Navajo Tribe A Closer Look at Combining Traditional Medicine and Modern Medicine Medical Anthropology
... Some of these aspects that different ethnic groups have brought to this country are their culture, religious beliefs, social and economical beliefs, language and traditional values. ... How do they respond to the American way of health care versus their traditional beliefs of care and treatment? One particular ethnic group within the Native American culture who are faced with this cultural clash of bio medicine versus traditional healing and beliefs are the Navajo Indian tribe. Some of the issues to further evaluate the influence of this dilemma are the Navajo religious and spiritual beliefs, the Navajo etiology of disease, health care utilization by the Navajo tribe and the combination of their traditional medicine with modern medicine. First let us take a closer look at the Navajo religious and spiritual beliefs. In spite of the enormous diversity in tribal cultures, languages, and religious beliefs of the almost 300 American Indian tribes living within the United States, these tribes including the Navajo share a number of fundamental health illness and illness prevention beliefs. There are three predominant religion that most influence the modern Navajo: Their native cultural religion, the Native American Church (the Peyote way), and Christian/Catholic evangelism. Navajos however, are some times said to have no traditional religion because their religious practices are so integral to all of life (Charlene Avery 1991). The Navajo traditional religion today is carried out by the Medicine men also know as the Hatali or singers. ... The family will then enlist the services of a medicine man who is trained in that particular ceremony (Luckert 1979). The medicine man communes with the spirit to help the person into harmony with nature; also know as Hozho. Some tools used by he medicine man during this healing process are sand paintings depicting scenes from Navajo creation stories, feathers, herbs, canes, and medicine bundles. These medicine bundles have a significance in the healing methods of the medicine man. The medicine bundles or pouches are also know as Jish. ... Frisbe (1987) found that the preventive and curing ceremonies in traditional Navajo religion require a particular assembling of the ritual equipment for correct performance, the contents of the Jish vary according to its ceremonial affiliation (p46). ... Healing remains one of the foremost concerns of the Navajo, where physical healing is not so important as bringing the patient into a strong symbolic relationship with is or her social, cultural and natural environment. In addition to these religious and spiritual beliefs of the Navajo tribe, Emic and Etic views of both culture, American bio medical views versus the Navajo traditional healing views become more evident. Navajo view on medicine and healing would most likely be referred to as the Emic view versus the American view of medicine and healing which would more represent the Etic view point.