REPORT ON THE FOURTH WORLD HEALING GATHERING
2002. September 2nd - 6th 2002, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.

This Conference was a cultural celebration inviting the world to share the healing experiences of Indigenous people in their movement towards self-determination.

The National Indian Health Board hosted for the year 2002 gathering of the Worldwide Healing Our Spirit Conference. The conference was organized by an executive committee and a planning committee, made up of members of many other countries. Our Aboriginal member on a national level was Mr Scott Wilson from Adelaide. Also included in this group were members of other collaborating organizations.

           I would firstly like to thank and acknowledge relevant people especially the Brown Sisters from Coogee whose support enabled me to attend this significant conference.

           I felt very honoured to be a part of this important gathering of Indigenous people from around the world, celebrating the growth and strengthening of our healing. The Healing our Spirit Worldwide movement began as one person's vision to create an international forum and a movement, which focused especially on the alcohol and drug abuse issues.

           At this conference the agenda and events had been planned to provide many opportunities to share stories and attend programmed workshops. This event was named Healing Our Spirit Worldwide. The first of these gatherings was held in Edmonton, Alberta, (Canada, 1992). This conference attracted 3,300 people from 17 countries of the world, and it was at that Conference that the special celebration of cultures and stories began. The second gathering of this type, was held in Sydney, Australia in 1994. The third gathering was held in Rotorua, Aotearoa, (New Zealand), 1998.

           These Healing Our Spirit Worldwide events have been cultural celebrations of Indigenous people from around the world, and a sharing of experiences in their struggle against alcohol and drug abuse. The fourth gathering of the Healing Our Spirit Worldwide has expanded this vision by looking at many areas of health and other issues relating to abuse, which affect the body.

           The National Indigenous Health Board believe their vision is to elevate American Indian and Alaskan Native Health Care to a path of continuing improvement, resulting in healthy communities, and to educate Congress, the Federal Government and private agencies on the priorities of their Tribal Governments on health care issues.

           The National Indigenous Health Board represents Tribal Governments some of whom operate their own health care delivery systems through contracting, a others of whom receive health care directly from the Indian Health Board. This board is a non-profit organisation. It conducts research, policy, programs and development.

General Information about the Conference

It began with Registration, and that was followed by a Welcoming Ceremony which included the Passing On of the torch.

The Agenda of the Conference consisted of an exhibition show, theatre nights, conference workshops, an elders program, a youth program, cultural entertainment

A Note on the Passing of the torch: this fire was symbolic of the spirit of the last Healing Our Spirit Worldwide Conference hosted by the Maori People of New Zealand. This ceremony was the handing over of the fire, by the Maoris, to the 2002 conference hosts. It was a symbolic act by various Taonga. This spiritual handover was delivered by New Zealand elder Pihopa King, (a Kaumatua Maori elder.)

           There were an enormous number of workshops regarding alcohol drug abuse, cultural issues, spiritual health and healing etc. I was mainly interested in the areas of spiritual healing and health. There was one particular workshop regarding the recovery and rediscovery of Indigenous Healing Principals and their practical application in playing a major role in the holistic healing of Indigenous people. It also covered the understanding of the spiritual teachings, the sacred legends, the symbols, carvings and music, and provided valuable insights for healing.

           In my opinion, the workshops were open and good, but I felt that my own hope for something for me personally that would help promote my growth in spiritual healing was seriously lacking. Maybe, the time frames for particular workshops were too short, and of course some were cancelled. I as an Aboriginal woman, believe there is a difference between general religious spirituality and Aboriginal spirituality. Aboriginal spirituality speaks the truth, while at times general religious spirituality can be judgmental and can condemn; on the other hand it can at times handle crisis; but I believe my Aboriginal spirituality can handle peace; it brings peace.

