Dismantling Racial Injustice IS Imagining an Indigenous Holistic Well-Being Framework for the Next Seven Generations

Abstract

In this paper, we present the Indigenous Corn Pollen Model as a holistic framework rooted in 13-years of research (Secatero, 2009) highlighting the epistemology of Navajo elders relating to spiritual, mental, physical, and social well-being. The sacred symbol of corn in Navajo cultural lifeways is inspiration for this holistic framework to promote success and well-being for Indigenous communities. We introduce the four quadrants and sixteen attributes of the Corn Pollen Model (Secatero, 2009, 2018, 2022), while also discussing how the model has been implemented to construct educational possibilities for indigenous and minoritized communities, in the spirit of decoloniality.