Healing Our Spirit Worldwide Conference

2nd -6th September 2002Albuquerque New Mexico

Brenda McDonnell

The focus of the conference was on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse - looking at ways to address the healing of Indigenous people Worldwide, taking a holistic traditional healing approach to the issues of alcohol and substance abuse, health care and leadership in the communities.

It was a cultural celebration, a gathering of Indigenous people from around the world celebrating the growth, strengthening and healing of our families, our tribes, our communities, our nations and ourselves. It was a sharing of the healing experiences of Indigenous people in the movement towards self-determination in taking control of our own well being, spiritually, physically and emotionally.

Every morning we would gather together to pray and listen to various Indian community leaders talking about their communities and their journey of healing. After that we would take a break and then choose a particular workshop to attend, over the week there were several workshops on different topics. I learnt so much and I was very impressed with the Indian people who seemed to be leaps and bounds ahead of us in every aspect. They owned their land, they had their own health services, that had a sound economic base, each Pueblo (reservation) owned a casino, all the staff were Indian, all the profits went back into their communities. There was no alcohol, just coke and water. They have control over their lives and structures in place to overseer the management of the community - Tribal Councils whose member are elected from their community, Tribal Governments and their own National Indian Health Board governed by a board of directors consisting of representatives from twelve Indian Health Services. Each Area Health Board elects a representative and an alternate to sit at the National level.

Their Vision
To elevate American Indian and Alaska Native health care
to a path of continuous improvement resulting in healthy communities.
To educate Congress, the Federal Government and private agencies
on the priorities of their Tribal Government on health care issues.

The highlight of the Conference was meeting so many different people Indigenous and non-indigenous from all over the world and different parts of America. Indian tribes from various Pueblos (reservations) and locations were present; many of them were elders who had travelled great distances to be there.

We, the Australians had a representation of one hundred and twenty individuals from various states. I was very pleased to see an elder from our Aboriginal Nation, Kamilaroi the clan Barbra and I belong to. He had travelled overseas many times representing Elders; he'd been to the last Healing Conference and was determined to get to Albuquerque.

The first morning was quite unorganised, there were no refreshments of any kind for participants, we got our conference bags at 8am but had to return later on in the day to get our name tags. The queues were enormous, there was no process in place to make things easier so that people could receive their information kits and name tags and move on.

My sympathies were with the elders who had travelled many miles and were obviously in need of food and a beverage. There was a small kiosk situated in the foyer that served juices, coffee, tea and muffins at a cost. The next few day's things seemed a little more organised, some refreshments were available for morning and afternoon teas but you had to be quick to get anything because of the numbers of people. Lunch and dinner was not provided, although on two nights there were some nibblies, mostly chillied food and lots of iced tea, iced tea seemed to be the drink to drink when you are not having a drink. One night we had a feast mostly local food that always had lots of chillies added to what ever it was, soup, meat, chicken and salad. During the meals nations, clans, tribes performed their traditional ceremonies. I loved the display and particularly the way the Indian people played the flute it sounded so haunting and kind of eerie but moving, you could imagine yourself running through the forest, breathing in the wonderful clean fresh air and feeling totally alive. Although there were some mishaps in the organisation the people made up for all of that. It was incredibly uplifting being part of such a huge group from so many different places. I was totally energised by them. Now I have many pen friends.

The first day was spent in meeting people, catching up with our Aussie counterparts who were in various motels around Albuquerque and getting to know about their work in Australia and reasons for attendance. Amongst this mob were some extremely talented young people, two especially who made a great impression on Greg Phillips Dee Murphy and me both from Queensland. There were also some real fun characters. One of the first people Barbra met was an American called John who is a psycologists and who had lived in Australia for some time and has a sister living out here. Guess where he lived in Australia! yes, Picton, and he has friends living in Bowral, most of you would know that the Sydney Aboriginal Catholic Ministry's Aboriginal Women's Healing house is at Picton. John became our constant companion, our earthly angel, helping us with everything, explaining the local customs, our teacher and our tourist guide.

The Aussie mob's first meeting as a group didn't go very well at all. There were two reasons for this, one, we were confronted with a paper that was to be presented to Conference by the SA group who had obviously seen it before the rest of us. Because of that, naturally there was some heated discussion and some participants left the meeting. The acting messenger from SA also left the meeting. Secondly there were tensions and divisions within the remaining group about not wanting to get involved in the politics of it all.

