The Human Body-The Western Science meets Native Science

Abstract

A human body is a wonder of the world. From a single cell, life is formed to function and
survival begins as soon he or she is conceived in the mother’s womb. As we live in our bodies
day to day, it is amazing how we are unfamiliar with its function and its capabilities. We go
through life on a daily basis by learning of our own bodies through professional health consultant
or trial and errors. When something is not right, we seek experts to help us understand our own
bodies such as doctors, health specialist, or even through Shamans. For many cultures, such as
Native Americans, as an example, the people of Dine seek shamans to help them fix their bodies
by performing a ceremony. Such as if one’s body would be cramping up, one would be told it is
due to exposure to lightening or twister or even to the extent of consumption of certain food.
These finding affects the body and mind according to the medicine man. In order to heal,
balance needs to be restored through a proper ceremony by a medicine man (Max,L., 2019).
Could this be linked to spiritual or is it all mentally? Furthermore, how is this proven through
scientific fact? Although, from the perspective of a Native American being, some key aspects
about the function of our body is sacred and celebrated when changes happens or a new
development occurs, such as a baby’s first laugh and Kinaalda (Puberty). The condition of one’s
body in some culture is also based on the actions and with a positive mindset of the person. In
the Dine way of life, a human body begins in the mother’s womb. A prayer is said for the body
by recognizing and blessing all the body parts and the journey of the baby as she goes through
Si’a naagai bee ke hozhóón (Navajo term meaning to journey through life with beauty and
positivity from birth through old age). In the western civilization, there is no celebration about a
human body. People learn of their body simply by being aware and knowledgeable of their body
functions from birth to death. In a more scientific perspective, a body is like a machine with its
own interdependency. In learning about the body, one has to understand the biology, the
chemistry and the physics of a human body. How biology, chemistry and physics intertwined and
are interdependent of each other in order to function. It is astounding how a human body is like a
machine and the brain is the central location of movements or compared to a CPU of a computer.
As one goes through life, one has to learn of their own body and should begin at an early age.
Therefore, this unit focuses on the physics of a human body. How one learns of physics through
one’s body by one’s personal actions, reactions and movements verses reflexes. This unit
addresses the western civilization perspective and the cultural perspective of the Dine Nation on
the physics of human body. In addition, to learn the importance of the body’s functions and
understand where the main control is located and how it is connected with one’s own choice and
decisions.