           The healing presented in another Spirit of Healing workshop tried to explain the uses and types of humour used for healing; and methods included group discussions and group interaction to create laughter. Participants were to find humour in themselves and explore ways of using their own unique sense of humour, to the benefit of themselves and those with whom they interact. I felt that this workshop could have been more beneficial in a different environment at a different time. It is a bit hard to be humurous in the midst of rushing from one workshop to another, and with all the difficulty of finding the workshop rooms; because directions were not clear this stress had taken its toll on me. On my arrival to this particular workshop, I was not in the mood to burst into laughter, ( I felt like bursting into tears!!), and as I felt 1 needed healing, so I found someone to talk to, to take me to a peaceful place in my mind.

           I am a firm believer in humour (laughter) as the best medicine for healing, and to tell you the truth I do see a wonderful opportunity to use humour for healing, but for Aboriginal people it must be done in a the Koori way, by yarning and laughter.

           I believe that one of the benefits for me from the Spirit of Healing Conference confirmed my belief that healing needs to be addressed from a holistic point of view. The 'white fella' way as such, is not suitable in meeting Aboriginal needs. Most Aboriginal Departments do not address healing in such a way as to meet the needs of our communities; whilst Health Departments address physical medical conditions and mental health issues, they also do not use alternative or traditional ways of healing for our people.

           When dealing with healing, we need to allow the everyday person to speak out and be heard, this allows us to collectively assess our real needs, our inner pain and our hopelessness in a workable way, by sharing our pain and our experiences, in reclaiming our stories, or in just listening. It allows us to deal with stress, how it affects our body, spirit, mind and soul and our relationships with each other. I would say, we do not listen enough to grass roots community people, many of our leaders are most times too involved in listening to themselves.

           Many of the stories presented by the speakers at the Healing Conference were full of pain, and were well presented. Whilst I appreciated these stories of drug and alcohol users, and of victims of child abuse, I did notice that some of the speakers were able to reclaim their life stories through publication. I feel very sad for the people from our communities here in Australia, who have been users, and who have been abused, as most cases are not dealt with, unless the people have access to adequate and proper resources, and family support to deal with these issues. I believe these issues can only he dealt with through healing, but healing appropriate to Aboriginal people and their needs.

The Healing Journey of Sobriety

           Alcohol related issues I believe are very difficult. What I heard at the Conference did in fact shed a different light on some of the issues that I thought was extremely positive. For example the local American Indians who live on reservations within the area of New Mexico own the local casinos. From my observation I believe there were 18 (could have been less), and the monies from these casinos goes back into the community reservations, while 25% of funds are given to the Government. It was also stated that communities which may be dry (no alcohol) sometimes have a gambling problem. It's a very catch 22 situation. We have these same situations here in our communities even throughout Australia. Give up the drink. and what is the alternative? Betting on the racehorses, TAB, poker machines etc.

           If that all fails we reach for the bible (God squads). When we feel everything is not going our way, as good Christians, therefore it must be all God's fault. Where to from here? back to the drink! My answer again to all these issues is that it is OK to be yourself, keep your sense of humour, have a social life and an understanding of your spirituality and religion. But, it is important to be in tune with your whole being, it's about looking and making choices for yourself as an individual. To enable this to happen, we need to create healing places, and they need to be funded and supported by Government bodies and Departments. There needs to he a new direction by Aboriginal Health Departments, and the Aboriginal and Torris Trait Islander Commission in regards to healing programs, run by Aboriginal people.

           It must be noted that alcoholism, abuse and all other issues relating to one's sick spirit, cannot be dealt with and healing cannot take place if each problem is programmed into separate little boxes for treatment, i.e.. Drug and alcohol is dealt with at one centre, child abuse at another, mental illness in a hospital and so on. This does not work for our communities. There are not enough even enough resources to meet just one of the needs.

SELF DETERMINATION Workshops

On New Leadership and the politics of Maroi Self-determination and Culture

           Their broad understanding of advancing Indigenous economic viability is fundamentally linked to efforts to reduce reliance on state dependant funding, their direction appears to look at increasing positive inter-dependant relationships between people, empowering Indigenous people, improving people lifestyles and removing poverty. Also their role of leadership is protected, and the ability of Indigenous leaders to exercise power of judgement is preserved in order to achieve a balanced outcome for their community.

