Navajo Indian Culture Research Paper

This paper will discuss how the Navajo Indian and their view of the disease process, along with their traditional medical practices. The second part will talk about how the Navajo view Western medicine by looking at how they seek treatment for certain illness. The Navajo is the largest Native American tribe in the United States. They live in an area that encompasses Colorado, Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico and is about “25,000 square miles” (Coulehan, John L. 1). They believed that the universe was balanced, and if something bad happened it would cause it to become imbalanced. This played a huge role in their beliefs on why people get sick. In their culture they believe that some get sick because they have …show more content…
R. Soc. B, 3). The healer will also place ceremonial prayer sticks in certain parts of the house so that they are facing the direction of where they believe the holy spirits reside. Each ritual varies in length from a day all the way up to nine days. One of the hardest parts in traditional Navajo healing rituals, is determining which chant to use. This is because of how many things they believe can cause someone to become sick. In some cases a person might have to go see multiple different Healers to find the case of their sickness.

One aspect of healing in traditional Navajo medicine is the use of plants for pharmaceutical and ceremonially practices. The Navajo along with other Native American tribes have very good knowledge of the affects that the plant will have once it enters the body based on years of practice and experience. The Navajo also have their own way of categorizing plants based on the physical characteristics and their use in Navajo culture. They are even able to tell whether a plant is male or female based on certain characteristics. For example “male are typically bigger while females are smaller”( Wyman, Leland Clifton, and Stuart Kimball …show more content…
The Navajo don’t just use traditional medicine, some prefer to use Western medicine. Which means instead of going to see the local medicine man they go to a physician. There are two disease’s in particular that will be discussed, asthma, and the effect of uranium mining. It will also discuss why some choose traditional medicine and why others choose western medicine or do they use both. Depending on what a person is suffering from will often determine wither or not they will use traditional medicine or western medicine. According to “Navajo use of native healers” by Kim, Catherine, and Yeong S. Kwok, stated that the most common reasons why people visit the traditional healer are arthritis, abdominal pain, anxiety, and depression. The same study done by Kim, Catherine, and Yeong S. Kwok also showed that out of 3,000 Navajo people they interviewed, none saw a tradition healer for things like pregnancy and upper respiratory tract infections. Instead they want to go see a medical doctor. Another factor that determines weather some will go see a traditional healer or a physician is their religious belief. The