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Indigenous people throughout the United States, in fact, face major health disparities and suffer disproportionately from diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and substance abuse compared with other racial and ethnic groups, noted Lewis, now an assistant professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Missouri Schoo...
Mental health professionals can begin to equip themselves to foster healing in Native American populations by understanding the history of colonialism, learning about the values and traditions of tribal communities, and incorporating spirituality and other sources of strength into treatment.
Native Americans believe that all things in nature are connected and that spirits can promote health or cause illness. Therefore, it is necessary to heal the physical parts of an individual and their emotional wellness and harmony with their community and the environment around them.
Most Native American cultures have a high degree of integration between their religious beliefs and their beliefs about health. Healing cannot be separated from culture, sacred narratives or religion, nor can the social behavior of the Indians be separated from these things (Levy, 1963).
As a result, American Indians were at greater risk for loss of access to land, territory, and natural resources based on significant cultural misalignments. Traditional Indigenous belief systems focused on living in harmony with nature, whereas European-based beliefs focused on ownership of and dominance over land by individuals and the government.
Many traditional Native Americans believe that illness comes from supernatural forces. Examples are: the Cherokee believe animal spirits bring illness when hunters do not pay proper respect; other tribes believe illness is caused through an individual’s bad actions;
The exhibit features riveting interviews with Native Americans, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians, collectively called Native Peoples, on their concepts of health and illness.
This research and commentary is the outcome of the exchange of knowledge within a network of researchers and Native American community members, all of whom have participated in and helped shape the Smithsonian Institution’s Health and Culture Research Group (HCRG).
Empowering Native American communities with health literacy is crucial for promoting self-care, disease prevention, and healthy lifestyle choices. Providing accessible and culturally relevant health education programs can help individuals make informed decisions about their health and well-being.
Native American (NA) traditional healing is identified by the National Institutes of Health/National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) as a whole medical system that encompasses a range of holistic treatments used by indigenous healers for a multitude of acute and chronic conditions or to promote health and wellbeing. 2 ...