book chapter

The Navaho door: an introduction to Navaho life

Harvard University PressCambridge • Published In 1944 • Pages:

By: Leighton, Alexander H. (Alexander Hamilton), Leighton, Dorothea (Cross).

Abstract
This book is designed primarily as an introduction to the 'Navajo way' and as such should be useful to persons about to work on the reservation. However, its excellence lies chiefly in its discussion of Navajo attitudes towards disease, and its specific suggestions as to how to induce patients to go to the hospital for treatment and how to proselytize Euro-American notions of hygiene and sanitation. Indeed, this section (most of which may be found in categories 758 and 744) could well be called required reading for medical personnel working on reservations. It includes sample conversations with Navajo patients about eleven diseases and disorders, as well as the text of a suggested public health talk. This portion of the study gains particular authority since the authors are both physicians and psychiatrists themselves and have spent several years among the Navajo in fieldwork. There is a foreword by John Collier, at that time Commissioner of Indian Affairs. The book also touches on the Navajos' history, the government's varying attitudes towards administrating and educating the tribe, and the people's daily activities. As illustrations of the latter, three life histories are given, the first of which has been omitted here, since it appears in document 5 ('Gregorio, the Hand Trembler,' by the same authors).
Subjects
Life history materials
Acculturation and culture contact
Ethos
Public health and sanitation
Shamans and psychotherapists
Medical care
Organized ceremonial
culture
Navajo
HRAF PubDate
2004
Region
North America
Sub Region
Southwest and Basin
Document Type
book chapter
Evaluation
Creator Type
Psychiatrist
Document Rating
5: Excellent Primary Data
Analyst
Katchen S. Coley ; 1951
Field Date
1940-1943
Coverage Date
1923-1943
Coverage Place
Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah, United States
Notes
[by] Alexander H. Leighton and Dorothea C. Leighton
This document consists of excerpts
Includes bibliographical references (p. 144-145)
LCSH
Navajo Indians