scholarly journals Autonomous Aboriginal communities in Australia : besieged by scandal and corruption, how can they move forward?

2009 ◽  
Vol 42 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 111-122
Author(s):  
Adi Wimmer
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Aboriginal Communities ◽  
Australian Aboriginal ◽  
Aboriginal Culture ◽  
Noble Savage ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Northern Territories

Discourses of Australian Aboriginal culture have all too often relied on the "noble savage" trope, in Australia as in Europe. There were practical outcomesof such views, most notably the creation of over a hundred self-governed indigenous communities in the 1980s, most of them in the Northern territories. The architect of the plan was Nuggett Coombs, a top Canberra administrator and advisor to Whitlam and Hawke. His idea was to allow Aborigines a "pre-contact" lifestyle and to shield them from all evil "white" influences. Neither worked. On the contrary, it has now emerged that the leftist, liberal consensus on how to "empower" Aboriginal culture has resulted in the exact opposite, in degradation, alcoholism, and sexual violence. This is not only due to passivity in indigenous communities but also to a decade-long denial of their dysfunctionality by the white courts, academics, and lawmakers.

scholarly journals Research protocol for the Picture Talk Project: a qualitative study on research and consent with remote Australian Aboriginal communities

BMJ Open ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (12) ◽  
pp. e018452 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily F M Fitzpatrick ◽  
Maureen Carter ◽  
June Oscar ◽  
Tom Lawford ◽  
Alexandra L C Martiniuk ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Aboriginal Health ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Ethics Committee ◽  
Indigenous Populations ◽  
Research Quality ◽  
Research Protocol ◽  
Aboriginal Communities ◽  
Australian Aboriginal

IntroductionResearch with Indigenous populations is not always designed with cultural sensitivity. Few publications evaluate or describe in detail seeking consent for research with Indigenous participants. When potential participants are not engaged in a culturally respectful manner, participation rates and research quality can be adversely affected. It is unethical to proceed with research without truly informed consent.Methods and analysisWe describe a culturally appropriate research protocol that is invited by Aboriginal communities of the Fitzroy Valley in Western Australia. The Picture Talk Project is a research partnership with local Aboriginal leaders who are also chief investigators. We will interview Aboriginal leaders about research, community engagement and the consent process and hold focus groups with Aboriginal community members about individual consent. Cultural protocols will be applied to recruit and conduct research with participants. Transcripts will be analysed using NVivo10 qualitative software and themes synthesised to highlight the key issues raised by the community about the research process. This protocol will guide future research with the Aboriginal communities of the Fitzroy Valley and may inform the approach to research with other Indigenous communities of Australia or the world. It must be noted that no community is the same and all research requires local consultation and input. To conduct culturally sensitive research, respected local people from the community who have knowledge of cultural protocol and language are engaged to guide each step of the research process from the project design to the delivery of results.Ethics and disseminationEthics approval was granted by the University of Sydney Human Research Ethics Committee (No. 2012/348, reference:14760), the Western Australia Country Health Service Ethics Committee (No. 2012:15), the Western Australian Aboriginal Health Ethics Committee and reviewed by the Kimberley Aboriginal Health Planning Forum Research Sub-Committee (No. 2012–008). Results will be disseminated through peer review articles, a local Fitzroy Valley report and conference presentations.

Digital Repatriation

2018 ◽  
pp. 530-552
Author(s):  
Alex Perullo
Keyword(s):  
Country Of Origin ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Copyright Law ◽  
Fair Use ◽  
Digital Collections ◽  
Limited Access ◽  
Local Space ◽  
The Creation

This essay makes two points about digital collections. The first recognizes problems that emerge as archives present indigenous content online. In uploading indigenous songs, speeches, and documents, an archive allows that material to move from a local space with limited access to an international repository with many points of access. This chapter examines conflicts that can occur with this action, including those involving copyright law, fair use, and ethics. A second point of this chapter revolves around technology and repatriation. If repatriation means the return of material to a country of origin, then online archives never fully commit to this task. The material typically remains preserved on servers and in its original forms away from indigenous communities. Despite these ethical, legal, and technological concerns, archives should encourage the creation of digital collections as part of repatriation given the desire by many indigenous communities to preserve and promote their traditions.

