In Tahiti, in the second half of the 20th century, children were poisoned by medicinal plants. These poisonings brought discredit to all of traditional Polynesian medicine and many healers then abandoned the practice, fearing to be accused of illegal practice of medicine. But more was needed to make medicine more than 1000 years old disappear and today, from the hills of the Marquesas to the University Hospital of Papeete, many are fighting to save the latest recipes and the latest know-how. Their commitment now makes it possible to strengthen conventional medicine and even sometimes to cure diseases that conventional medicine does not cure.