Sounds of Tohi

Lefler and Belt offer timely and much-needed insights into health and healing that center Indigenous knowledge and language, the importance of community, and the sacredness of the land and all life. It is a valuable contribution that will no doubt inform scholars and practitioners in the areas of mental health, environmental ethics, and, of course, Cherokee studies.’
—Clint Carroll, author of Roots of Our Renewal: Ethnobotany and Cherokee Environmental Governance
 
‘The authors creatively capture the essence of deep dialogue, language, continuity, and resonance of many people as they explore Cherokee and Appalachian relationships to the land as a basis of good health and healing. Through the lens of tohi, a traditional view of Cherokee health and well-being, they explore Indigenous epistemology, cosmography, counseling, traditional knowledge, decolonization, and the essential role of women in Cherokee and Indigenous society. They espouse a return to a life-, community-, and place-centered view of health based on our relationship to land and the wisdom of our collective ancestors, the creative reimagining of ourselves, and deep attention to the voices of our children. I am aware of only a handful of other books that explore this multifaceted question in such a creative way.’
—Gregory A. Cajete, author of Indigenous Community: Rekindling the Teachings of the Seventh Fire
 
‘Lisa Lefler and Tom Belt provide a warm and engaging exploration of the factors that contribute to the health and well-being of Cherokee people living in Southern Appalachia. This book is well suited for anyone interested in working in this community or who wants to expand their understanding of the issues that influence a Native community’s approach and conceptualization of health and wellness.’
—Ronny A. Bell, coeditor of Public Health Nutrition: Rural, Urban, and Global Community-Based Practice
 

Prior to European colonization, Indigenous populations of native North America experienced many health challenges, but settler colonialism radically altered health statuses, disrupting lifeways, medical beliefs, and practices. As a result, current Native American health disparities are rooted in colonialism. However, traditional Indigenous medical systems addressing health and well-being were rooted in relationships to the land. Sounds of Tohi considers Cherokee concepts of health (tohi) and well-being to offer a spiritually centered science grounded in Indigenous language, culture, and ceremony that can provide people with the essential tools to attain holistic tohi. Achieving tohi requires confronting the legacies of colonialism by elevating and restoring Cherokee cultural views and traditions through community involvement, recentering matrilineality to recover women's important roles and underscore the importance of traditional knowledge and connectedness to the landscape for the construction and maintenance of a healthy self-concept. An Indigenous approach to health and mental health offers mechanisms that promote health and build resiliency and successful life pathways for individuals and communities. This volume closes with a plea for decolonizing Western science and for ‘indigenizing’ readers’ minds to alter how they live in and perceive the world. Recommended.’
—CHOICE