Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-p9bg8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T19:37:13.960Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

We Know Who We Are and What Is Needed

Achieving Healing, Harmony, and Balance in Ndee Institutions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 April 2021

Nicholas C. Laluk Open the ORCID record for Nicholas C. Laluk [Opens in a new window]  and
Benrita Burnette
Nicholas C. Laluk*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Northern Arizona University, PO Box 15200, Flagstaff, AZ86011-5200, USA
Benrita Burnette
Affiliation:
White Mountain Apache Tribe, PO Box 345, Whiteriver, AZ85941, USA ([email protected])
*
([email protected], corresponding author)
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Overall healing, harmony, and balance within Ndee (Apache) communities can be understood through the Ndee term Gózhó—“beauty, balance, and harmony.” Beyond this Ndee cultural precept, however, how are such states of Gózhó achieved, whether in the past or today? Within archaeological research on Ndee lands, achieving healing and promoting health is crucial to overall individual and community well-being. Healing activities that contribute to overall states of Gózhó can take many forms. As Rybak and Decker-Fitts (2009:334) suggest, “Native American healing practices exemplify key cultural perspectives and influence the identity development of Native American individuals.” Such healing practices including the use of yellow cattail pollen (hádńdín; Typha spp.) for protection are based on traditions and perspectives typically outside the mainstream of Western psychological tenets, yet they can have significant impact on the sense of well-being for Ndee communities. Ndee cultural specialists with the White Mountain Apache Tribe demonstrate that such traditions and perspectives are not only necessary for continued community well-being but are powerful conduits amplifying the past as present, which contribute to the ongoing cyclical and reciprocal nature of the ways Ndee communities have related to Nígosdzán—Mother Earth—since time immemorial.

El bienestar general, la armonía y el equilibrio dentro de las comunidades Ndee (Apache) (Gah'nahvah / Ya Ti’ 2013) se entienden bajo el concepto “Gózhó,” belleza, balance y armonía. Sin embargo, más allá del concepto cultural teórico, ¿cómo se ha logrado el estado de Gózhó en el pasado como en el presente? Dentro de las investigaciones arqueológicas hechas en tierras de la tribu indígena norteamericana “White Mountain Apache Tribe”, se encuentra que la sanación y promoción de la salud general es crucial para el bienestar individual y de la comunidad. Actividades de sanación contribuyen al estado de Gózhó de muchas formas. Como sugieren Rybak y Decker-Fitts (2009) “Las prácticas de sanación de las tribus Norteamericanas ejemplifican perspectivas culturales clave y contribuyen al desarrollo de la identidad del individuo.” Dichas prácticas, incluyendo el uso de el polen amarillo (hádńdín; Typha spp.) como protección, son basadas en creencias y perspectivas al margen de los preceptos psicológicos occidentales tradicionales, sin embargo, tienen un impacto importante en el sentido de bienestar en las comunidades Ndee. En la reserva india “Fort Apache”, especialistas en el patrimonio Ndee demuestran que tales tradiciones y perspectivas no son solamente esenciales para el bienestar comunitario sino poderosos conductos que proyectan el pasado a el presente y que a su vez contribuyen al carácter natural de ciclicidad y reciprocidad entre las comunidades Ndee y Nígosdzán, la Madre Tierra, desde tiempos inmemoriales.

Keywords

Ndee (Apache)healinginstitutionspollenIndigenous cultural resource managementharmonyinterrelationsIndigenous methodologyNdee (Apache)recuperacióninstitucionespolenadministración de los recursos culturales indígenasarmoníacolaboraciónmetodología indígena
Type
Article
Information
Advances in Archaeological Practice , Volume 9 , Issue 2 , May 2021 , pp. 110 - 118
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Society for American Archaeology

