DP9-Aboriginal-Spirituality

Introduction
Wellbeing and Spirituality: A starting point
Although this discussion paper has been developed for people working within health practice, as it explains, the
wholistic 1 philosophical basis of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture that encompasses wellbeing has
applications in every area of engagement with Indigenous Australian people. It addresses both the Cooperative
Research Centre for Aboriginal Health’s (CRCAH) research outcome to ‘explore how spirituality/beliefs/systems
of value contribute to Indigenous social and emotional wellbeing’, and the CRCAH’s stated goal of health
outcomes through:
Providing evidence that can be used by services and individual practitioners that address the social, emotional
and cultural needs of Aboriginal communities, and which promote the resilience of children, youth and families
(CRCAH n.d.:8).
The evidence provided in this discussion paper is about the nature of Aboriginal Spirituality, 2 its relationship to
wellbeing, and the ramifications of this to the application of social and emotional wellbeing policy and programs
in Australian Aboriginal communities. The literature review for this paper has been comprehensive, sourcing a
range of literature across disciplines that are concerned with this phenomenon, including Aboriginal philosophy
and the range of expressions and practices that occur in the lives of individuals—despite living in a colonial
regime. Literature that assists us to understand the complex interplay of cultures within a settler colonial society
has also been sourced, including history, anthropology and social theory. A background and understanding of
Spirituality as the philosophical basis of Aboriginal wellbeing, as offered here, will be of assistance to Aboriginal
and non-Aboriginal Australians alike in redressing the damage done to Aboriginal people under colonialism.
Importantly, and as will become clear, any discussion of Aboriginal Spirituality has direct ramifications for
understandings of wellbeing, including social and emotional wellbeing.
Indigenous Australians include Aboriginal people of the mainland and Tasmania, as well as the people of the Torres
Strait. Although there are differences in belief, practice and history between and within these distinct groupings
of people, there are also many commonalities and some generalisation is therefore possible. However, the terms
Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders are used in this review when it is not appropriate to generalise across
both populations. It is important to note that the author is an Aboriginal person from the mid-north coast of
New South Wales. The focus is thus on Aboriginal cultural understandings of Spirituality in the lives of Aboriginal
people as the author understands them. When the word Indigenous is used, its meaning is about Aboriginal
Australians. With respect for Torres Strait Islander cultural expressions of Spirituality, it has not been possible to
speak or write of these adequately, except in general terms.
Low standards of Aboriginal physical and mental health are widely acknowledged in Australia as alarmingly widely
divergent from the health status of the general Australian community (Australian HealthInfoNet 2007), and it is
not the purpose of this discussion paper to revisit the vast literature that documents and substantiates these
concerns. Rather, it starts with the observation that this literature is replete with references to the importance of
Aboriginal wellbeing, as well as Spirituality in improving health and wellbeing outcomes for Aboriginal peoples.
This discussion paper is designed to better contextualise these notions of wellbeing and Spirituality within an
Australian Aboriginal context. Although there is literature on these notions available in other nations, relating
to Indigenous people with similar colonial histories, it is the position of this discussion paper that these are
concepts that are culturally and historically specific to particular peoples. Thus, although comparison is always
fruitful, it cannot take place meaningfully unless the situations to be compared are adequately understood in
their own right and, importantly, can only follow the discussion developed here.
1 The word wholistic (rather than holistic) is considered more appropriate to be used in this review, developed from the word whole, which describes
a matter in its entirety, and which is appropriate in contexts where Indigenous philosophy is being described.
2 The word spirituality is written with a capital ‘S’ throughout this paper when it refers specifically to the philosophy that underpins Aboriginal ontologies
(ways of being) and epistemologies (ways of knowing) and, therefore, Aboriginal personhood.
1