Aboriginal Groups Research Articles

Проблемы традиционной культуры коренных малочисленных народов юга Дальнего Востока России и роли государства в этих процессах (XX–начало XXI века)

During the XX-XXI centuries, aboriginal ethnic groups turned from independent ethnic formations into constituent parts of a large multinational state, with a fundamentally different spiritual dominant, a different social structure and type of economy. The changes affected both traditional material and spiritual culture. In the process of these changes, the concepts themselves were transformed, the lines between tradition and reality began to blur, since the latter is in constant dynamics. We made an attempt to assess the role of the state in the ongoing processes, as well as to compare the situation with the indigenous minorities in neighboring China, and note general trends. The study identifies the role of the main factors that influenced global transformations in the field of spiritual and material development of the Primorye Territrory, as well as outlines a somewhat new understanding of the problem of preserving ethnic identity.

Comparing the nutritional composition and antioxidant properties of an Australian native grain variety with commonly consumed wheat

SummaryClimate change is threatening our current food systems and countries around the world are seeking alternative food sources to safeguard against potential food insecurity and nutrient deficiency concerns. Various traditional foods used by Aboriginal groups of Australia have previously been shown to be highly nutritious, contain beneficial functional properties and can thrive in the harsh climatic conditions found across Australia. As interest in these traditional foods grows, Aboriginal groups are looking at developing a range of foods for modern markets. However, for many of these foods, there is still little known about their nutritional and functional properties. In this study, we report the nutrition composition and antioxidant properties of a native Australian grain species that is currently being developed for commercial markets by a collective of Aboriginal Traditional Custodians and compare its properties to a commonly consumed wheat variety. Compared with wheat, the native grain species contained 2‐fold greater protein and total fats, and higher levels of essential minerals and trace elements, including 8‐fold iron levels and >2.5‐fold calcium, magnesium, zinc, copper and manganese levels. Functionally, the native grain contained 2.4‐fold greater polyphenol content and displayed greater antioxidant potential in exposed human monocyte cultures. Importantly, the native grain was also found to contain a very low gluten content. Altogether, this shows that the native grain is nutritionally and functionally superior to commonly consumed wheat for the measured parameters and could potentially serve as a grain alternative or be used to fortify current wheat‐based and gluten‐free products.

Indigenous Water Engineering and Aquaculture Systems in Australia: The Budj Bim Cultural Landscape and Baiame’s Ngunnhu (the Brewarrina Aboriginal Fish Traps)

In Australia, First Peoples have practiced sustainable forms of water management for millennia. They have done so by respectfully caring for Country through their use of engineering and maintenance processes, including sophisticated fish and eel trapping structures and weir systems. Some of the largest continuing sites of water engineering and aquaculture in the world are still visible and used by local Aboriginal groups – the Budj Bim in Victoria and Baiame’s Ngunnhu (Brewarrina Aboriginal fish traps) in New South Wales (NSW). Recent scholarship and successful heritage listings, including the World Heritage listing of the Budj Bim Cultural Landscape and work by and with traditional custodians in these river systems, are starting to bring into public discourse and knowledge these sophisticated and important places of global cultural significance. The principles used in the design of these systems, and the social and environmental contexts of their maintenance and convening power over millennia, are particularly important as we navigate new technologically mediated forms of water management today and into the future. These management challenges include communities in Australia and globally working on the importance of significant places, values, rights, justice and voice for Indigenous peoples in building sustainable futures, including through innovation and safe, sustainable and responsible cybernetic approaches to water governance and the SDGs.

The Australian Traumatic Brain Injury Initiative: Single Data Dictionary to Predict Outcome for People With Moderate-Severe Traumatic Brain Injury.

In this series of eight articles, the Australian Traumatic Brain Injury Initiative (AUS-TBI) consortium describes the Australian approach used to select the common data elements collected acutely that have been shown to predict outcome following moderate-severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) across the lifespan. This article presents the unified single data dictionary, together with additional measures chosen to facilitate comparative effectiveness research and data linkage. Consultations with the AUS-TBI Lived Experience Expert Group provided insights on the merits and considerations regarding data elements for some of the study areas, as well as more general principles to guide the collection of data and the selection of meaningful measures. These are presented as a series of guiding principles and themes. The AUS-TBI Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Group identified a number of key points and considerations for the project approach specific to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, including key issues of data sovereignty and community involvement. These are outlined in the form of principles to guide selection of appropriate methodologies, data management, and governance. Implementation of the AUS-TBI approach aims to maximize ongoing data collection and linkage, to facilitate personalization of care and improved outcomes for people who experience moderate-severe TBI.

