The Scalpel and the Silver Bear: The First Navajo Woman Surgeon Combines Western Medicine and Traditional Healing

Lori Arviso Alvord is an American surgeon and author. She grew up in a small and rural town called Crownpoint, New Mexico, which is located on a Navajo reservation, to a white mother and Navajo father. She is a member of the Tsi’naajinii' (Black-Streaked Wood) clan and of the Ashįįhi Dineé (Salt People) clan. After studying medicine at Stanford University, Lori returned to her Navajo reservation where she learned that the technical and clinical skills she had acquired at Stanford were not enough to fully heal a patient. To become a better healer, Lori looked to the healers of her tribe. From them, she learned a valuable lesson: Everything is connected, and these relationships must all be in harmony in order to be healthy. Lori has since worked to bridge the two worlds of medicine—traditional Navajo healing practices and conventional Western medicine—to provide culturally competent care that treats the whole person.

Lori has received a number of awards, including the Governor’s Award for Outstanding New Mexico Women, the American Medical Writers Association’s Will Solimene Award of Excellence, the Veteran Affairs Federal Appreciation Award, and the Association of American Indian Physicians J.E. Wallace Sterling Lifetime Achievement Award in Medicine. She also received nomination to be the Surgeon General of the US and has served as associate dean for several major medical universities across the US. Her autobiography, The Scalpel and the Silver Bear, has sold over 50,000 copies and brought increased attention to her unique perspective of bringing together Navajo healing techniques and modern Western medicine.