Aboriginal Australian Health and Healing Practices

A Holistic View of Health

Spiritual health refers to health in terms of spirituality or spiritual practices. Many Aboriginal Australian cultures have strong spiritual connections to things like the land, ancestors or ancestral spirits, animals, and more. Spirituality can play a huge role in their cultures, so health can be viewed through a spiritual lens as well. A person’s spirit is called kurrun in the desert region, but may have different names in languages of other regions. Kurrun can be a diagnosing tool for a healer, and it can allow them to see and remove an illness or ailment from inside the person (McCoy 2008: 233).

Environmental health is a major consideration in many Aboriginal cultures. There is a strong relationship with the land, also referred to as Country, and this ties into spiritual beliefs as well. A relationship exists between the land and humans that reflects reciprocal need, wherein the people care for the land as the land cares for them (Tellarini 2020: 37). Because of this, a relationship with Country is an important element in health and in continuity of the land, as maintaining a clean and healthy environment will appease the spirits of the land.

It is important to acknowledge that not every Aboriginal group will have the same healing practices and ideas surrounding health. It appears that some similar ideas are shared between many groups, like relationships with Country, respect of elders, family or group connections, and spirituality. If a specific group is being referenced, they will be mentioned by name, but if there is not a name mentioned the ideas or practices may be more widespread but still not indicative of every Aboriginal person’s view.

Causes of Illness

Causes of illness can be separated into three main categories that include: natural, human, or supernatural causes (Clarke 2008: 4). Supernatural causes include sorcery or spiritual intrusions, losing one’s soul, or issues with social behaviors and rules surrounding them (Clarke 2008: 4).

Some causes of spiritual illness include: soul loss, spirit intrusion or possession, and “singing”. These correspond to loss of a vital substance, addition of a harmful substance, or certain taboo/sorcery violations, respectively (McGrath and Phillips 2008: 166).

These causes can be compared with a Western view that is more biomedical. In the West, something like a headache may be explained by stress or ailments relating to disease like a tumor, whereas an Aboriginal Australian with traditional beliefs may have a different explanation like a spirit entered the head and is causing the pain (Clarke 2008: 5). The differences in the understanding of illness causes may have caused some tension during the colonization of Australia as well, because Aboriginal peoples’ way of diagnosing and dealing with illnesses was so different from that of the colonizers.

Common Practices

There are more ritualistic practices as well, such as healing touch that can only be performed by designated healers, who are typically men. This can help cure physical and mental issues, as well as behavioral or social problems (Ventegodt 2018: 304). In order to perform the rituals, the healer needs to go into a trance-like state which allows them to see energies and treat the patient by manipulating their energy. For example, if the energy is blocked or dark, he can undo the issue and remove the blockage or bad energy (Ventegodt 2018: 304). Besides the healing touch, sometimes special songs can also have healing powers, and are a traditional remedy to certain issues (McCoy 2008: 232).

Healers

Maparn are a type of healer to some Aboriginal groups. They use traditionalist methods to diagnose and heal, and may visit families or the clinic if their service is needed (McCoy 2008: 227). Their abilities include: removing sickness and providing healing using their hands and their inner spirit, and healing in the context of the land as well (McCoy 2008: 233). As previously mentioned, the land or Country is a very important aspect of spirituality and health, and Maparn can help connect with that. They can also channel spirits from the land, especially from sacred places, and they can see spirits that others cannot (McCoy 2008: 234). Another major way Maparn can help with healing is to alleviate fears. As protectors of health, they can offer comfort to people who are sick (McCoy 2008: 234). In the present day, people may visit both Marpan and a clinic if they are ill, and believe that seeing both will help conditions improve (McCoy 2008: 231).

In many Aboriginal cultures, Elders play a big role in health related practices as well. Some research was done on elders in a community in rural Tasmania, and a lot was found relating to Elders and their roles. Three main themes that Elders help with include: mentoring younger people, cultural healing, and balancing community and delivery of health-related programs (Cox et al. 2021: 914-915). In terms of cultural advising, Elders are able to strengthen cultural identity by passing on their wisdom and knowledge of culture to younger members of the community. Connectedness of the community is important as well, and this relates back to social health, while cultural practices relate back to aspects of environmental or spiritual health too. The mentoring done by Elders can also help with mental health, as the Elders may act similar to a therapist and can be a non-judgemental and wise person for others to talk to when they’re having a bad day (Cox et al. 2021: 915).

