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| Veterans Edward George Jr. (l. to r.), David Emerick, and Lawrence Garcia watch as Mr. Laughter performs a cleansing ceremony
in Prescott, Ariz. Paul Connors/AP/file |
Federal government taps ancient healing methods to treat native American soldiers
The veterans administration teams up with medicine men to use sweat lodges and talking circles to deal with post-traumatic stress disorder.
from the September 13, 2007 edition
Page 3 of 3
Gomez doesn't have an easy definition for what spirituality is. As he puts it: "It's 24/7, a way of life. It's not a religion, but [the notion that] we don't own anything in this world. Our job is to help Mother Earth."
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The sweat lodge is another cleansing tool centered around the connection to Mother Earth. Gillies and his native American patients convinced the VA medical center in Albuquerque to build one on a sandy plot behind the PTSD clinic.
"It's a place for cleansing our soul," says Ambrose Willie, a reed-thin man who served with the Army in Vietnam. Mr. Willie surveys the construction site, scrutinizing a series of prairie dog holes. In his barely audible voice, he wonders how to remove the rodents. Ultimately, he decides that prairie dogs and humans can cohabitate. The sweat lodge "teaches us to live in harmony with our surroundings," he says.
Willie explains that the main elements of the sweat lodge – fire, water, and stone – represent the basic elements of nature. He and Gomez have long anticipated the lodge's completion. They believe it can bring them one step closer to mental stability. "When we leave the doorway," Willie says, "our mind, body, and spirit are one."
Up in Window Rock, Ariz., 170 miles north, Gibson holds a similar view. "When soldiers go overseas, we give them warrior ceremonies to armor and protect them against the battle," says the medicine man. "When the soldier comes back, we have to remove that armor, to help him reconnect with his home."
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