Family and Social Issues within the American Indian and Cherokee Tribe Culture
Introduction Culture Vision is an online resource that provides healthcare professionals with essential information about all ethnicities. As a healthcare professional, it is a priority for all patients to receive essential care no matter their ethnicity. Culture Vision can help drive that care that may be a different due to their culture and beliefs. In this paper, I am going to explore the family and social issues of American Indian’s that Culture Vision points out, as well as a peer-reviewed article that focuses on the family and social issues with infants.
Summary
According to Culture Vision (2016), American Indian’s social structure plays a huge role in
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The three main topics the article discusses is the extended family’s role, promoting learning during infancy, and the view of obedience. The American Indian tribes believe that if they care for the earth then in return, the earth will care for them (Nichols, 2004, p.227). Within the tribe, caring for the infant is the most important because they are the ones that will pass on the traditions and beliefs hopefully to their own children (Nichols, 2004, p.227). The mother and father of the infant are not the only ones who provide care for the infant. The infant’s extended family is also responsible for the care of the infant (Nichols, 2004, p.244). It is believe that “the stronger the family member’s identity with the tribe, the more likely the person will adhere to the values, beliefs, and parenting practices of the tribe (Nichols, 2004, p. 229). The Cherokee mothers allowing others to raise their children forms special relationships within the extended family, and allows the children to learn a variety of skills (Nichols, 2004, p.237). Also Cherokee mothers allow their infants to learn through exploring with minimal supervision (Nichols, 2004, p.240). The last main topic that was discussed was obedience of children …show more content…
The nurse is the patient’s advocate and needs to understand what their hopes and wishes are for their care to best guide the care that they or the healthcare provider may give. In regards to the American Indian, specifically Cherokee culture, it is important for the nurse to have an understanding of the family and social dynamics. Within the family and social dynamics, the nurse has the view of what arrangements may need to be made. For example, the American Indian’s are split into tribes and the tribe is seen as a large extended family. If a nurse is taking care of an American Indian, he or she will need to understand that there may be large masses of visitors. It is the right for the patient to have visitors, but the nurse may need to intervene to suggest a limit of visitors at a time in the room to prevent crowding. At a more sensitive topic, Cherokee women have different beliefs in caring for their infants. The nurse should not be judgmental, but rather accept their motherly ways. The nurse should not just completely ignore the mother and her infant’s well being, but she should observe and have a open conversation about how things are going that. Through conversation and observation, the nurse can determine if something is abnormal and is causing harm to the infant. At that time, it would be appropriate for the nurse to intervene in order to help promote
“Health is influenced by culture and beliefs” (NRS-429V, 2011, p. 1). In order for the nurse to properly care for the patient, she must know and understand the patient’s culture. “Cultural care is a comprehensive model that includes the assessment of a client’s cultural needs, beliefs, and health care practices” (NRS-429V, 2011, p. 1). It is not enough to just know where the patient lives or where he came from. The nurse must embrace the concept of cultural competence and cultural awareness. This requires not only the awareness of the cultural beliefs and values of their patients, but also
In American Indian Stories, University of Nebraska Press Lincoln and London edition, the author, Zitkala-Sa, tries to tell stories that depicted life growing up on a reservation. Her stories showed how Native Americans reacted to the white man’s ways of running the land and changing the life of Indians. “Zitkala-Sa was one of the early Indian writers to record tribal legends and tales from oral tradition” (back cover) is a great way to show that the author’s stories were based upon actual events in her life as a Dakota Sioux Indian. This essay will describe and analyze Native American life as described by Zitkala-Sa’s American Indian Stories, it will relate to Native Americans and their interactions with American societies, it will
Mind, body and spirit are the foundation of the Navajo community. The Navajo culture is known to be very primitive and reserved. This could cause some complications in the health care field. Their basic lifestyle may lead to several health complications, belief in prayer and evil spirits is prominent, they believe that the role of a physician is to be a partner in their healing, there are several nursing practices that need to be considered when caring for a Navajo patient, and as a nurse it is important to treat these people with respect even if their ways may seems unorthodox.
Health in all cultures is an important aspect of life. A person’s cultural background, religion and/or beliefs, greatly influences a person’s health and their response to medical care (Spector, 2004). These diverse cultures guide decisions made in daily life; what food eaten, living arrangements made, medications taken and medical advice listened to. A nurse must be knowledgeable and respectful of these diverse cultures and understand their importance when providing care. This understanding helps to build a strong nurse/patient relationship, increasing patient compliance, which ensures positive outcomes are met. Patients who are satisfied
In American Indian life, they believe their life is interconnected with the world, nature, and other people. The idea of a peoplehood matrix runs deep in Indian culture, in this essay the Cherokee, which is the holistic view of sacred history, language, ceremony, and homeland together. This holistic model shapes the life of the American Indians and how their sense of being and relationship to their history is strong and extremely valuable to them. This essay will try to explain how each aspect of the peoplehood matrix is important and interconnected to each other and the life of the Native Americans.
