Reviewed in O&G by Margaret O’Brien,
The Royal Australian & New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
Vol 3 No 2, June 2001 p.139
Available at www.ranzcog.edu.au
Richard Trudgen is a balanda or non-Aboriginal person who lived and worked with the Yolngu people of East Arnhem Land as a mechanic in the 1970s. He returned in the early 1990s to find that 'the Yolngu had lost control of their own lives' with devastating consequences. Young people were dying from heart attacks, strokes, diabetes and cancer at five times the national average. There was very little meaningful employment and an increasing dependence on welfare. He felt that a sense of hopelessness was leading to destructive antisocial behaviour, substance abuse and suicide. How did this happen? Trudgen takes us on a journey of understanding in his explanation. Many of us from the 'dominant' white culture will find the details of the appalling treatment of Aboriginal people by our ancestors and previous governments difficult to comprehend and painful to read.Trudgen then takes us through the 'mission days' and the more recent history of Arnhem Land with the eventual displacement of Yolngu people from employment by 'outsiders'. The councils, the banks, the schools, the clinics, etc are now staffed by these 'outsiders'. Yolngu people were previously doing this work themselves and Trudgen feels that the 'dominant' culture has taken over, leaving the Yolngu with little self-esteem or control over their lives.This has led to a state of 'learned helplessness', which is complicated by the balanda’s poor understanding of either the culture or the language of the Yolngu Matha.Trudgen goes on to describe our 'world view' as a product of environmental and historical factors, such as the development of villages and cities, the industrial revolution, the discovery of bacteria and viruses, etc. On the other hand, the Yolngu 'world view', especially of illness, is very different. He gives many examples of the miscommunication that has occurred when language and culture are ignored by dominant culture health professionals. Unfortunately Aboriginal Health Workers trained by balanda, yet not having the traditional authority of 'marrngitj' (healers) are caught 'in the middle of the sandwich' and can suffer a great deal of stress working between cultures.The problem of indigenous education, especially the 'ineffective' and 'culturally incorrect' methods being used, are discussed. Trudgen concludes that 'the only education that will work … is education of the whole community'. He explains that teaching the children alone creates conflict with the authority of the elders. He describes the 'traditional learning process' in relation to new information and proposes that programs to pass on this information need to 'take the people’s immense intellectual ability seriously' and gives an example of a successful health program at Galiwinku to combat melioidosis.Trudgen believes that 'programs' that truly empower the Yolngu to fight the problems that have led to loss of control should replace existing 'programs'. In particular, ways of providing meaningful employment and taking control of their own communities and hence the future need to be developed.
This book has been widely read by balanda working with Aboriginal people in the top end and contains essential cross-cultural information. The stories (especially those of garbled communication) are all too familiar but more importantly the book focuses on the current crisis in the health and education of Aboriginal people. Trudgen provides us with some provocative potential solutions but many of us are still wondering what will become of the children of Arnhem Land when they have neither an adequate education or basic English literacy skills.
