Generous People

Blog #9

Sunday.

Generous people.

Today we had a great time at generous people’s home. They offered to provide lunch and dinner for us and to use their home to blog some more and we appreciate them for that. It is not about today that I will be blogging about but rather about my overall experience so far about the trip. I was asked what have a learned so far during this trip, and I know that everyone’s answers are different because they came for different reasons. The reason I came to this trip was to learn about the Native Americans culture and their ways of health in regards to their culture and how it relates to what I know about nursing. We haven’t directly met or talked specifically about their believes in health and ways of healing, however, I feel we have had sufficient dialogue to understand what it is that matters to them, what their concerns are, and how it can relate to the nursing profession. When I mean nursing profession I mean our knowledge and our considerations that we have and take when treating Native Americans. I feel that even though we are mindful when a Native American is in the hospital we don’t provide health practices that they may be using at home. Of course, hospital treatment is a standard treatment to everyone and so I’m not saying they aren’t best practice because they are evidence-based. I guess what I’m trying to say is that the way that the Native Americans heal can be quite different. I say so because they really spiritual human beings with a strong connection with their creator and natural resources. I have listened and notice that in most elders stories they mention of only acquiring what they need and being thankful for what their creator offered them. I wonder if they use this concept in healing too but in what way? Could it be that they believe that sickness is some form of punishment or blessing? Has their creator provided the necessary herbs and medicines to heal them? Keep in mind, I have little knowledge about Native Americans as I am sure some books may have this information or not. I’m curious if there is some kind of specific intervention for an individual who gets sick, is pregnant, or is dying. If so how would knowing any of this information help me in the nursing profession? Would I be able to understand more and be mindful of their wishes when we encounter for the first time? Or how could I use this knowledge to help them in their reservations? To help those who don’t prefer to go to a hospital, who don’t have sufficient money, transport or knowledge about what we do. What about those who are afraid we don’t offer what they believe is necessary for a healing process. I care about this because I care about my Yakama community, home of many cultures including them. Like Don mentioned on the first day, the reservation lands in 50 years are going to be different. Those lands could be places of new towns or cities and it may be destructive to the Native Americans culture. And why is Native American culture important anyways? Because they believe it is. It is important to try and restore the knowledge that they lost because of their oppression because we can learn from them the way and understand their struggles. They care about their lands, their people, their language, their future and we should too. 


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