Understanding the Navajo cultural beliefs and traditions is essential in improving a caregiver’s prediction of the health behavior of the tribal nation. The cultural beliefs in this group influence their health seeking behavior. Certainly, spirituality, beliefs, death rituals and healthcare practices are key to the welfare of the people of Navajo.
The society is matriarchal as they belief that the universe belongs to the creator (goddess) they term as the First Woman or Spirit Woman. The women in the society have a higher position than that of men. Upon marriage, a man moves into a woman’s house. The major focus adopted by the Navajo society is that they aim at creating and sustaining an amicable relationship with all living things including the community, farm and land (Spector, 2004).
A major belief is that illness results from improper behavior and thoughts that affect an individual including the environment, animals and plants. Improper use of ceremonies is also a precondition for illness. To them, illness is just like death, which people accept as the natural aspect of life. They thus rarely seek medical care (Hahn & Harris, 1999).
Navajo healing ceremonies target to remove the disease cause of disease unlike modern biomedicine that targets to alleviate symptoms. The traditional Navajo belief system identifies the causes of disease to be spirit possession or intrusion, taboo breaching, sorcery or witchcraft, intrusive objects and soul loss. In relation to the soul, the soul enters an individual at birth with loose attachment just like old age (Spector, 2004). The intrusive objects belief is that, an agent that is disease causing enters a victim’s skin by a witch or sorcerer.
Currently, the Navajo do not question using the Navajo and modern medicine together. Though distinct, the two forms of medicine are complementary. The traditional Navajo diagnosticians upon consultation organize for the elimination of the disease cause in a ceremony.
In conclusion, understanding the Navajo cultural beliefs and traditions is essential in improving a caregiver’s prediction of the health behavior of the tribal nation. Navajo healing ceremonies target to remove the disease cause of disease unlike modern biomedicine that targets to alleviate symptoms. Therefore, the cultural and spiritual beliefs of the Navajo People influence their health seeking behavior.
References
Hahn, R. A., & Harris, K. W. (1999). Anthropology in public health: Bridging differences in culture and society. New York: Oxford University Press.
Spector, R. E. (2004). Cultural diversity in health & illness. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
