Things we can learn from the Australian Aboriginals...

I attended a cross-cultural workshop this past Monday where we learned about the Aboriginal culture and about the Australian policies that drove them to the state they are currently in. We were taught some parts of their culture and their beliefs. It is the belief in Dreamtime (which is the era before the Earth was created) that is the central, unifying theme in the Aboriginal culture.

We were also informed why land was so sacred and important to the Aboriginals. Land is very sacred to them because it is the core of their spirituality and is the essence of their culture. Since they didn't have maps, they used song lines passed down from generation to generation to depict a tribe's landscape, carrying pertinent information needed for survival in Australia's harsh terrain. Thus, when the British came and took over their land, they essentially washed out their entire culture, leading to the social ills seen today. This relationship between their land and their culture has been misunderstood for the past 200 years and is key to understanding the important issues surrounding Indigenous people today.

We were also shown excerpts from the DVD "The First Australians", which I thought had a great narrative (and cool music). They depicted the colonisation of Australia and the killing of the Aboriginals by poisoning their water and such. In fact, Aboriginals were at some point seen as being less valuable than farm animals...

What was really eye-opening for me was the fact that the Aboriginals had been around for 60 000 years (in fact, the indigenous cultures of Australia are the oldest living cultural history in the world). European settlers had only been in Australia for about 200-300 years. The video raised a point that we must learn to appreciate these natives, and not trying to understand or learn about their way of life would be a very stupid thing since they've been around much longer than we have. What I believe could be learned from Australian Aboriginals are:

- let nature time to regrow (these natives were hunter gatherers who moved around to ensure that resources were not depleted)

- family is very important (these natives had a kinship system, where their nephews and nieces were also considered their children which I thought was pretty cool)

Also, did you know that it was only between 1967-1972 that white Australians went to the polls to cast ballots for Aboriginals to gain citizenship. So the natives were the original landowners, and 200 years later, they are then recognized as citizens of the country that they owned in the first place? How ridiculous is that?!? A quote from the presentation that struck me was that "the enemy is the inability of the system to cope with people who are inherently different". It has come to my attention that so many conflicts in life has been due to this simple concept- of not being able to understand others who are different.

I am really glad to have gained a new respect for Aboriginals and their way of life. I think it is very important as future physicians to be able to understand and respect another culture, and at least try to see things from their point of view. This way, the advice that you give your future patients is something that they can follow, something that does not clash with their personal beliefs/ culture.

That's my take on it anyways.