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES CITED

Atalay, Sonya 2012 Community-Based Archaeology: Research with, by, and for Indigenous and Local Communities. University of California Press, Berkeley.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Atalay, Sonya 2019 Braiding Strands of Wellness: How Repatriation Contributes to Healing through Embodied Practice and Storywork. Public Historian 41(1):78–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ball, Martin W. 2000 Mountain Spirits: Embodying the Sacred in Mescalero Apache Tradition. PhD dissertation, Religious Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara.Google Scholar
Basso, Keith 1983 Western Apache. In Handbook of North American Indians: Southwest, Vol. 10., edited by Ortiz, Alfonso, pp. 462–488. Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC.Google Scholar
Bourke, John G. 1892 The Medicine-Men of the Apache (No. 2). U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Buskirk, Winfred 1986 The Western Apache: Living with the Land Before 1950. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Colwell-Chanthaphonh, Chip 2007 History, Justice, and Reconciliation. In Archaeology as a Tool of Civic Engagement, edited by Little, Barbara J. and Shackel, Paul A., pp. 23–46. AltaMira Press, Lanham, Maryland.Google Scholar
Coyhis, Don, and Simonelli, Richard 2008 The Native American Healing Experience. Substance Use & Misuse 43:1927–1949.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gah'nahvah / Ya Ti’ 2013 Yavapai-Apache Nation Signs Historic Apache Alliance Document. Gah'nahvah / Ya Ti’ (newspaper of the Yavapai-Apache Nation), June 1–2.Google Scholar
Golston, Sydele E. 1996 Changing Woman of the Apache: Women's Lives in the Past and Present. F. Watts, New York.Google Scholar
Goodwin, Grenville 1942 The Social Organization of the Western Apache. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.Google Scholar
Heart, Maria Yellow Horse Brave, and Deschenie, Tina 2006 Historical Trauma and Post-Colonial Stress in American Indian Populations. Tribal College 17(3):24–27.Google Scholar
Long, Jonathan, Tecle, Aregai, and Burnette, Benrita 2003 Cultural Foundations for Ecological Restoration on the White Mountain Apache Reservation. Conservation Ecology 8(1).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mehl-Madrona, Lewis 2011 Coyote Medicine: Lessons from Native American Healing. Simon and Schuster, New York.Google Scholar
Merrill, William L., Ladd, Edmund J., Ferguson, T. J., Cruwys, Elizabeth, Downer, Alan S., Feest, Christian F., Frisbie, Charlotte J., Herold, Joyce, Jones, Schuyler, Layton, Robert, and Zimmerman, Larry J. 1993 The Return of the Ahayu: da: Lessons for Repatriation from Zuni Pueblo and the Smithsonian Institution [and Comments and Replies]. Current Anthropology 34:523–567.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moorehead, Virgil D., Gone, Joseph P., and December, Damia 2015 A Gathering of Native American Healers: Exploring the Interface of Indigenous Tradition and Professional Practice. American Journal of Community Psychology 56:383–394.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Opler, Morris 1969 Apache Odyssey: A Journey between Two Worlds. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York.Google Scholar
Rybak, Christopher, and Decker-Fitts, Amanda 2009 Understanding Native American Healing Practices. Counselling Psychology Quarterly 22:333–342.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schaepe, David M., Angelbeck, Bill, Snook, David, and Welch, John R. 2017 Archaeology as Therapy: Connecting Belongings, Knowledge, Time, Place, and Well-Being. Current Anthropology 58:502–533.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simpson, Moira 2009 Museums and Restorative Justice: Heritage, Repatriation and Cultural Education. Museum International 61(1-2):121–129.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thompson, Kerry F. 2011 The Navajo Nation, Diné Archaeologists, Diné Archaeology, and Diné Communities. Archaeologies 7:502–517.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thornton, Russell 2003 Repatriation as Healing the Wounds of the Trauma of History: Cases of Native Americans in the United States of America. In The Dead and Their Possessions, edited by Fforde, Cressida, Hubert, Jane, and Turnball, Paul, pp. 35–42. Routledge, New York.Google Scholar
Two Bears, Davina 2006 Navajo Archaeologist Is Not an Oxymoron: A Tribal Archaeologist's Experience. American Indian Quarterly 30:381–387.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Two Bears, Davina 2008 Ihoosh'aah, Learning by Doing: The Navajo Nation Archaeology Department Student Training Program. In Collaborating at the Trowel's Edge: Teaching and Learning in Indigenous Archaeology, edited by Silliman, Stephen W., pp. 188–207. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.Google Scholar
Watt, Eva T., with Basso, Keith 2004 Don't Let the Sun Step Over You: A White Mountain Apache Family Life (1860–1975). University of Arizona Press, Tucson.Google Scholar
Welch, John R., Altaha, Mark K., Hoerig, Karl A., and Riley, Ramon 2009 Best Cultural Heritage Stewardship Practices by and for the White Mountain Apache Tribe. Conservation and Management of Archaeological Sites 11:148–160.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Welch, John R., and Ferguson, T. J. 2005 Cultural Affiliation Assessment of White Mountain Apache Tribal Lands (Fort Apache Indian Reservation). On file, White Mountain Apache Tribe Historic Preservation Office, Fort Apache, Arizona.Google Scholar
Welch, John R., Herr, Sarah A., and Laluk, Nicholas C. 2017 Ndee (Apache) Archaeology. In The Oxford Handbook of Southwest Archaeology, edited by Mills, Barbara and Fowles, Severin, pp. 495–512. Oxford University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Welch, John R., Mahoney, Nancy, and Riley, Ramon 2000 The Reconquest of Fort Apache. CRM 9(5):15–19.Google Scholar
Welch, John R., and Riley, Ramon 2001 Reclaiming Land and Spirit in the Western Apache Homeland. American Indian Quarterly 25:5–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whitbeck, Les B. 2006 Some Guiding Assumptions and a Theoretical Model for Developing Culturally Specific Preventions with Native American People. Journal of Community Psychology 34:183–192.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, Shawn 2008 Research Is Ceremony: Indigenous Research Methods. Fernwood Publishing, Black Point, Nova Scotia, Canada.Google Scholar
Yellow Bird, Michael 2005 Tribal Critical Thinking Centers. In For Indigenous Eyes Only: A Decolonizing Handbook, edited by Wilson, Waziyatawin Angela and Bird, Michael Yellow, pp. 9–30. School of American Research, Santa Fe, New Mexico.Google Scholar