GG1 — Gaawaadhi Gadudha

The Gaawaadhi Gadudha logo artwork is by Laurance Magick Dennis. It represents the meeting of fresh (Yuwaalaraay and Gamilaraay) and salt (Yuin-Djirringanj) water. The horseshoe-like shapes are people sitting around a fire. The oval image at the centre is a coolamon (traditional carrying vessel). The dots around the image are ancestors looking on.

While we use the word ‘Aboriginal’ to explain the terminology of ‘the health gap’ in current research and policy, we would like to acknowledge it as a colonised term. We advocate for shifting to the use of cultural group names as identifiers. Where this is not possible, we use ‘Indigenous’.

Exploring how cultural camps support health and wellbeing 2021-2024

We investigated Indigenous people’s self-reported cultural health and wellbeing after they participated in cultural camps. These camps, facilitated by Knowledge Holders, were held on culturally significant sites Dharriwaa at Narran Lakes (Yuwaalaraay Country), Wallabadah (Gamilaraay Country) and Mystery Bay (Yuin Djirringanj Country).

At the camps, men, women and children from different nations:

visited sacred sites and heard law stories
learned language and cultural landscapes
learned about cultural medicines and food
took part in dancing, weaving and woodwork
joined yarning circles around the fire.

We surveyed people before they attended a camp and immediately after. We found that camps had an overwhelmingly positive impact on peoples' self-rated cultural health, including:

pride in their Indigenous cultural identity
knowledge of cultural stories, foods, medicines and languages
sense of connection to other people
connection to Country and ancestors.

Key findings:

Camps had a positive effect on participants’ social, emotional, and spiritual health and wellbeing. This was often described as healing or stress relief. Participants linked this to connection with Country and each other, and engagement in in cultural practices.

“To heal trauma in Indigenous populations we need to strengthen cultural identity…culture strengthens identity, and identity strengthens who we are as people. So, culture is everything, and it should be everything.” (Yuin Women’s Circle)

“We need this, this is what it's all about. This is how we used to heal. Healing happens in circles in our culture. Everything happened around fires, around gatherings and this is bringing it back to where they used to send the message sticks out and everyone would come.” (Gomeroi Women’s Circle)

“Improving our young people, with connecting with the environment and their senses, using the eyesight there, smell, touch.” (Dharriwaa Men’s Circle)

This study was funded by the Australian Government’s Medical Research Future Fund (MRF2009522).
Ethics approval to conduct this study was obtained from the Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council (#1851/21).

Find out more

Image: Dharriwaa on Yuwaalaraay Country (photo by Brooke Brady)