The First Nations experience of accessing rheumatology services in a metropolitan hospital: A qualitative study.

First Nations Australians experience a higher burden and severity of Rheumatic Disease with poorer outcomes than the general population. Despite a widely acknowledged need to improve health outcomes, there has been minimal research assessing existing models of care from a First Nations perspective in Australia. The objective of this study was to describe First Nations experiences and barriers and enablers to accessing a hospital-based adult Rheumatology service in Sydney. A qualitative study using semi-structured interviews was undertaken. Patients who self-identified as First Nations attending the Prince of Wales Hospital Rheumatology Clinic in 2021 were invited to participate. Interviews were conducted face-to-face or by telephone using culturally-appropriate Yarning methods with an Aboriginal Health Worker (AHW) at the request of participants. Thematic analysis was done in consultation with an Aboriginal Reference Group (ARG). Four categories, which encapsulated 11 themes were identified. Participants reported barriers to care such as logistics of the referral process, not feeling culturally safe because of uncomfortable clinic environments and health worker behaviours, inadequate cultural support and community perceptions of the specialty. Enabling factors included family member involvement, AHW support and telehealth consultation. The current model of care perpetuates access challenges for First Nations Australians within rheumatology. Barriers to care include the delayed referral process, limited cultural responsivity in the clinic environment and poor cross-cultural communication. There is a need for models of care that are co-designed with First Nations Peoples to address these barriers. Participants were First Nations Australians with lived experience attending the rheumatology clinic. All interviewees were offered the opportunity to review their transcripts to ensure trustworthiness of the data. Preliminary thematic analysis was conducted in partnership with the AHW who has over 20 years experience. Following preliminary coding, a list of themes were presented to the ARG for iterative discussion and refinement. The ARG provided community representation and ensured that First Nations voices were privileged in the analysis. It's intended that the findings of this study will support the upcoming co-design of a First Nations health service for Rheumatology patients.

A seat at the table? Planning, meetings and the ‘stable relation’ of a joint managed National Park in northern Australia

Over the last fifteen years, most national parks in Cape York Peninsula, far north-east Australia, have been transferred to Aboriginal ownership and are now jointly managed by the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service and the relevant Aboriginal traditional owner groups. The park in which this research was conducted has been jointly managed for just over a decade, but the transition to joint management is entwined with challenges related to the bringing together of different knowledge and management systems. The main forum for discussing and implementing change is in the mutual space of formal joint management meetings. However, this mutual space is not co-produced on equal terms. Joint management meetings and the production of management plans function as a way for Queensland Parks to fulfil their obligations to Aboriginal traditional owners while simultaneously reaffirming their status as the more powerful co-managing institution. Rather than fostering a space of indeterminacy, in which management partners could co-create new forms of managing and caring for land, meetings and management plans function to construct a ‘stable relation’ between Aboriginal traditional owners and Queensland Parks.

Aboriginal dance as pedagogy: privileging voices of Bundjalung elders

ABSTRACT Indigenous dance is a methodology used to convey stories of survival and reform within each Aboriginal language group in Australia. The Bundjalung Nation is the cultural group where we are situated in northern New South Wales. Jagun is a the local Bundjalung language term for Country. This article explores the synergies with world literature and Bundjalung Elder voices associated with Indigenous dance practices as a methodology for decolonising classrooms and other learning spaces. We bring to the focus a local philosophy that urges educators to be the best version of themselves, what Aunty Bertha Kappen called Wana werlu, that specifically means to be yourself in the local Aboriginal language. As such, we attempt to position the redevelopment of cultural practices on Bundjalung Jagun to incorporate Elder’s voice. In doing so, other educators wanting to utilise cultural practices as pedagogy are prompted to be mindful of gaining proper local permissions and incorporating a creative spirit.