The lens of firstness: Shamanic/Aboriginal culture as cosmos-sign

Semiotica ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 (221) ◽  
pp. 143-173
Author(s):  
Steven Bonta
Keyword(s):  
Social Organization ◽  
New World ◽  
Indian Subcontinent ◽  
Australian Aboriginal ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Aboriginal Culture

AbstractHaving identified previously (Bonta 2015) the Peircean Category Firstness as the semiotic basis (or cultural Prime Symbol) for Australian Aboriginal culture, this paper examines the “lens” of Firstness as it is manifest in a variety of aboriginal (or “Shamanic”) cultures worldwide. By studying the semiotic contours of religion, language, social organization, and art, we find systemic prioritization of Firstness in its various manifestations, across a wide range of aboriginal cultures from Australia to the Indian Subcontinent to aboriginal Siberia and the New World. Shamanic culture, despite its ethnic and geographic variety, may therefore be represented as a semiotic type – and, in addition, one that, in its pristine form, is nearly extinct.

Suicide Prevention in Australian Aboriginal Communities: A Review of Past and Present Programs

2014 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Ridani ◽  
Fiona L. Shand ◽  
Helen Christensen ◽  
Kathryn McKay ◽  
Joe Tighe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Suicide Prevention ◽  
Aboriginal Communities ◽  
Australian Aboriginal

Barriers and facilitators of sexually transmissible infection testing in remote Australian Aboriginal communities: results from the Sexually Transmitted Infections in Remote Communities, Improved and Enhanced Primary Health Care (STRIVE) Study

Sexual Health ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Belinda Hengel ◽  
Rebecca Guy ◽  
Linda Garton ◽  
James Ward ◽  
Alice Rumbold ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Primary Health Care ◽  
Team Work ◽  
Remote Communities ◽  
Improvement Program ◽  
Aboriginal Communities ◽  
Small Communities ◽  
Australian Aboriginal ◽  
Sti Testing ◽  
Primary Health

Background Remote Australian Aboriginal communities experience high rates of bacterial sexually transmissible infections (STI). A key strategy to reduce STIs is to increase testing in primary health care centres. The current study aimed to explore barriers to offering and conducting STI testing in this setting. Methods: A qualitative study was undertaken as part of the STI in Remote communities, Improved and Enhanced Primary Health Care (STRIVE) project; a large cluster randomised controlled trial of a sexual health quality improvement program. We conducted 36 in-depth interviews in 22 participating health centres across four regions in northern and central Australia. Results: Participants identified barriers including Aboriginal cultural norms that require the separation of genders and traditional kinship systems that prevent some staff and patients from interacting, both of which were exacerbated by a lack of male staff. Other common barriers were concerns about client confidentiality (lack of private consulting space and living in small communities), staff capacity to offer testing impacted by the competing demands for staff time, and high staff turnover resulting in poor understanding of clinic systems. Many participants also expressed concerns about managing positive test results. To address some of these barriers, participants revealed informal strategies, such as team work, testing outside the clinic and using adult health checks. Conclusions: Results identify cultural, structural and health system issues as barriers to offering STI testing in remote communities, some of which were overcome through the creativity and enthusiasm of individuals rather than formal systems. Many of these barriers can be readily addressed through strengthening existing systems of cultural and clinical orientation and educating staff to view STI in a population health framework. However others, particularly issues in relation to culture, kinship ties and living in small communities, may require testing modalities that do not rely on direct contact with health staff or the clinic environment.

Seasonal variation in trachoma and bush flies in north-western Australian Aboriginal communities

2002 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 80-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lyndon Da Cruz ◽  
Ian R Dadour ◽  
Ian L McAllister ◽  
Alistair Jackson ◽  
Tim Isaacs
Keyword(s):  
Seasonal Variation ◽  
Aboriginal Communities ◽  
Australian Aboriginal ◽  
Western Australian ◽  
North Western

A Line of Blood and Dirt

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Hoy
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
African American ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
The United States ◽  
Coast Salish ◽  
Historical Gis ◽  
Regional Conflicts ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Social Upheaval ◽  
Indigenous Land

This book examines the creation and enforcement of the border between Canada and the United States from 1775 until 1939. Built with Indigenous labor and on top of Indigenous land, the border was born in conflict. Federal administrators used deprivation, starvation, and coercion to displace Indigenous communities and undermine their conceptions of territory and sovereignty. European, African American, Chinese, Cree, Assiniboine, Dakota, Lakota, Nimiipuu, Coast Salish, Ojibwe, and Haudenosaunee communities faced a diversity of border closure experiences and timelines. Unevenness and variation served as hallmarks of the border as federal officials in each country committed to a kind of border power that was diffuse and far-reaching. Utilizing historical GIS, this book showcases how regional conflicts, political reorganization, and social upheaval created the Canada–US border and remade the communities who lived in its shadows.

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