Identity and healing in three Navajo religious traditions: sa'ah naagháí bik'eh hózh [symbol: see text].
E L Lewton, V Bydone
Medical Anthropology Quarterly December 1, 2000 DOI: 10.1525/maq.2000.14.4.476 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Qualitative study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Navajo healers and their patients affiliated with Traditional Navajo religion, the Native American Church, and Pentecostal Christianity |
| Topics | Mescaline Shamanism |
| Keywords | Humans Holistic health Mental healing Attitude to health Social identification Family relations Religion and psychology Anthropology, cultural Christianity Indians, north american Southwestern united states |
| Key findings | The authors argue that the Navajo principle sa'ah naagháí bik'eh hózh (SNBH), which ties health to harmony and connection with the physical and spiritual world, is expressed across three Navajo healing traditions through emotional engagement, proper family relations, cultural and spiritual history, and kinship terms. Disruption and restoration of these relationships, they contend, are central to Navajo identity, distress, and healing. |
Abstract
In this article, we elucidate how the Navajo synthetic principle sa'ah naagháí bik'eh hózh [symbol: see text] (SNBH) is understood, demonstrated, and elaborated in three different Navajo healing traditions. We conducted interviews with Navajo healers and their patients affiliated with Traditional Navajo religion, the Native American Church, and Pentecostal Christianity. Their narratives provide access to cultural themes of identity and healing that invoke elements of SNBH. SNBH specifies that the conditions for health and well-being are harmony within and connection to the physical/spiritual world. Specifically, each religious healing tradition encourages affective engagement, proper family relations, an understanding of one's cultural and spiritual histories, and the use of kinship terms to establish affective bonds with one's family and with the spiritual world. People's relationships within this common behavioral environment are integral to their self-orientations, to their identities as Navajos, and to the therapeutic process. The disruption and restoration of these relationships constitute an important affective dimension in Navajo distress and healing.
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