"Medicine man" or "medicine woman" are English terms used to describe traditional healers and spiritual leaders among Native American and other indigenous or aboriginal peoples. Anthropologists tend to prefer the term "shaman," a specific term for a spiritual mediator from the Tungusic peoples of Siberia.

The primary function of these "medicine elders" (who are not always male) is to secure the help of the spirit world, including the Great Spirit (Wakan Tanka in the language of the Lakota Sioux), for the benefit of the entire community.

Sometimes the help sought may be for the sake of healing disease, sometimes it may be for the sake of healing the psyche, sometimes the goal is to promote harmony between human groups or between humans & nature. So the term "medicine man/woman" is not entirely inappropriate, but it greatly oversimplifies and also skews the depiction of the people whose role in society complements that of the chief. These people are not the Native American equivalent of the Chinese "barefoot doctors", herbalists, nor of the emergency medical technicians who ride rescue vehicles.

China (ⁱ/ˈtʃaɪnə/; Chinese: 中国; pinyin: Zhōngguó; see also Names of China), officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is the world's most-populous country, with a population of over 1.3 billion. Covering approximately 9.6 million square kilometres, the East Asian state is the world's second-largest country by land area, and the third- or fourth-largest in total area, depending on the definition of total area.

The People's Republic of China is a single-party state governed by the Communist Party of China. It exercises jurisdiction over 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four directly controlled municipalities (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing), and two mostly self-governing special administrative regions (Hong Kong and Macau). Its capital city is Beijing. The PRC also claims Taiwan—which is controlled by the Republic of China (ROC), a separate political entity—as its 23rd province, a claim controversial due to the complex political status of Taiwan and the unresolved Chinese Civil War. The PRC government denies the legitimacy of the ROC.

The Tongue (born Xannon Shirley) is a Sydney music artist signed to Australian independent label Elefant Traks. He has recorded with Dudley Perkins, Ozi Batla, DJ Diaz,Urthboy, Bertie Blackman, The Bag Raiders, Gift Of Gab (Blackalicious), Katalyst, Braintax, Georgia Anne Muldrow, and Muph & Plutonic.

He has released an EP (Bad Education), two LPs (Shock And Awe and Alternative Energy) and three mixtapes (Redux,The Tongue Is Dead and "The Sextape).

The Tongue is an emcee/songwriter from East Sydney, New South Wales, also known for his live freestyle ability. He represented Australia in the "Battle 4 Supremacy" competition/DVD against New Zealand in 2005 and won the Revolver emcee battle the same year.

As a recording artist, he went on to sign with independent Sydney record label Elefant Traks and immediately embarked on a national tour with The Herd. He has had songs on rotation by national broadcaster Triple J. To date he has released an EP and two albums. His second album Alternate Energy features production from El Gusto (Hermitude) and M-Phazes. He has toured extensively around Australia since 2006 and from 2008 to 2010 he also toured as a backup vocalist with Sydney group Astronomy Class (Ozi Batla, Chasm and Sir Robbo). He released three free mixtapes in 2008, 2009 and 2011.