Medecine Men and Romper Room

Medicine Men figure prominently in Navajo society. They are part healer, historian, priest, and seer. It will take many entries of the blog to even begin to do them justice. In 2002 the tribe started a training program for new Medicine Men as the numbers have dwindled. In the Chinle Hospital there is always a medicine man or woman (we have a woman now) who perform healing ceremonies. Beside healing they officiate over the four (once again four) sacred rites. They are: The Mountaintop Way, The Grandfather's Ceremony, The Enemy Way, and The Lightening or Big Wind Way. Each ceremony has a specialized function to address imbalances in life and nature. All ceremonies are addressed at healing. The ceremonies can last days and involve many people. As I am here and participate in them I will write more. The Enemy Way which is for warriors has been used frequently in the past ten years as so many Navajo had come back from the Persian Gulf with wounds both spiritually and physically.

The Medicine Man I met today looked at me and instantly knew my life was not in balance. He could tell that my loved ones were far, far, away. Moreover, he could see what I had done wrong recently as well as what I was doing right. It was like watching Romper Room when the teacher lady gets up wither her magic mirror and looks out to the audience and says " I see Marc in New York enjoying his birthday, I see Kevin with his grandmother, and I see Ronnie in trouble once again.... (yup, that was me). Just as I believed the Romper Room lady I believe the Medicine Man has special powers to see and heal. As I have grown as a physician I know that science only goes so far in healing and that most healing comes from, through, and for the soul and spirit. The physician or medicine man who ignores that will never be a healer but just a technician. Thank you Romper Room lady for showing me where I went wrong and how to behave and thank you Medicine Man for reminding me of the soul of the healer.

The Hogan

Hogans are popular here......not the "Hulk Hogan" of wrestling nor even the Colonel Hogan of "Hogan's Heroes" but the hogan one lives in . The hogan is almost synonymous with the Navajo.
They dot the landscape and are as much a part the Navajo as the tent is to the Bedouin. However, the hogan is much more than a home.

The story of the hogan goes back to the creation of the world and mankind. The first creatures created a hogan when Coyote built one with help from the Beaver. The Beaver gave Coyote the idea for using interlocking logs as well as mud to cover the spaces and provide a roof. Thus, the hogan looks somewhat like a beaver lodge. Most hogan now have six or eight sides although the "male hogan" has five sides and have a roof of mud, shingle, or tar paper. The door always faces east to capture the morning sun and avoid the hot part of the day.

The hogan has great religious significance that is not to be underestimated. The "male hogan", which is for the male religious rites does not usually serve as a dwelling but rather a place of religious ceremonies. The practitioners of the native religion have a ceremony for each stage of life as well as healing ceremonies there. The "female hogan" serves as dwelling but is also considered sacred and must be care for appropriately.

There are still Navajo who live in hogans, especially in the summer if one is shepherd or cattle rancher. Some hogans have electricity. Even if a family does not live in a hogan many will have a hogan on their property and a source of both Navajo pride and for religious ceremonies. It is only after trust has been built that a Navajo will invite one into ones hogan. I admit there is much I do not know about hogans and I hope to learn in the coming months.

Dine' College

Dine' College is a two year Navajo College(est. 1968) located about 30 miles from Chinle in the tiny town of Tsaile. It is the first Native American owned and operated institution of higher learning. It is open to everyone although most students are Navajo. They have great cross country, basketball, and wrestling teams. The college tries to prepare Navajo for a four year college as well train people as x-ray, dental, and nursing technicians.

It is the only college where one can come an study the Navajo Language as both a beginner and as a fluent speaker. It is a bilingual and offers some courses only in Navajo. They also have a great archiology department that specializes in the Pre-Columbian ruins and culture in the area. The people here take great pride in the institution and the buildings are wonderfully designed.

The non Navajo who study there are often linguists who want to learn one of the few living Athabascan languages or missionarys who are sent by their churches to preach to the Navajo. The Navajo have their own native religious organization with its own set of leaders and practitioners. In the hospital where I work we have a number of native preachers who minister to the sick as well as Christian ministers.

Conventional education has only recently been recognized as have great importance to the tribe. Until the late 60's most Navajo did not graduate from high school and employment was mostly in ranching and farming. They have great facilities now in the public school system and the teachers, most of whom live on the school campuses, are highly motivated. Native and non native teacher work side by side and the teaching career is held in high regard.

The Rez Dogs

Dogs have a special significance to the Navajo. The dog holds a place something like the sacred cows of the Hindus. Dog were here before the white man, the horse, cattle, sheep, and even the Navajo. The are looked upon as the guardian of the home and flock. Dogs are felt to be able to warn of evil spirits and scare them away. They have four legs and four is a special number to the Navajo.