Tribal self-determination and self-government in the United States: a Legal Overview and Tribal Leaders vision

           Since 1975 when President Nixon announced the Indian Self-determination policy, tribes in the United States have taken on more responsibilities in handling funds from the Federal Government, associated with providing health care to Indian people. This session did provide basic history behind the self-determination policy prior to 1975. Ale development and implementation of the self-government initiative beginning in 1988, leading to self-determination and the self-government policy which is successfully initiated today.

Aboriginal Self-determination

           Aboriginal Self-determination is one of Aboriginal people making their own decisions, and being respected for decision making. I believe there was not enough information or presentation in regards to Aboriginal Self-determination at this conference. Self-determination in terms of Land Rights, etc.

Health Issues

           Diabetes was a major theme of the conference. It was noted that diabetes is a grave concern among American Indians. The American Indians provided and did promote a diabetes prevention among their northern plains Indians, and they trained community members to become educators and support workers. On community awareness regarding diabetes, it was interesting to note the similarities between the Indian Community and Aboriginal Communities. I would say a persons life experiences directly affects their emotional reaction to diabetes. The affects of depression and stress for instance, and denial of having this disease, diabetes. Having been diagnosed with this illness, I believe this is where I am at the moment, in denial. I know that this discovery has been very traumatic for me; and it is very difficult to change my lifestyle at this time in my life, to change of eating habits(diet), social life, smoking. With this in mind I understand other addictions. It is extremely hard road without support systems in place.

Women's Issues

           My main excitement in wanting to attend this conference was healing for our women, and challenges facing most women who want to achieve. This workshop which did address challenges facing traditional Aboriginal women to remote Aboriginal communities in the Northern and far Western South Australia, accessing women's health care services. This workshop was on the importance of understanding of how to access health services, and treated of issues making an improvement to Aboriginal Health.

           Again, my understanding is this; yes we respect mainstream medicine and health care, but we also remain aware of alternative ways of healing one's body (the importance of paying attention to inner pain and how to deal with it, stress and how it affects our body), the role of white fella medicine. Tablets to relieve pain, in my opinion are not always the answer.

           Do not think that I am at all not respecting mainstream health care, I do respect it, but again I strongly believe we need to heal our bodies and this can be done in an Aboriginal way. My disappointment with this Conference was that there was no discussion of the healing process, and no opportunity to hear of traditional healing practices. Maybe the conference was programmed to look at the big picture, to focus on a holistic point of view. My mind kept going back to Picton, Aboriginal Women's Healing Program, what is happening there, in regards to healing, and the choices women make for themselves at the Healing House.

Note 1:

This healing gathering September 2nd - 6th 2002, New Mexico, USA, provided a wonderful place to present this conference, whilst the agenda and the workshops were in place, one needs to understand that there were 130 workshops available to the participants, over a short time, and with the time frame it was very difficult to attend and comprehend what each workshop was offering, and at times the workshops which I thought would suit my need were not available to me, due to the unavailability of the facilitator.

Note 2.

In this space of time also included was morning meetings in the main hall, reflecting and listening to presenters. Cultural dancing, etc. I guess what I am saying is, too many workshops and very little time!

Youth Programs I believe were well represented, and a lot was achieved in these workshops. Elders Programs: These were presented by the National Indian Council on Ageing Conference. This was the focus of their agenda.

Note 3: The opening ceremony

The opening ceremony for me was spontaneous and very emotional. I was sitting in the front of the main hall with my sister Brenda McDonnell, of the ACM, Sydney. She also became so emotional and experienced such a great outburst of feeling proud of her Aboriginal identity, that she longed to participate in the opening ceremony. So she then left her seat, and found a Koori friend, and together they joined in and became part of this very large opening ceremony. I was involved in videoing the whole ceremony, which was culturally based with participants dressed to perfection in their cultural ceremonial clothing. When Brenda and her friend came into sight, wrapped in their koori flag (red, black and yellow), I could not control my own emotions. I felt so proud as an Aboriginal black woman. It was a ceremony that will stay with me forever.

