We Know Who We Are and What Is Needed

Abstract

Overall healing, harmony, and balance within Ndee (Apache) communities can be understood through the Ndee term Go´zho´-beauty, balance, and harmony. Beyond this Ndee cultural precept, however, how are such states of Go´zho´ achieved, whether in the past or today? Within archaeological research on Ndee lands, achieving healing and promoting health is crucial to overall individual and community well-being. Healing activities that contribute to overall states of Go´zho´ can take many forms. As Rybak and Decker-Fitts (2009:334) suggest, Native American healing practices exemplify key cultural perspectives and influence the identity development of Native American individuals. Such healing practices including the use of yellow cattail pollen (ha´dn´di´n; Typha spp.) for protection are based on traditions and perspectives typically outside the mainstream of Western psychological tenets, yet they can have significant impact on the sense of well-being for Ndee communities. Ndee cultural specialists with the White Mountain Apache Tribe demonstrate that such traditions and perspectives are not only necessary for continued community well-being but are powerful conduits amplifying the past as present, which contribute to the ongoing cyclical and reciprocal nature of the ways Ndee communities have related to Ni´gosdza´n-Mother Earth-since time immemorial. © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Society for American Archaeology.