Features of the relationship between elemental composition and immune reactions in representatives of ethno-demographic groups of the North-East of Russia

The content of some chemical elements that support immune responses (selenium, zinc, iron, iodine) was analyzed among representatives of the ethno-demographic groups of the North-East of Russia - natives (Chukchi, Koryaks, Evens), mestizos, and newcomers. A potential risk group for the development of hyposelenoses is the Koryak ethnic group. The minimum values of zinc were found among the Chukchi. In representatives of all ethno-demographic groups, the iron content was within the reference values, but its maximum values were noted in the newcomers. The maximum iodine levels are also characteristic of the newcomers. Comparable iodine content was noted in the Evens group. Features of the elemental status (selenium, zinc, iron, iodine) in the inhabitants of the north indicate that among the ethno-demographic groups, it is the aboriginal ethnic groups that are most predisposed to the development of immunodeficiency states.

Indigenously Doing Disney

In its hundred-year history, the Walt Disney Company has created multiple projects featuring characters from various minorities and indigenous groups. The purpose of this essay is to examine the later films of Walt Disney Animation Studios, beginning in the often-dubbed “Disney Renaissance” with Pocahontas and concluding with Frozen II, and analyze the portrayal of the native groups being featured within the narrative. Beyond this, the secondary aim of this paper is to determine whether or not any significant development has been made in said depictions in the studio’s projects, both as it pertains to narrative and visual representation, as well as reception from audience members, critics, and community leaders of said ethnic groups. Beyond the analysis of the chosen films and their reception, this essay will touch upon the potential conflicts which may arise when potentially vulnerable or traditionally ignored aboriginal groups see their culture commodified by corporations such as Disney. The findings of this essay are that while Walt Disney Animation Studios still struggles with representation and commercialization of indigenous groups, the company has evidently made efforts to respond to criticism, and increase its cooperation with aboriginal populations when developing featurefilm projects. For the most recent example, while the company’s immensely successful Frozen utilizes multiple facets of Sámi culture, it does not directly feature any characters of Sámi origin. For the sequel, however, the company made efforts to work with indigenous groups to ensure a more favorable representation, resulting in largely positive reception from Sámi audiences. Whilst there are still problematic elements present, and the company’s commitment to fair, accurate representation is likely motivated more by financial incentive than anything else, some progress has undoubtedly been made.

Knowledge Management: The Siku, an Aboriginal Aymara Ethnic Group and Cultural Heritage of the Andean Highlands

Objective: The study aims to apply the models proposed in Knowledge Management (KM) for the rescue of the cultural heritage of the Siku instrument, with the Peruvian Altiplano as a scenario. Theoretical Framework: The siku originates from the Aymara people and is a cultural manifestation rooted in the Andean highlands. It is considered a gift from Mother Earth and symbolizes the connection between the human being and the sounds it emanates. Method: The methodological approach was approached from a qualitative perspective, using the ethnomethodological method through an inductive approach. We worked with two groups of participants, the first one composed of four members of the Conjunto de Arte y Folklore Sicuris "Juventud Obrera", who are considered heirs of the Aymara tradition; and the second one was constituted by six young people from the urbanization El Progreso, who reflected on the meaning of the cultural heritage of the native peoples in the Andes. Results: The results are presented in two categories: a) diagnosis, b) final assessment, where a real socio-critical transformation mediated by adequate QA can be observed. Conclusions: It highlights on a large scale the role of the Siku as an aboriginal Aymara ethnic group and cultural heritage of the Andean Altiplano; likewise, by way of projection, three essential questions stand out, which are: what measures can the State take to rescue Peru's ancestral traditions? What programs can be developed through education so that society appropriates the millenary cultural heritage? Could this experience be replicated in other aboriginal communities with other thematic approaches?

Yolŋu Way and the DMGT (Talent Development): A Mismatch

Gagné’s Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent [DMGT] has enjoyed widespread uptake in Australia. Little work has been done, though, to determine if this popular model can account for culturally diverse views of its fundamental concepts. This article reports a study that compared the talent development infrastructure of Gagné’s DMGT (with a particular focus on the DMGT 2.0) with talent development from a Yolŋu (an Australian Aboriginal group) worldview. This comparison reveals that there is a tension between the DMGT’s formal process (D) and the Yolŋu’s more responsive approach to talent development. There is greater alignment, though, when the DMGT 2.0’s catalysts are considered; however, both the Intrapersonal (I) and Environmental (E) catalysts are mediated by the Yolŋu’s cultural context. Ultimately, the DMGT has some difficulty housing Yolŋu approaches to talent development.

