Using the Medicine Wheel to Transform Indigenous Peoples' Health: Michael Yellow Bird

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The Medicine Wheel is a symbol used to represent wholeness, balance, and the natural cycles of life. The Medicine Wheel consists of a circle with four quadrants: spiritual, mental, physical, and emotional. This talk shares how the health of Indigenous Peoples might be transformed by organizing the Medicine Wheel to address the needs of Indigenous Peoples’ microbiome; understanding the genes they may inherit and how to positively influence their expression; and how to engage in “self-directed neuroplasticity” using mindfulness and traditional Indigenous contemplative practices.

Dr. Michael Yellow Bird is a Professor of Sociology and the Director of Indigenous Tribal Studies at North Dakota State University. He is a citizen of the Three Affiliated Tribes, (Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara) and joined North Dakota State University as faculty in the fall of 2014. He has held faculty appointments in the Schools of Social Work at the University of British Columbia, University of Kansas, Arizona State University, and Humboldt State University. His teaching, writing, research, professional presentations, and community work focus on Indigenous Peoples’ health; the effects of colonization and methods of decolonization; neurodecolonization and mindfulness approaches; the connections between neuroscience, microbiome science, genetic science and Indigenous Peoples’ wellness; and ancestral lifestyles.