Cross-Cultural Perspectives: The Navajo View on Death and Burial - Essay Example

?Cross Cultural Perspectives: The Navajo View on Death and Burial Contrary to public belief, the White Men were not the first settlers of this great land. Before the White Men became the dominating race, the Native American Indians were spread across the landscape. These people were the true first settlers of this land and as such, based all of their lives, religious, and spiritual beliefs on the power of their Nature based Gods. Which explains why they have a totally different set of beliefs from the White Men when it comes to the death and burial of a loved one. The Navajo Indians in particular, have some very specific beliefs and rituals which now pose a problem for their healthcare providers but, thanks to some highly imaginative people and creative execution skills, their religious beliefs and medical science have successfully found a middle ground within which to exist practically side by side. However, in order to understand why the Navajo Indians follow a certain protocol with regards to death and burial, we must first understand the religious belief that their actions are based upon. (North American [Indian] Religions: An Overview) Navajo Indians try to pretend that death does not exist. They do this because they believe that the mere discussion of life threatening illnesses or the slightest negative thought pertaining to death can actually cause any of the two tragic events to happen to them. They have a belief that such acts could actually speed up the dying process for them. These Navajo Indians also have a strong belief in ghosts. Together with that belief is an understanding that the ghosts, because they are now dead and unable to join their friends and family on the physical plain, are now believed to be resentful of the living. Therefore, they believe that there is a strong possibility of some misfortune befalling those acquainted with the dead. The Navajo tribe members who found themselves in direct contact with the deceased faced the most problems which is why they were expected to undergo a tribe specific purification treatment. Some tribesmen, in an effort to avoid such a costly activity tried to bury their dead as quickly and unceremoniously as possible. (“Encyclopedia of Death and Dying”). In January of this year, Dr. Ben Daitz met up with 76 year old Mitzi Begay. Ms. Begay in her old age is a far more evolved and much more open minded member of the Navajo nation. She has a modern understanding of healthcare, hospice care, and dying in relation to their traditional beliefs. By coordinating the efforts of the Fort Defiance Arizona Hospital under her capacity as cross-cultural coordinator for home based programs with the local Navajo communities, the traditional Navajo beliefs about death and dying have managed to find a way to remain relevant in the modern healthcare scenario. Their healthcare professionals have learned how to read the coded words that the elderly Navajo tribesmen use in order to deliver their advanced healthcare directives and do not resuscitate instructions to their care givers (Daitz). Our modern medical ways are seen as strange and funny by the Navajos. Yet, once the likes of Ms. Begay take over the situation and explains to them that the healthcare professionals only want to help make them comfortable and arrange their physical lives before their death, all inhibitions get thrown out the door. The key to unlocking their trust is discuss the complicated matter of death with them using language that they understood or basically, taking what they know and making it fit the modern medical ways. Which is why the service vehicle of Ms. Begay entices those in the community to listen to her. On the side of her vehicle is the following phrase: “When that time comes, when my last breath leaves me, I choose to die in peace to meet Shi’ dy’ in” — the creator. Written in both Navajo and English, it serves to open a discussion about living wills and advance directives. This is a belief further supported by an explanation from bio ethicist James S. Taylor in an interview with Dr. Daitz for his article “With Poem, Broaching the Topic of Death” for The New York Times. He supported this claim by stating that: Using the poem and open-ended questions allows nuanced and respectful solutions to this problem because it gives people the opportunity to discuss end- of-life planning impersonally. It’s a compassionate approach, and it’s in accord with the twin values that Navajos share with mainstream American culture — individual autonomy and personal dignity. As civilized individuals, we acknowledge the need for an advanced healthcare directive as a way of insuring that we can die the way that we want to and in the most comfortable manner as possible. The Navajo Indians believe in the same thing which is why they are quite receptive to the end of life decisions in relation to advanced healthcare directives. It was Patricia Turner Weeden who explained that the tribe belief is that: Our Native Peoples believe we pass over into the spirit world, where we are met by our ancestors who have passed on before us. This world is a world of love and beauty, not to be feared. Many who have had a near-death experience state it was a difficult choice to make, whether to remain in the spirit world or to journey back to this earthly plain. Some have chosen to return to their human forms; others wish to remain in the spiritual state of being. We, as Native Americans, believe our spirits live on. Our outer shells deteriorate, but our spirits choose this outer covering or vessel while we are here on our journey. From the cultural perspective of a White Man using the aforementioned logic to sell the idea of EOL and Advanced Healthcare Directives to the Navajo Indians, it would seem that their tribal beliefs actually played directly into the hands of the healthcare professionals, thus making the explanation of EOL and Advanced Healthcare Directive quite simpler than they first thought it would be. Dr. Carol Howe explained why there is no clear set way of dealing with death and burial in a Navajo tribe in response to the question: Are there references for discussing or implementing code status (do not resuscitate/allow natural death) in Navajo or Hopi communities? Submitted by Elizabeth Clark, MD, Whiteriver USPHS IHS Hospital We have to remember that Navajo Indians live on community reserves. Their culture and way of life is protected there and has practically stood still in time. Which is why the responsibility of being culturally sensitive and respectful is on the shoulders of the visiting White Man healthcare professional. Hence Dr. Howe's response: There is clearly no universal advance directives protocol that can be easily retrofitted to American Indian communities. How the need to remain extremely flexible to maintain cultural respect and sensitivity conforms to the simultaneous trends within American medicine to try to standardize care, meet accreditation needs and protect clinicians from liability is one of several larger questions which emerges. (Howe) Just like everything else in this world, there is a common ground between the Navajo Indian nation and the White Men on the whole in the sense that both parties have a high regard and respect for life and do their best to prolong their existence on the physical plane. From a cross cultural perspective, it would seem that these beliefs actually bisect somewhere in the middle, causing the bonding of what should have been 2 different beliefs about how the end of life should be met, in such a manner that nobody would have ever expected. As it turns out, the Navajo Indians are not as backward nor ignorant as we first thought them to be. They just show their intelligence in a much different manner from theirs. Works Cited Daitz, Ben M.D. “With Poem, Broaching the Topic of Death”. Health. The New York Times. 24 Jan. 2011. Web. 31 Aug. 2011. Fogelson, Raymond D. “North American [Indian] Religions: History of Study”. Encyclopedia of Religion. 2005. Web. 2 Sept. 2011. Hultkrantz, Ake. “North American [Indian] Religions: An Overview”. Encyclopedia of Religion. 2005. Web 1 Sept. 2011. “Native American Religion”. Death and Dying: Me-Nu. Encyclopedia of Death and Dying. 2011.Web. 30 Aug. 2011. Weeden, Patricia Turner. “Death and Dying From a Native - American Perspective”. Editorial/ Opinion. Humane Medicine Healthcare Journal. 12:3. n.d. n.pag. Web. 1 Sept. 2011. Read More