ABSTRACT
Most psychological research of American Indian/Alaskan Native racial/ethnic groups from which treatment methods are developed has been undertaken from the perspective of the majority population. This article offers a different approach, in which the author, a Native speaker of the Lakota language, presents a qualitative study examining how Lakota healers conceptualize wellbeing from their traditional perspectives. The aim of the study is to suggest the possibility of new frameworks for approaching the treatment of depression and suicide prevention in American Indian/Alaskan Native populations by evaluating mental health from a traditionalist perspective.
