Moving Forward Together in Aboriginal Women's Health: - Theses ...

Moving Forward TogetherJanet Kellyand he found the Aboriginal content and matter of fact discussions aboutcolonisation and colonising effects very profound and disturbing. He said hewas ‘going home to re-think everything’ (Team SA Evaluation 2007).Unexpected outcomesAs well as information sharing about health, environment and education, otherforms of cultural sharing took place, enabling healing, connections and adeeper sense of well-being. Some of these encounters were shared with TeamSA for inclusion in the evaluation in de-identified form. For example oneyoung Aboriginal man met an Elder man at the end of a session and as they sattalking together the Elder man reconnected the young man with some of hisfamily who he had lost contact with. An Aboriginal Elder woman dreamt avision to be shared with another Aboriginal woman from the other side ofAustralia. They had never met before, but did so at the conference, and themoment and message were deeply profound.A Maori Elder woman from Aotearoa / New Zealand attended the conferenceand many people valued the way she quietly shared her wisdom andknowledge. Her comments generally enhanced our understanding of colonisingsimilarities and differences between our two countries. Aboriginal Elderwomen sat with her in long conversations discussing issues and strategies. Shealso spent much time with younger participants, encouraging them to continuewith their work and studies. She herself had just finished her PhD and she wasvery encouraging of others wishing to do further study. Many peopleconnected with her deeply and relationships are continuing with a plannedrevisit.Receiving cultural approval to use GanmaImportantly for this research, thesis and myself, I was able to meet two Yolnguwomen Dorothy Yunggirringa and Joanne Garnggulkpuy and seek theirapproval to use Ganma as a guiding concept in this research. I had beenconcerned about using the concept without seeking expressed permission fromYolngu people. The two Yolngu health professionals were assisted to attendthe conference through sponsorship, and their presentation on Yolngu PARprocesses was extremely popular. Throughout the three days the women312