Pow-wowing: the Pennsylvania Dutch way to heal.

Since ancient times, Germanic tribes from the Palatine valley relied on faith healers, brauchers, when health problems developed. Several hundred years ago, brauchers immigrated to the New World with various Germanic religious sects. Cooperative, instructional meetings, or pow wows, between Native American medicine men and newly immigrated brauchers allowed the newcomers to learn about herbs and remedies indigenous to North America. The brauchers, now known as pow wowers, practice within Pennsylvania Dutch communities across the country, especially in the Lancaster, Pennsylvania region. A review of the literature explores the history and development of the Pennsylvania Dutch practice of pow-wowing.