Health a focus at international conference

The 2009 Native American and Indigenous Studies Conference recently held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States of America attracted over 600 scholars. The Conference was scholarly and interdisciplinary and was intended for Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars who work in American Indian/ Native American/ First Nations/ Aboriginal/ Indigenous Studies. Scholars came from USA, Canada, Hawaii, Central and South America, New Zealand, Switzerland, England and Australia. The aim of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Conference is to offer a chance to scholars working in the field of Indigenous Studies to present scholarly work. The 2009 witnessed a selection of papers from the discipline of Health. This article gives an overview of the Conference and some of the health papers.

'Getting a job' : Aborignal Women's issues and experiences in the health sector

Indigenous participation in employment has long been seen as an indicator of Indigenous economic participation in Australia. Researchers have linked participation in employment to improved health outcomes, increased education levels and greater self-esteem. There has been a dramatic increase in the number of Indigenous workforce policies and employment strategies as employers and industries attempt to employ more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Coupled with this has been a push to employ more Indigenous people in specific sectors to address the multiple layers of disadvantage experienced by Indigenous people, for example, the health sector. This paper draws on interview discussions with Aboriginal women in Rockhampton, Central Queensland, along with findings from the research of others to offer a greater understanding of the mixed benefits of increased Indigenous employment. What is demonstrated is that the nature of Indigenous employment is complex and not as simple as ‘just getting a job’.

Moving from Awareness to Knowing, Understanding, Speaking and Doing: Indigenous Women Academics in Higher Education. National Tertiary Education Women's Conference, 18-19 July 2009, South Melbourne, Victoria.

Bronwyn Fredericks was asked to outline some of the issues faced by Indigenous women academics.

Race and equity in higher education : A harder path for Indigenous academics

Our experiences as Indigenous academics within universities often reflects the experiences we have as Indigenous people in broader society, yet I am still surprised and angered when it is others working in higher education who espouse notions of justice and equity with whom we experience tension and conflict in asserting our rights, values and cultural values. At times it is a constant struggle even when universities have Reconciliation Statements as most of them do now, Indigenous recruitment or employment strategies and university wide anti-racism and anti-discrimination policies and procedures.

Being and Living in an Australian Urban Community

There is a limited evidence base which highlights the plight of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations living in urban areas and the issues that impact on Indigenous achievements in education, health status, housing needs, rates of incarceration and the struggle for cultural recognition. This is despite over 70 % of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia now living in urban or regional urban areas (ABS 2008). The statistics demonstrate that living in urban centres is as much part of reality for Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as living in a remote discrete community. Using the capital city of Brisbane, Queensland as a case study, this paper will explore some of the issues that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples face against a backdrop of the statistics and some of the current literature. It will additionally explore why there has been limited research with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations in urban areas and highlight some of the innovative research taking place which will begin to redress this gap. The research issues presented within this paper will resonate with some of the Native American and Indigenous movement patterns and associated issues additionally occurring in the United States of America, Canada and New Zealand.

Remediating vernacular creativity : photography and cultural citizenship in the Flickr photosharing network

Read through a focus on the remediation of personal photography in the Flickr photosharing website, in this essay I treat vernacular creativity as a field of cultural practice; one that that does not operate inside the institutions or cultural value systems of high culture or the commercial popular media, and yet draws on and is periodically appropriated by these other systems in dynamic and productive ways. Because of its porosity to commercial culture and art practice, this conceptual model of ‘vernacular creativity’ implies a historicised account of ‘ordinary’ or everyday creative practice that accounts for both continuity and change and avoids creating a nostalgic desire for the recuperation of an authentic folk culture. Moving beyond individual creative practice, the essay concludes by considering the unintended consequences of vernacular creativity practiced in online social networks: in particular, the idea of cultural citizenship.

Reconciling Nicci Lane : the 'unspeakable' significance of Australia's first indigenous porn star

This article will explore X-rated representations of Aboriginality in Australian-produced pornographic videos, particularly the image of Australia's first Indigenous porn-star, Nicci Lane. It investigates how pornographic narratives involving 'Aboriginal' characters or motifs are connected to broader embodiments of Aboriginality in popular culture. Drawing a parallel with Australian television drama and mainstream films, the article highlights how contemporary sexualized images of Aboriginal people are intimately tied to a politics of reconciliation. By surveying recent literature on pornography, which describe how certain pornographic narratives engage 'unspoken' community desires, my argument will discuss Nicci Lane's career as a unique development in the history of representations of Aboriginality. Through analysis of Lane’s Arigato Baby (1991), these ‘unspoken’ desires relate to showing Indigenous people in everyday sexual contexts, as romantic partners, friends and lovers. My argument will go on to suggest that, through Nicci Lane's performance and profile, the image of Australia’s first Indigenous porn-star offers the possibility for imagining new kinds of interracial intimacy within the Australian public sphere.