A property rights schema for cultural flows in the Murray Darling Basin, Australia

ABSTRACT Water management in Australia’s Murray-Darling Basin is undergoing a highly-contested shift from single use management for irrigation, to multiple use management for irrigation and environmental flows. Despite a requirement to ‘take account’ of Indigenous values, multiple use management does not yet include cultural flows – water flows for Aboriginal groups to maintain Indigenous cultural values. Within the economics literature, cultural values are treated as a passive ‘use’ of place for spiritual or cultural activities, with cultural flows framed as flows of water delivered to particular sites for cultural ‘uses’. Aboriginal groups, however, argue for cultural flows to be defined in terms of water entitlements – a property right to water. Property rights have evolved within a specific historic and cultural context, and reflect a Western ontology that is very different to Aboriginal ontologies. This article explores whether a property rights construct might be compatible with Aboriginal ontologies, and whether water entitlements could deliver cultural benefits in ways hoped for by Aboriginal peoples. We find that cultural flows need to extend beyond rights to flows of water to encompass a broader bundle of rights including management and governance rights, if Aboriginal groups are to obtain beneficial cultural outcomes from those flows.

Aboriginal Ethnic Group Commonly Known As Orang Asli In Peninsular Malaysia: Re-Examining The Right To Take Forest Produce

Aboriginal Ethnic Group Commonly Known As Orang Asli In Peninsular Malaysia: Re-Examining The Right To Take Forest Produce

Yarning about river safety: A qualitative study exploring water safety beliefs and practices for First Nations People.

Water is vital to Australian First Nations Peoples' connection to country and culture. Despite this cultural significance, and epidemiological studies identifying elevated drowning risk among Australian First Nations Peoples, extremely limited qualitative research explores water safety beliefs and practices of First Nations Peoples. This study addressed this knowledge gap via qualitative research with Wiradjuri people living in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales. Under Aboriginal Reference Group guidance, a local researcher recruited participants using purposive sampling for yarning circles across four groups: young people aged 18-30 years, parents of children under 5, parents of older children and adolescents and Elders. Yarning circles were audio recorded, transcribed and thematically coded using an inductive approach. In total, 10 First Nations individuals participated. Yarning led to rich insights and yielded five themes: families as first educators; importance of storytelling, lived experience and respect for knowledge holders; the river as a place of connection; historical influence on preference for river over pool and river is unpredictable and needs to be respected. This study demonstrates the importance of First Nations culture to water safety practices, particularly around the river. To reduce drowning risk among First Nations populations, knowledge holders need to be embedded in the design and delivery of community water safety education. SO WHAT?: Co-designing water safety initiatives with First Nations Peoples will have dual benefits; developing culturally appropriate and locally relevant water safety education, while also continuing First Nations culture across generations.

Late Holocene technological provisioning at the Kings Table rockshelter, Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia

ABSTRACTTechnological analysis of the late Holocene component of the stone artefact assemblage recovered from the Kings Table rockshelter in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, provides the basis for an assessment of the site's role in broader late Holocene settlement‐subsistence systems. Drawing on Kuhn's widely employed “provisioning model”, as well as Kelleher's general pre‐contact occupation model for the Blue Mountains National Park (BMNP), we argue that the Kings Table rockshelter functioned as a short‐term field camp for logistically‐organised hunter‐gatherers whose principal residential bases were located in “off‐mountains” contexts. It is argued that the late Holocene component of the Kings Table assemblage has a technological “signature” entirely consistent with individual provisioning. Aboriginal groups occupying this site over the course of the late Holocene employed a mobile toolkit whose lithic component was dominated by artefacts manufactured out of high‐quality, transported silicified tuff and incorporated both backed artefact‐bearing composite tools and hafted edge‐ground hatchets (axes) as key elements.