Application of the Transcultural Analysis to an American Indian culture is accomplished through known cultural beliefs and practices. However, it is important to note that while each culture may have defining characteristics, family and individual practices may vary. To be an effective provider implementation must be tailored to individual needs. Starting with cultural awareness and building a care plan fit for the individual is ideal in the healthcare setting.
Culture, as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary is stated as “The integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief and behavior that dpends upon the capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations. The customary beliefs, social forms and material traits of a racial, religious or social group. The set shared attitudes, values, goals and practices that characterizes an institution or organization. The set of values, conventions or social practices associated with a particular field, activity or societal characteristic.” Of these four definitions, I shall be focusing on the second one to discuss what makes up the culture of American Indians.The culture of the various tribes that made up the Native Americans is one of close knit families, highlyspiritual peoples and living together as one with the land they lived on. They believed in spirits, worshiping and honoring them. Some settled into single locations while others were nomadic, but all had a focus on working with the land around them. Because there are so many varying tribes that make up Native
Native American culture originated in some parts North America. These countries are known as the United States of America and some parts of Canada. In the United States, there are 6.6 million Native Americans, which form about 2.0 percent of the population (Bureau, 2016). Europe had realized there were about 50 million people already living the “new world” and these people were called Native Americans. Native Americans were originally called Indians, but later through history they formed a new name. These people were called this because of them being native to the “new world” and the American part came after the colonist named the United States. Throughout history, Native Americans believed that using raw material in nature was the best way to provide for their people. Their culture thought no part of an animal should go to waste. They would eat the meat, use the skin for clothing, and make jewelry from the bones. Over the years a lot of their culture and customs were lost due to conforming with society. Their languages were referred to as “Indigenous Languages” because of them being extremely complicated and diverse. Some important factors that help understand the foundation of Native American culture are their rituals/practices, death ceremonies, holidays, family, and stereotypes.
The Heritage Assessment Tool can be adopted as a dependable tool to gauge, health maintenance, restoration and safeguard of personal, cultural beliefs. The adoption of health assessment tool helps meet the prerequisites of diverse patient populations to offer quality all-inclusive care. The following paper reviews the assessment of three culturally dissimilar families, and demonstrate how a nurse would continue with health promotion centred on the variances in health traditions between the three cultures. The three cultures include Hispanic culture, Native American Indian culture and White American culture. The objectives of this essay are
In America, the number of federally identified tribes is 562 with every tribe having its own culture, belief system and practices. That is why there seem diverse type of behaviors among this population related to healthcare seeking and healthcare attitudes. Amongst the most common components that lead to this diversity in healthcare seeking behaviors is the role of culture which affects healthcare intervention, prevention, and care. So, it is very important to understand the diversity of culture in particular
Evaluation of how family subscribes to these traditions and practices is offered in detail, while offering insight and/or reflection.It is essential for nurses to provide culturally sensitive care to each and every patient in order to establish repor and maintain a safe working relationship with each individual. To provide culturally sensitive care to a nurses patient’s he or she must first assess their own beliefs, values, and culture at large. The nurse can do this by using the Heritage Assessment Tool. This tool shows the nurse how important their heritage is to them and if they have adopted their ways of life from their family’s history and influence. This gives the nurse a starting point
When caring for a Native American patient, it is imperative that the nurse provide culturally competent care. In this scenario, there are two main dimensions along which cultural tensions between the patient and the nurse can arise. The first pertains to the actual practices and values of Native American culture, which may be at odds with the practices and values of dominant healthcare institutions. The second is both broader and more subtle: it pertains to the historical relationship of the Native American people and the
A new cultural group that should appear in Peoples of the Worlds next semester, are the Cherokee, also known as Ani-Yun’wiya. The Cherokee are a Native American tribe and are part of the North American region. Artifacts that have been discovered indicate they have been living in North America for more than 11,000 years. The Cherokee Nation has a population of around 300,000 tribal members, making them one of the largest federally recognized tribes in the United States.
After completing the “cultural competence checklist: personal reflection designed by T.D. Goode” for the first time, I was not surprised by my results. The results were a reflection of my personal understanding how culture impacts holistic care and my continuous need to improve my care. I have strived to become non-judgmental. I work to not let my personal beliefs and values influence my nursing care on decisions. When I practice this philosophy it provides better patient outcomes and promotes an improved understanding of cultural differences. This also enhances a safe and caring environment. “It is important for health care providers to recognize that care must be individualized and considerate of the cultural. Racial, and ethnic identity of the patients and their families” (Broome, 2006, p. 486) .There is much diversity in the beliefs and practices of the Indian culture and we should grant these individuals complete freedom to practice their personal cultural variations and the religion they choose.
Today when people move across continents with the help of technology their culture and heritage moves along with them. Almost each and every continent is populated with people from different nations who have diverse traditions and cultures. Thus knowledge of health traditions and culture plays a vital role in nursing. People from different cultures have a unique view on health and illness. Culture-specific care is a vital skill to the modern nurse, as the United States continues to consist of many immigrants who have become assimilated into one culture. I interviewed three families of different cultures: - Indian (my culture), Hispanic and Chinese. Let us see the differences in health traditions between these cultures.