NAVAJOLAND / GRAND CANYON: House of Dawn- Navajo Wellness (Expedition #77)

Learn how land, song, and story impact Navajo perspectives of health. Glimpse into the relations between ceremony and wellness. Walk in sacred places with a Navajo guide. And hike in the Grand Canyon.

This program is specifically offered to Xavier’s College of Nursing students and to non-Xavier nursing students. If you want to learn a different perspective on human wellness within an incredibly majestic, ancient setting, then this expedition is right for you! We emphasize naturopathic perspectives on wellness from a Navajo context, which is quite different than how we may be formally taught about wellness.

During this experience we will learn the connection between landscape, story, ceremony and human health. And what better way to learn this than from Dine’ (The People, the Navajo)? While we respectfully will not learn detailed medicinal practices, as these practices have long been safeguarded by the Navajo people for essential reasons, we will be introduced to alternative perspectives to medicine which can impact our own clinical approach. And we will do this on the incredibly spirit-filled Navajo landscape—from Monument Valley to Canyon de Chelly—and we will listen and learn from those who live here, whose identities are here, whose stories are here. Naturally, we will include stops along the Southwest for hikes down into the Grand Canyon and we will have Navajo guides lead us on hikes into sacred lands. At the end of this expedition, our perspectives on human wellness will broaden. This expedition offers 3 CORE Credits (THEO 332) and 1 Course for Healthcare/Nursing Majors (NURS 444). Limit 14. Registration Deadline: October 1, 2025.