Living across two worlds
Description
To be a modern Navajo is to live in two separate worlds, contemporary and traditional. This thesis investigates the complicated political and cultural relationship that exists between these worlds and its implications on Navajo health. Chapter 1 explores many of life's most significant challenges on the reservation, such as limited access to healthy food, infrastructure, and healthcare facilities that contribute to disproportionate rates of chronic illness among Navajo individuals. Chapter 2 establishes that the Navajo Nation is a sovereign and independently governed entity geographically surrounded by and governmentally and financially linked to the United States. Chapter 3 describes how the Navajo Nation internally manages an annual budget of over $1 billion that covers the operational costs of governmental offices and programs crucial to the Navajo people's wellbeing. Chapter 4 discusses traditional Navajo healing practices and how incorporating cultural elements into treatment plans can improve health outcomes and help to bridge the divide between Navajo patients and modern providers. The 5th and final chapter showcased how the Navajo Nation acted with autonomy to beat the odds and successfully overcome political and cultural barriers to slow the spread of COVID-19 on the reservation. This thesis illustrates that many problems are best solved with intimate personal knowledge of Navajo life and culture that state and federal entities fail to possess. Overcoming political and cultural barriers requires a partnership with surrounding state and federal governments that capitalizes on meaningful participation from the Navajo Nation's citizens and leaders. Internal decision-making and cultural competency are part of the solution for a diverse set of complex problems facing the Navajo Nation.