This reverence for dogs has created problems. Dogs cannot be bought nor sold. They can be given but unlike other animals are not viewed as property. Unfortunately dogs cannot go to the local grocery and buy their favorite Alpo but are dependent on man. Unfortunately there are a lot of men who have their own problems and because of that there are lots and lots of stray dogs. Feral dogs or dogs without homes like to hang out near the center of town and are often hit by cars. There is always a pack that hangs out a the campground that serves Canyon De Chelly National Monument. They have become excellent beggars and know how to warm the hearts of campers.

Every few years there is movement a foot to capture and neuter the dogs. This works for a while until the next generation of dogs is let loose and start the populate the town and surroundings. There is healthy population of Mountain Lions though and they help to keep the numbers down in the more rural locations. Like old people, old dogs here are revered and should be as they must be quite wise to survive all the challenges that life bring.

Code Talkers

Code Talkers are a group of 400 Navajo Marines who served in the Pacific in World War II. There are four who are still alive. At the start of the war the Marines had a great need to transmit messages by Radio without going through encryption. A son of missionaries to the Navajo suggested using native Navajo speakers to transmit messages among the Marines. At that time only about 15 non Navajo could speak the language and none from outside the US. Navajo at that time was not written down so the Japanese would have no reference to even attempt to decipher the language. First the concept was tested in 1943 and when it was found to reduce transmission for 30 minutes to 2 minutes it was decided to call for volunteers. Navajo are not just traditional but they are very patriotic. Service in the military then as now is considered a great honor and aspired to. So began the "code talkers" and they went on serve very important functions in the battles of the Mariana's, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. The Japanese never were able to figure out what was going on and never broke the code. So important was the role of these soldiers that their role was not know until 1968 when the story was declassified.

More code talkers came from Chinle than any other part of the Navajo Nation. The one local man who served and is still alive is revered as well he should be by both young and old. He wears his medals proudly and is the equivilant of Tom Brady and Saregent York rolled into one.
There are many memorials to the code talkers and even a small museum dedicated to them in the Navajo capital of Window Rock. The movie "Wind Talkers" was made about them 10 years ago but is only loosely based on them as most Hollywood productions are about anything true.
The main character is a white anglo, Nicholas Cage, and Navajos have only minor supporting roles. However, the movie did bring attention to a long hidden group of very brave Americans.

Navajo and death

The Navajo have belief and customs different form many western cultures. There is no concept of afterlife. Death is not something good or positive even for those suffering. It is taboo to talk about dead relatives. In fact , in taking medical histories it is not good to ask about parents who may have died or what they died from. The most common response to " What did your father die from?" is ......"he left.". As a result you hear a lot about people leaving here and I don't mean for a vacation in Hawaii.

Burial traditionally is four days after death with four attendants. Four is very important for Navajo as they are said to have lived in four worlds. Moccasins are placed on opposite feet and after burial one cannot retrace the steps one took to get to the burial site. In fact, there is someone who erases the steps in the sand so death will none follow.

Certain animals predict death. The coyote moving across your path is a sign of upcoming death. People will stop their car on a highway if a coyote crosses the road and find another route. The owel is also a sign of death and the call of the owel is especially ominous. One of my co-workers who is an avid bird watcher had to take down a picture of an owel in his office here. It is like hanging the cross of Jesus in the front of a mosque or synagogue.

Navajo and Jewish people

At the risk of stereotypes the Navajo and Jewish People have some common traits. They both tend to be short, like basketball, be tribal, and have great respect for elders.

The elders command great respect here and are honored with deference in stores, homes, and all public places. An elder is anyone who has achieved 60 years although there is some leeway. An elder will always get picked up by someone if they are walking a road or highway and so never haver to worry about having a car. Just go down to the nearest paved road and within five minutes someone will come along to give them a ride. Elders are also entrusted with child are frequently and very often when I see children in the clinic it is the grandparents who bring them. It is the elders who teach the children the Navajo history and traditions. There is a quiet dignity that I see in the older Navajos that others in Anglo society lack. I get to see elders on my runs as walking and listening to the winds is a pastime of many. They often look up and nod and make me wonder what they think of this nut running in high winds on the dusty mesa of the Navajo nation.

Today two parents started talking in Navajo and their child started laughing. "What are you saying?" I inquired.

" Our daughter thinks you are a grandpa. It is a sign of respect." They replied. I told my nurse about this who thought it was a great story. Now people in the clinic call me the grandpa doctor. I did not think I looked that old, respect or no respect.

The winds have died down after yesterdays 60 mile per hours gusts and dust storms. It is very quiet outside. I hope this weekend to go running up one of the forested mesas just for variety. I miss the trees.