Carl Steen wrote:
 
>Dr. John de la Howe was referred to as a "Medecin" in an 1857 address on >the
formation of the New Bordeaux settlement in South Carolina. Thus the >term
survived...but is it French in origin/usage?
 
The word medecin "survived," (and survives today) in the French language, where
it means doctor or physician, though it can be marked to indicate other uses.
For example, "medecin de l'ame" ("doctor of the soul") refers to the role of the
Catholic priest as confessor.  The question seems to be whether its use among
Native Americans derives from the French or from the English, and whether (or
how) it has changed in meaning, for example whether it applied to people, sacred
items such as ritual artifacts, rituals themselves, or some combination of
those.  The "Jesuit Relations," which precede Montcalm by at least half a
century, and which are concerned directly with native life and religious
practices, may be a useful source of information.
 
Lauren J. Cook