The rest of us decided that we needed to meet again, not only to discuss the paper but to unite as one because Australian Aborigines do get hooked into power struggles, divisions and play into the hands of the Australian Government who have used the divide and rule method since colonisation and who are still continuing to do so in the current political climate.

The second day was wonderful in all aspects, meeting new people who had just arrived, talking to others we had met the day before and there was great excitement and energy, you could feel it all around you. The Chairperson called upon individuals to represent their countries in the Entrance March. I had lost my Aboriginal flag so I thought, I found it several days later well hidden in my suitcase. I was feeling quite sad about losing the flag, but I said to my sister Barbra I am still joining the march. I went to sign on and was told by the woman that a group of Aussies was up the front, I decided to stay where I was next to some Canadians and Mexicans who were either dressed in their national costume, or were carrying symbols of their culture. On the way around the Conference Hall I saw Priscilla, a great Aboriginal woman from the far North of Australia whom I became very fond of, I nicknamed her Priscilla of the Desert, I grabbed her and she was wearing the Aboriginal colours. When we were walking we were waving to the other Aussies who didn't join the March; my sister Barbra was very teary and furiously snapping photographs of us. By the time we approached the stage we said to one another what are we going to say, who are we representing, we both agreed that we would sing out Aboriginal Australia, everyone clapped, I caught a glimpse of my sister who was cheering and crying both at the same time, I too felt quite emotional but good. I felt proud as an Aboriginal woman representing my country.

Barbra, along with Greg and others decided to organise another meeting for the Aussies for the following day. We began by introducing ourselves and spoke about our work back in Australia, we then talked a little bit about the paper but the focus was on healing the group. This was very moving because individuals spoke about themselves and about their reasons for working or about being in the struggle to improve our people's well being. We did some hugging and crying together. Greg then asked us to join hands and he played the clapsticks. John who was a mixture of cultures, American, Italian and Indian gave us a cleansing herb stick. Greg lit the stick and it was passed around, it was very cleansing and healing. We left united as one group and then went into the main conference room. For the first time we had a sense of oneness, a sense of belonging to each other as Aboriginal Australians.

We managed to have two Aboriginal dances one men's and one women's dance, luckily Dee Murphy had bought some symbols, clapsticks and pieces of beautifully painted Aboriginal materials which we draped over our clothes. The men used them first, and out of nowhere this young Aboriginal lad appeared with a didge, I hadn't seen him before that moment. He joined the group on stage, one of men did the kangaroo and the emu dance and others played the clapsticks and the boomerangs. We women went down to the front and cheered them on, all of us were very emotional, some crying and all of us feeling very proud of our men. They were there to support us the next day when we women took to the stage. Fortunately, again amongst our group we had a traditional girl, Dianne from Tennant Creek who taught us a Spirit Dance. As well, amongst our group we had a Torres Strait Islander girl who also taught us an Islander dance and song. After the performance both men and women were hugging each other and the men praised us for our efforts. Sometimes, we Aborigines can get it right but, I think our spirits were joined together as one, also I believe we had some help from our Aboriginal Ancestors/ Spirits. We did Aboriginal Australia proud.

I was keen to go to a "sweat" (that was on the Conference agenda). The process involves sitting around a hot fire in a tepee where one is confronted by their emotions past and present. It is a cleansing American Indian traditional healing thing that is part of their journey of healing. This did not take place.

Throughout the conference, it seemed whenever there was a disappointment some other event would appear to replace what had been cancelled. John our angel took us out to visit a Pueblo. We were very fortunate to visit Eslata an hour's drive from Albuquerque, it was a feast day and many people were invited to attend. That day the temperate must have been in the 40's- still the Indian community members ranging from young lads to elders performed an Indian Tribal ceremony, a dance to thank their Spirit Ancestors for their crops. Each month they have a feast day, they invite other Indian brothers and sisters from other Pueblo's and various other guests like us. They share their food and drink with all those present. They have stalls displaying their Indian craft and there is a real friendliness in the air.