The medicine man is a traditional healer who identifies spiritual causes of illness (McGrath and Phillips 2008: 161). Illness could be caused by things like breaking traditional law, black magic, or other spiritual causes, so the medicine man can see inside a person to determine the issue. He would then carry out some traditional healing processes that may differ depending on the health issues found (McGrath and Phillips 2008: 161-162). To carry out healing, they may enter into a state of altered consciousness and may channel and communicate with spirits, which is not always done to prevent death but could be to protect one’s soul (McCoy 2008: 228, 229).

Death as a Part of Life

Cultural views on death also translate to healthcare related to end of life practices. When discussing end of life practices, they mainly relate to terminally ill people or death due to old age.

Discussing death, there is an emphasis on spirituality and beliefs surrounding the spiritual dimension (McGrath and Phillips 2008: 157). The importance of spiritual health is always prevalent, especially in situations where the person is in poor physical health, or their physical health is declining. Also, ties to Country are common, as it is believed by some that the spirit is returned to the land following death (McGrath and Phillips 2008: 158). Environmental health ties into spiritual health here, because the connection to Country means connection to spirits of those who passed, and there is a need to take care of the land and to appease spirits in this way. Also related to Country, when a person is dying it is important that they have a choice in their place of death. Many want to return to their death country so that their spirit is able to pass along smoothly (McGrath and Phillips 2008: 166). These perspectives on end of life care come from groups that reside in the Northern Territory, but are likely similar to perspectives of other cultures as well.

Many Aboriginal cultures have connections to animal spirits, and each person has a relation to their specific animal spirit (McGrath and Phillips 2008: 160). If someone is close to dying, it is believed that their animal spirit will send them some sort of sign (McGrath and Phillips 2008: 160). This is not necessarily scary, however; it may even be calming or reassuring for some.

Songspirals are a complex link between spirituality, Country, family, ritual, and many other aspects of life that many Aboriginal cultures share. These songs have many uses, and one use may be to aid in the transition between life and death. When someone dies or is near death, there are songs that go along with these points in life (Burarrwana et al. 2019: xxiv). Typically, these songs describe a journey, and they may be sung as though the journey is being experienced by many viewpoints with the final destination suggesting a sense of calmness (Burarrwana et al. 2019: 4). These songspirals help the dying person explain what is happening and what they are feeling, and it also may reassure others that although they are nearing the end of life, it is simply the end of a journey (Burarrwana et al. 2019: 6).

Learn More

1. To see an example of spirit doctor treatment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5rpFGW_W2E

2. For some more current issues and health related statistics: https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/indigenous-health

3. Aboriginal elders explain the importance of community and their role: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqyUQJX45uY

4. More current information on traditional methods: https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/04/spiritual-healers-in-australia/477072/

References

Burarrwana, Laklak, Ritjilili Ganambarr, Merrkiyawuy Ganambarr-Stubbs, Banbapuy Ganambarr, Djawundil Maymuru, Sarah Wright, Sandie Suchet-Pearson, and Kate Lloyd. 2019. Pp. xv-27. Songspirals.

Clarke, Philip. 2008. Aboriginal healing practices and Australian bush medicine. Journal of the Anthropological Society of South Australia, 33(1), 3-38.

Cox, Terrance, Ha Hoang, Jonathan Mond, and Merylin Cross. 2021. “It all comes back to community!”: A qualitative study of Aboriginal Elders promoting cultural well‐being. The Australian Journal of Rural Health., 29(6), 909–917.

Cox, Terrance, Jonathon Mond, and Ha Hoang. 2022. “We’re also healers”: Elders leading the way in Aboriginal community healing. Australian Journal of Primary Health, 28(4), 283–288. https://doi-org.ezproxy.bradley.edu/10.1071/PY21289

McCoy, Brian. 2008. “Outside the Ward and Clinic: Healing the Aboriginal Body.” Journal of Contemporary Ethnography. 37(2), 226-245.

McGrath, Pam, and Emma Phillips. 2008. Aboriginal Spiritual Perspectives: Research Findings Relevant to End-Of-Life Care. Illness, Crisis & Loss, 16(2), 153–171. https://doi-org.ezproxy.bradley.edu/10.2190/IL.16.2.e

Tellarini, Chiara. 2020. Healing and the Land: Cultural Perspectives on Health and Environment. The Case of Aboriginal Australia. Antrocom: Online Journal of Anthropology, 16(2), 27–42.

Ventegodt, Soren. 2018. The thousand-year-old rainforest shamanistic tradition of healing touch. Journal of Alternative Medicine Research, 10(2), 303–306.