Patterns of Health and Wellbeing 04: Prayer and the Spiritual in Health Ways

Health issues among American Indians, such as diabetes and substance abuse, are reaching epidemic levels. The majority of governmental and externally driven responses to these health issues have focused on the physical aspects of disease. Much less research has been done on the relationships between culture and health within Native communities. This symposium presents a report on active collaborations between Native community members and researchers that focus on the distinct cultural values about wellbeing held by Native communities in solving serious health issues. Cosponsored by the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. In this section, Tom Belt (Cherokee) speaks on Prayer and the Spiritual in Health Ways. Tom Belt is coordinator of the the Western Carolina University Cherokee Language Program. He is working to create a state-of-the-art Cherokee language program at the university level. Belt teaches the first four semesters of Cherokee language and teaches courses on Cherokee grammar and Cherokee language literature. A citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, he is a fluent Cherokee speaker and works closely with speakers from the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians to produce culturally based Cherokee language learning material. Before joining the Cherokee Language Program, he worked as a counselor's aide in a local treatment center for Native youths with chemical dependencies. He attended the Universities of Oklahoma and Colorado and taught the Cherokee language at the Cherokee elementary school in Cherokee, North Carolina. Belt has also served as a consultant to various cultural archives and indigenous language programs in public schools and on the post-secondary level. Patterns of Health and Wellbeing: An Intercultural Symposium was webcast from the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian Rasmuson Theater on April 11, 2014.