Their houses are made of traditional mud brick, Spanish style architecture, each have a large oven outdoors that they cook everything in, similar to Pizza ovens. Because it is in the desert it is too hot to cook inside. Very little grows, there were no garden beds. Some houses had air conditioners but John told us that the houses were reasonably cool inside because they were built out of the clay. There was a beautiful Catholic Church almost in the middle of the village made out of the same material. When we entered we found that it was, indeed, much cooler than outside. I found Mother Mary and prayed to her for world peace and harmony amongst all people. I said to her, perhaps, one day we all can begin to respect each other wherever we come from, what ever culture we belong to, that one day too we Australian Aborigines can take control over our own destinies in the way that we learn from our fellow World Indigenous brothers and sisters, that we not get caught up in the power struggles, that we strive to help our communities, that we shout out against corruption, wrongdoing and those trying to suppress and control us, both non Indigenous and Indigenous. I thought I would share my prayers with you.

Another day John took us to Santa Fe, I had been wishing and hoping that I may get an opportunity to see this magnificent magical village that I'd heard about from others. I didn't dream that it would become a reality, but thanks to our earthly angel it happened out of the blue. We had been in the morning session and during the break he said, lets take a drive, let's take a break and go visit Santa Fe. Four of us, myself, Barbra, Raylene, Dee and John took off. On the way Dee said, Can I read you something I have written, it was called "NO MORE SECRETS, NO MORE LIES". She said later I had a trapped audience and couldn't miss the opportunity. It took one hour plus to read and she had our undivided attention. . It was so moving it touched all of our emotions, feelings of sadness, happiness, anger and laughter. It could have been an account of our own lives, a lot of it we could all relate to. It was a true account of her family's life written in poetry form describing their poverty, their funny times, their loss of loved ones and the terrible abuse that occurred generation after generation to the children. Dee is committed to seeking justice for all children who have been abused, and most paramount to her is exposing the perpetrators, letting them know that she knows who they are. She does this by performing her poetry around the Cairns area in schools and in theatre; she turns up at community meetings where she knows they will be present. She wants all children, mothers, aunts, grandmothers and families to speak up, to protect the children. We know that the abuse is prevalent in Aboriginal communities but it has not yet been addressed. Both Barbra and I suggested she visit the Healing House at Picton, to bring her material and address the Aboriginal women who participate in the programs.

Overall we had a fabulous day in Santa Fe buying presents, eating, talking to the people, visiting historic sites. We visited an old Catholic Church and presbytery that was built in the early 16th century that later became a mission. We did not see anyone to talk to, everything seemed closed up but I have it on video. There was a statue of Mary surrounded by vases of flowers placed at her feet, which suggests people visit and pray to her. We had a wonderful trip home, John explaining the scenery, the trees, the mountains, we were on a high and feeling quite bonded as a group.

The last day of the Conference focussed on "Unveiling the Covenant (Proclamation) on Indigenous Healing, Health and Self Determination". This was the end result of the paper that we Australians had a confrontation about at the first meeting. After that several speakers on the panel said farewell and prayed for all present and wished everyone a safe trip home. We Aussie, the ones that were left went out for a farewell dinner and a bit of a party. We said our goodbyes but vowed to keep in touch.

I came away from Albuquerque with lots of wonderful memories and many new friends. I came away feeling sad as well, knowing that we as Aboriginal people have so many problems, no real structures in place to assist our people to move forward, to get out of the welfare mentality, to overcome their addictions, to attain real self determination in this country.

I realise a lot of the solutions need to come from us, we all need to work towards a journey of healing for our people and ourselves. I thought what could I do to improve our plight. I realise there needs to be major changes within our communities and honest dialogue with other Aboriginal workers within organisations. We also need to be the decision makers when it comes to Aboriginal affairs, and not leave it to the non-Indigenous to carry our banner. Most times we let others make the decisions for us and very often they are the wrong ones and then we whinge. I have decided to speak out, to challenge others who think they know what Aborigines want, to speak up to Aboriginal workers whom I feel are not doing their jobs, to challenge Aboriginal candidates who are standing for ATSIC positions. I will strive to encourage the younger generation to obtain an education and a decent lifestyle, to educate others to take up the challenge. I aim to get the men's healing group up and running again and to seek funding to support this much needed cause. We the Aboriginal people Of Australia need to use the Aboriginal current structures to make Aboriginal representatives and Aboriginal leaders at a local, regional and national level accountable to ensure good health care outcomes for all our people enabling them to grow spiritually, emotionally and physically.

My vision

To see local Aboriginal services work in harmony so that we may be able to assist our people to move forward, to lose that poor mentality, to grow strong so that they can find dignity, respect and pride in themselves and in our Aboriginal Culture. That one day we too will have true SELF-DETERMINATION like our fellow American Indian brothers and sisters.

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