Native American Traditional Healing
By, Jordan McWhorter
Health is a topic that one cannot
escape, especially in this day and age. It has
become so popularized that there are books,
magazines, and television shows dedicated to
the subject. While the Western view of health,
based mainly on biomedicine, is the most
talked about medical system, there are many
other outlooks on health. A worldview that
diverges greatly from the western medical
model is the Native American perspective.
Native Americans view health as being
“whole” and “balanced” (Struthers, et al. 141149). According to this understanding, some
factors that can affect wellness are nature,
spirit, and communities. Tactics used to
combat illness include the use of purifying
ceremonies, shamanism, symbolic healing
rituals, herbal medicine, or a combination of
any these. There are some tribal differences,
like particular curing practices, but mostly
they have mutual health beliefs and strategies.
This article will further reach into the Native
American’s healthcare practices with an
emphasis on Navajo ceremonial traditions.
A deeper look into the Native
American perspective of health reveals it to be
a multi-faceted approach. Wellness is
considered to be “a balance of mental,
spiritual, and physical aspects of living”
(Rybak, and Decker-Fitts 335). Continuing
with the inclusive nature, Native Americans
consider everything in the cosmos to be
interconnected and therefore have the ability
to affect each other neutrally, positively, or
negatively (Struthers, et al. 141-149). Another
take on this is the idea of “walking in beauty.”
In the Navajo tribe walking in beauty is an
“ideal state of well-being and health, [which]
requires a close connection to the earth and
living in harmony with the environment”
(Farrell, and Koithan 477). Native Americans
associate medicine with religion and it is very
much an important aspect in their life. They
may spend their whole life striving to reinstate
or sustain harmony. Medicine can act as a
preventative measure, promote health, or cure
an illness (Struthers, et al. 141-149).
In Native American communities, a
person does not decide to become a healer,
but they believe they are chosen for the job
and lifestyle. They are selected either by their
community members or through a vision they
had. The ability to heal is bestowed upon
them either by inheriting the ability, the skill
being transferred from one healer to another,
or they might have been initiated into the
position. The healer considers their skill a
great gift and will dedicate their existence to
their duty. “Dr. Alvord, the first Navajo
female surgeon, defines a healer in the
following manner, ‘In my culture—the
Navajo culture—medicine is performed by a
hataalii, someone who sees a person not
simply as a body, but as a whole being. Body,
mind, and spirit are seen as connected to
other people, to families, to communities, and
even to the planet and universe’” (Struthers, et
al. 141-149).
Diagnosis is an important part of the
healing process of a patient. It is essential to
get a correct reading of one’s illness. The
sufferer might visit multiple diagnosticians
before a proceeding with a course of action.
Diagnosis of an illness does not look at the
symptoms of the afflicted person or
concentrate on certain body parts that are
thought to be affected. Traditionally an illness
stems from a causal agent and a diagnosis can
be obtained by finding the agent. An illness
can occur by making contact with natural
phenomena either in the patient’s present
lifetime or a in a past life. Common agents are
lightning, wind, or ghosts. Once a person
comes into contact with any natural or
supernatural phenomena they are considered
to be “contaminated.” Physical symptoms do
not always manifest themselves right after a
contamination befalls them. Once the person
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