The Australian election survey: the tale of the rabbit-less hat. Voting behaviour in 2007

This paper examines voter attitudes and behaviour at the 2007 Australian federal election., using data from the Australian Election Study. It considers socio-demographic factors as well as the role of policy issues and voter evaluations of the party leaders. The paper concludes that issues, such as the government's WorkChoices policy, as well as health and leadership contributed to Labor's victory.

Murri Courts : Indigenous Magistrate Courts : communicating for better outcomes

In setting the scene for this paper, it is useful to briefly outline the history of the Queensland legal system. Our legal system was largely inherited from Britain, so it is, therefore, based in European-Western cultural and legal traditions. Alongside this, and over many thousands of years, Australian Indigenous communities devised their own socio-cultural-legal structures. As a result, when Indigenous people are drawn into interactions with our English-based law and court system, which is very different from Aboriginal law, they face particular disadvantages. Problems may include structural and linguistic differences, the complex language of the law and court processes, cultural differences, gender issues, problems of age, communication differences, the formalities of the courtroom, communication protocols used by judges, barristers, and court administrators, and particularly, the questioning techniques used by police and lawyers.

The meaning of cancer for Australian Aboriginal women : changing the focus of cancer nursing

Aim: The purpose of the study was to explore why Aboriginal women participate in cancer screening programs but appear reluctant to following-up results, or accept medical advice about treatment. Methods: Interpretive ethnography, a qualitative methodology, was used to explore Aboriginal women’s perception of cancer, and the cultural context in which meaning was constructed and influenced treatment decision. Data collection, which occurred over two years, involved fieldwork, participant-observation, face-to-face interviews and focus groups, in two rural Aboriginal communities. Forty eight interviews were recorded from a cross section of the communities, including cancer survivors and patients, family members, health care providers and other women from the community. Results: Key findings were that Aboriginal women’s had a fearful and fatalistic attitude toward cancer, doubted the efficacy of treatment and carried an enduring ambivalence toward the authority of whiteman’s medicine. The women faced a dilemma of wanting access to cancer treatment options but feared entering hospital or clinics not attuned to their cultural needs. Conclusion: The findings highlight the need for a culture-centred approach that decentres the authority of conventional services and instead gives prominence to Aboriginal cultural values as a focal point in cancer control. It should be the responsibility of cancer nurses and others to engage with their local Aboriginal communities to build relationships that foster an exchange of learning about cultural differences that make a difference to how cancer control is practiced.

The 2010 Native American and Indigenous Studies Association Conference

The 2010 Native American Indigenous Studies Conference was held at The Westin La Paloma Resort, Tucson, Arizona, USA from 20-22 May. The conference was scholarly and interdisciplinary and intended for Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars who work in American Indian/ Native American/ First Nations/ Aboriginal/ Indigenous Studies. The 2010 gathering attracted 768 registrations from the USA, Canada, Hawaii, Mexico, New Zealand and Australia and other countries. This paper is a personal reflection and overview of the 2010 Conference.

The 4th International Network of Indigenous Health Knowledge and Development Conference

The International Network of Indigenous Health Knowledge and Development (INIHKD) Conference was held from Monday 24 May to Friday 28 May 2010 at Kiana Lodge, Port Madison Indian Reservation, Suquamish Nation, Washington State, United States of America. The overall theme for the 4th Biennial Conference was ‘Knowing Our Roots: Indigenous Medicines, Health Knowledges and Best Practices’. This article details the experience of participants who were at the INIHKD Conference. It concludes with an encouragement to people to attend the 5th INIHKD Conference in Australia in 2012.

We’ve had the Redfern Park Speech and The Apology: What’s next?

What really changed for Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people between Paul Keating’s Redfern Park Speech (Keating 1992) and Kevin Rudd’s Apology to the stolen generations (Rudd 2008)? What will change between the Apology and the next speech of an Australian Prime Minister? The two speeches were intricately linked, and they were both personal and political. But do they really signify change at the political level? This paper reflects my attempt to turn the gaze away from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and back to where the speeches originated: the Australian Labor Party (ALP). I question whether the changes foreshadowed in the two speeches – including changes by the Australian public and within Australian society – are evident in the internal mechanisms of the ALP. I also seek to understand why non-Indigenous women seem to have given in to the existing ways of the ALP instead of challenging the status quo which keeps Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples marginalised. I believe that, without a thorough examination and a change in the ALP’s practices, the domination and subjugation of Indigenous peoples will continue – within the Party, through the Australian political process and, therefore, through governments.

Working on the art of writing

In this short Case story Bronwyn Fredericks shares some of her tips on writing and about the craft of writing. This Case story is contained within the publication titled 'Researching Indigenous Health: A Practical Guide for Researchers', by Alison Laycock, Diane Walker, Nea Harrison and Jenny Brands and published by The Lowitja Institute(pp.266-267).