Fucking up, fixing up, and standing up (to the colonial project of gender and sexuality)

AbstractAs a Wiradjuri person living on stolen Kabi Kabi Land, I begin this article by framing Yindyamarra Winhanganha as an ethos of my life, and therefore of the research I conduct. Yindyamarra Winhanganha is a complex Wiradjuri philosophy of designing a world that is made better through our actions. It forms the starting point of my relationality and centers my aspirations as a researcher. Wiradjuri is my Aboriginal language group and community, located in the colonial state of New South Wales, Australia, which constitutes a landmass larger than Portugal. In the Wiradjuri lands, there is a colonially disrupted archaeological record of occupation dating back at least 60,000 years. Relationality and connectedness underpin the conduct of my research, and—as is appropriate according to Yindyamarra—I reflect on how this approach has allowed growth, recalibration, and ethical conduct. If this article seems to only peripherally touch on anthropology, you can thank me later.

‘A recipe for cultural disaster!’– a case study of Woolworths Group’s proposal to build an alcohol megastore in Darwin, Northern Territory

BackgroundThe health and wellbeing impacts of commercial activity on Indigenous populations is an emerging field of research. The alcohol industry is a key driver of health and social harms within Australia. In 2016 Woolworths, the largest food and beverage retailer in Australia, proposed to build a Dan Murphy’s alcohol megastore in Darwin, near three ‘dry’ Aboriginal communities. This study examines the tactics used by Woolworths to advance the Dan Murphy’s proposal and understand how civil society action can overcome powerful commercial interests to protect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and wellbeing.MethodsData from 11 interviews with Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal informants were combined with data extracted from media articles and government, non-government and industry documents. Thematic analysis was informed by an adapted corporate health impact assessment framework.ResultsWoolworths employed several strategies including lobbying, political pressure, litigation, and divisive public rhetoric, while ignoring the evidence suggesting the store would increase alcohol-related harm. The advocacy campaign against the proposal highlighted the importance of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal groups working together to counter commercial interests and the need to champion Aboriginal leadership. Advocacy strategies included elevating the voices of community Elders in the media and corporate activism via Woolworths’ investors.ConclusionsThe strategies used by the coalition of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal groups may be useful in future advocacy campaigns to safeguard Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and wellbeing from commercial interests.

Tomorrow’s Country: Practice‐oriented principles for Indigenous cultural fire research in south‐east Australia

AbstractFirst Nations peoples are revitalising diverse cultural fire practices and knowledge. Institutional and societal recognition of these practices is growing. Yet there has been little academic research on these fire practices in south‐east Australia, let alone research led by Aboriginal people. We are a group of Indigenous and settler academics, practitioners, and experts focused on cultural fire management in the Victorian Loddon Mallee region. Using interviews and workshops, we facilitated knowledge sharing and discussion. In this paper, we describe three practice‐oriented principles to develop and maintain collaborations across Aboriginal groups, researchers, and government in the Indigenous‐led revitalisation of fire on Country: relationships (creating reciprocity and trust), Country (working with place and people), and power (acknowledging structures and values). Collaborations based on these principles will be unique to each temporal, social, cultural, and geographic context. Considering our findings, we acknowledge the challenges that exist and the opportunities that emerge to constructively hold space to grow genuinely collaborative research that creates change. We suggest that the principles we identify can be applied by anyone wanting to form genuine collaborations around the world as the need for social–ecological justice grows.

Cardiovascular risk management following gestational diabetes and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy: a narrative review.

Cardiovascular risk management following gestational diabetes and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy: a narrative review.

Social information inherent in backed artefacts from the Illawarra, western, and southwestern Sydney, NSW

Backed artefacts are multifunctional tools used by many Australian Aboriginal groups. Most were retouched in order to shape them rather than to create or modify a working edge, which suggests that they may have been made to certain shapes or sizes according to local traditions. This possibility is feasible as backed artefacts were not used for any unique functions. Hiscock (2014) found that variation in backed artefact shape (symmetry) across Australia was underlain by social arrangements and was potentially historically situated. But McDonald et al. (2018) found that backed artefacts from the Western Desert did not conform to the continental trend. We suggest that an important factor missing from these studies is a consideration of the potential for variation at different spatial scales. To investigate this possibility, we conducted morphometric and use-wear analyses on backed artefacts from four environmentally and socially different Aboriginal groups in New South Wales. The backed artefacts were not used for any distinct tasks and none in our study was hafted, but some variations exist in the morphometrics at the intra-regional scale. We infer that backed artefact production included group-specific traditions that potentially embody social information relating to local land-using or descent groups.