posting of response to question #3
Bruce Hoon (jbh1887@silver.sdsmt.edu)
Fri, 31 Oct 1997 12:10:28 -0700 (MST)
What white doctors seem to avoid, is the obvious explanation for
Tayo's illness: the carnage of war. VA hospitals were originated to
treat the broken soldiers who were victims of the gross immorality of war.
The best attempts at understanding Tayo's illness result in superficial
disorder "labeling" by Army doctors. In WWI, it was called "shell shock";
WWII--"battle fatigue"; Viet Nam--"post traumatic stress disorder". And
the only explanation given to Robert and Auntie was no explanation. The
Army doctors "told her and Robert that the cause of battle fatigue was a
mystery, even to them"(31).
The modus operandi of VA treatment centers is to "medicate and
shove in a corner". The medicating of Tayo "drained memory out of his
thin arms and replaced it with a twilight cloud behind his eyes"(15).
Western medicine is well known for treating only symtoms and forgetting
about the whole person. Can you imagine a doctor ever saying, "You have a
spiritual sickness"? The key to Tayo's recovery comes from the words
of Grandma:'"I've been thinking...If I send for old Ku'oosh, he'll
come"'(33).
With Ku'oosh, Tayo has hope. The old man is wise and begins the
spiritual repair of the broken threads in Tayo's mind. By helping Tayo,
Ku'oosh can mend broken threads within the family, which is "important to
all of us"(36). Not only for Tayo, "but for this fragile world"(36).
Laguna culture survives because of the knowledge that everything
is connected--life is a ceremony.
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