negatively many aspects of what he regarded as native culture. He also doubted that the natives could accommodate themselves to the republican ethos that he hoped would define America.