The Daughters of Shiphrah: Folk Healers and Midwives of The Great Plains

Authors

Timothy J. Kloberdanz, North Dakota State University

Date of this Version

1989

Document Type

Article

Comments

Published in Great Plains Quarterly [GPQ 9 (Winter 1989): 3-12] . Copyright 1989 Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska—Lincoln.

Abstract

Prairie folk healers and midwives seldom have been the focus of scholarly investigation, despite the crucial role they played in the settlement of countless Euro-American communities in the Great Plains. These individuals, a majority of whom were women, brought with them to the American and Canadian grasslands a wealth of folk medical knowledge and a variety of health-oriented, traditional skills.