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saclampitt.bsky.social
@saclampitt.bsky.social
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saclampitt.bsky.social
I live this. Thank you for sharing.
December 22, 2024 at 10:58 AM
Reposted
dailylang.bsky.social
And I'd wish everyone the chance to read these words.

I should be so grateful.

ᏑᎾᎴᎢ
(4/4)
A photo of a page of a book: "Chapter One TOHI ( ᏙᎯ )" "Connection is health. And what our society does its best to disguise from us is how ordinary, how commonly attainable, health is." "—Wendell Berry" "Tohi (pronounced tow hee) is the Kituwah word for health. This word’s popular use was revived after a meeting of elders and clinicians in Cherokee several years ago. Thomas N. Belt was asked to help translate for the Cherokee-­ language speakers there, most of whom were elders, and he explained for the majority of attendees who were not Cherokee speakers what tohi meant. Immediately thereafter, the health and medical community there began to use the term often, and it has become fairly commonly used as a substitute for the English word “health.” Revitalizing Cherokee language is always a step in the right direction, including this example, but, unfortunately, substituting a Cherokee word for an English word isn’t sufficient for fully realizing the importance of the language. In Tom’s words, language is medicine. It is health. Tom elaborates: There is a disconnect between providers and people who need help. Health becomes dispensary. In other words, come to me and I’ll give you something. This thing is what you need, not me but this thing. The help is dispensing what you need. That becomes a business. In our way, the way to illustrate healing is, you need a house, right? I have tools, I have some things that you can use to build that house with and you don’t have that right now. So, I’m just not going to give you those tools, that material. You and I are going to build this house. We’re going to be in it together. I’m going to do just as much work as you are. And in doing that you and I become connected, we depend on each other, we understand the importance of what" "we’re doing, the things we have, and in the end then we complete this structure, and you can live in it and you’ll be safe. But we did this together. Without that, if I just tossed the stuff out there, you may never get it done without anybody helping. You won’t be safe. If there’s no one there to help you, you won’t achieve that healing and things won’t ever get better unless I’m involved in it. It makes the effort stronger, more effective . . . all those things that are attributed to doing something right, to being successful. It’s putting things in the right order. When you say you need my help, when you come to me for help, or when you go to one of those people for help, they will join you in that effort. They won’t take on that thing without you. That house isn’t for me, it’s for you, but I’ll do everything I can to help. We’ll get it done. It’s the best way to do it. Wouldn’t you consider that the most scientific, or logical, way to do it? Rather than being just a dispensary source, you become an engaged participant in the healing process. That is the way we looked at the health aspect of people, we all had to help. We’ve talked about how sometimes healers had to bring in other healers to help. They understood the importance of communal work. They didn’t overlook the fact that the more hands helping was better than trying to do something yourself. Unfortunately, there are some who do for self-­ aggrandizement or for people to take pity, or for ego, and it serves no purpose. We have to understand that it takes everybody. To try to do something yourself is not duyuk’dv’i ( ᏚᏳᎪᏛᎢ , the right or correct path)."
November 28, 2024 at 7:17 AM