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

Moving Forward TogetherJanet Kellypeoples, missionaries and humanitarians advocated the establishment of missions,(Gale 1972; Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission (HROEC) 2005).Christian missionaries had been involved in providing food and shelter since thebeginning of South Australian settlement. Many free settlers were deeply religiousand actively encouraged Aboriginal people to become educated in Western literacyand convert to Christianity while supplying their basic needs. The governmentsupported this activity, believing that it would assist conformity and assimilationinto western Christian society (Gale 1972). By 1856 Missions, rather than thegovernment, became the main agency providing care, rations, shelter and educationfor Aboriginal people. In many instances, in order to receive assistance, Aboriginalpeople had to embrace Christianity and abandon their cultural heritage, socialstructures and languages (Gale 1972).Some missions were developed by people who wished to keep Aboriginal peoplesafe within a dangerously discriminating settler society. Dr Charles Duguid wroteof being so appalled by the overt discrimination, high rates of infectious diseases,sexual assault and violence that he found in the north of the state in the 1930s. Hespoke with white men who had taken Aboriginal women, had children with them,and then removed them if they began to show signs of sexual diseases or if a whitewoman came to be his wife. One such man was questioned by Dr Duguid as towhere the Aboriginal woman and resulting children he had seen on the last visitwere. He replied ‘Oh I dumped them and the lubra in the Ranges’ (Duguid 1972).Duguid returned to Adelaide and applied to the government to start a new missionat Ernabella (Pukatja). His vision was to enable Aboriginal people the freedom tolive their lives as close to tradition as possible and to be safe from Westernviolence. He argued that medical and education staff should learn the localPitjantjatjara language, and that adequate medical facilities to treat Western relatedillnesses should be provided. Ernabella mission opened in 1937 (Duguid 1972) andthe community has continued to operate in one form or another until now. Some ofthe Aboriginal women attending services in Adelaide today come from Ernabellaand speak of Dr Duguid and his legacy.43