Highlights for Barbra

           It was always my dream to visit an Indian reservation, and that I did. Brenda and I, with other friends, were invited onto their reserve. It was their day of feast and what a feast it was. We ate their tucker which was very different, but very well presented and tasted quite nice. The reservation was covered with market like stalls, selling all sorts of wonderful Indian clothing, gifts, pottery, paintings, jewellery, etc.. I was very impressed with the Catholic church, the history and respect for the Catholic religion was very noticeable.

           The highlight was the dancing of the drums. This dance was performed by the traditional Indian men. The powerful sound of the drums was so moving! I enjoyed the whole day immensely. Just for the record, I was warned to be careful of the rattlesnakes, that they lay around the reservations waiting especially for Aboriginal people from Australia to visit.

           The next day, was also exciting. We visited Santa Fey. The culture of the people and the architecture of the town itself again was very unusual and impressive. Again the Churches made the town look and feel very unique. Food in New Mexico was hot, hot, hot! It took me three days to find someone to fry an egg.

           In conclusion I would like to thank all the people, especially Our Lady's Nurses of the Poor, and Fr Adrian Meaney of the MSC Mission Office, Chevalier College, the Sisters of St Joseph and all of others for their financial support in assisting me to attend this significant world Conference.

I do believe I would not have attended this conference without the emotional support of my sister Brenda McDonnell, as travelling out of Australia was not ever on my agenda. She provided me with courage and guidance throughout our journey together. Both of us being from the stolen generation, and being on the other side of the world (two little black fellas from Burra Bee Dee, Coonabarabran)! what an achievement! It was a great journey, and we made some wonderful friends.

This report was written by Barbra Asplet (Co-ordinator, facilitator) of the Aboriginal Women's Healing House, Picton.

Outline of the Healing House at Picton

           The Healing House is a place for relaxation and meditation, massage, spirituality, arts and crafts, and painting. It is a place for women to come together, to share, to create and be renewed. As the co-ordinator and facilitator I do provide programs to suit the needs of each group who attend.

           Women who have participated in the programs and have enjoyed the tranquility of the Healing House, come from places such as the Western Suburbs of Sydney, and also from La Perouse, Campbelltown, Liverpool and the South Coast areas, and Wilcannia, Tamworth, Coonabarabran and Naromine and Nambucca Heads. Groups include Mudgingal, Aboriginal Corporation at Redfern, La Perouse community health, the Hub, Liverpool Hospital, Aboriginal Home Care Services of NSW, and Elders from all geographical areas. Young street kids from inner city areas come to the Healing House as well, their programs supported by the South Sydney Council.

           Since working at the Healing House I have had to plan different strategies regarding marketing, as I became aware that providing services to Aboriginal people alone did not meet the financial needs of the Healing House. To meet this need, we have provided conference facilities to various Government Departments and other organizations. To date we have had Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal school children for story telling and Aboriginal history.

           The Healing House is located on the Razorback Ranges. It is surrounded by beautiful trees with an amazing variety of bird life. The tranquility of the house and gardens allows people to get in touch with mother nature.

           What we are trying to achieve for Aboriginal women is very unique, and I believe has not been addressed by other healing places. Our gatherings allow the everyday person to speak out and be heard, allowing us to collectively assess our real needs, inner pain and our helplessness in a workable way. The Healing House gives us the appropriate environment with our sisters. It is a place where we can share our pain, experiences, reclaim our stories, yarn, address stress and how it affects our body, spirit, mind and relationships. And most importantly, our spirituality is very much a part of our healing, getting in touch with oneself and mother earth.

  Top