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Powwow, also called Brauche, Brauchau, or Braucherei in the Pennsylvania Dutch language, is a vernacular system of North American traditional medicine and folk magic originating in the culture of the Pennsylvania Dutch. Blending aspects of folk religion with healing charms, "powwowing" includes a wide range of healing rituals used primarily for treating ailments in humans and livestock, as well as securing physical and spiritual protection, and good luck in everyday affairs.[1][2] Although the word "powwow" is Native American, these ritual traditions are of European origin and were brought to colonial Pennsylvania in the transatlantic migrations of German-speaking people from Central Europe in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. A practitioner is sometimes referred to as a "Powwower" or Braucher, but terminology varies by region. These folk traditions continue to the present day in both rural and urban settings, and have spread across North America.[3]
- ^ Donmoyer, Patrick (2017). "Powwowing in Pennsylvania: Healing Rituals of the Dutch Country".
- ^ Kriebel, David (2002). "Powwowing: A Persistent American Esoteric Tradition". Michigan State University. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
- ^ Yoder, Don (1976). Hohman & Romanus: Origins and Diffusion of the Pennsylvania German Powwow Manual. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-04093-9.