NPYWC Emotional and Social Wellbeing Project

The Commonwealth Government's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Emotional and Social Wellbeing (mental health) Action Plan has established regional centres throughout Australia. These centres are usually operated by consortiums of Aboriginal health and education organisations. The NPY Women's Council has joined with Central Australian Aboriginal Congress in Alice Springs to create the Central Australian Emotional and Social Wellbeing Regional Centre. Congress is primarily working with indigenous people in Alice Springs and the NPY Women's Council project is working with Anangu in our member communities. The NPY Women's Council's project commenced in March 1998 and employs a social worker and a senior Anangu woman, as well as two ngangkaris (traditional healers). The workers are based in communities and travel extensively throughout the region. The project uses an action research approach, in common with all NPY Women's Council projects. The project has been concentrating on establishing strong links with other services. An additional priority is to look at what mainstream services, ideas, training, and understandings of mental health issues are relevant and culturally acceptable or appropriate for Anangu. Elsie Wanatjura (project worker) explains this project as being a bridge between cultures, and also as 'making a road', whereby resources and assistance can travel into communities and families in an effective and appropriate way.

The project aims to promote and support traditional healing practices. The NPY Women's Council executive have emphasised that traditional means of assisting Anangu with mental health issues should be at the forefront of this project. To this end, the project has successfully sought funding for two ngangkaris from the South Australian Government Department of Human Services. The Commonwealth Office of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health is also assisting the project to ensure traditional healing practices are incorporated in to the regional centre training framework.

The project, in partnership with Congress, aims to develop training in mental health issues for Anangu workers that is relevant, effective and culturally appropriate, while also ensuring that non-indigenous mental health staff working with Anangu are well informed about the role of traditional healing.

What do Ngangkaris do?

by Elsie Wanatjura, Emotional and Social Well Being Project Worker

A 'Ngangkari' is a very clever person - they know all about sickness - they can look at someone inside and see their sickness. They can look and see that someone is unhappy or mad or something is wrong with their head, from looking at their face - they look at their face and say, "I can see that problem". A mother might say, "My son is mad, I will take him to the Ngangkari" - and the Ngangkari says, "Yes, there is something wrong" - and they will touch his head and hold it tightly, and pull something out of his head, it might be a stone or a stick, or a mamu (bad spirit) inside making him crazy. Then at night when the Ngangkari is asleep his spirit might go to that youngfella's place and go inside his head and fight with that mamu, and pull it out and get rid of it. That young fella will wake up and think, "Oh I'm happy, I'm feeling good, my head is no longer heavy - that mamu is gone."

Sometimes a person's spirit can leave them, go outside them and sit down somewhere else. This can make that person weak and sad and lethargic. That Ngangkari can find that spirit and grab it and put it back inside that person, and that makes them strong again. Or sometimes that spirit is in the wrong place in the body and the ngankari moves it back into the right place.

A whitefella doctor can use an x-ray and look inside someone but they won't see what that Ngangkari sees. The Ngangkari is a really important one.

Ngangkaris start learning from when they are very small children - from their grandparents. The Ngangkari's grandfather might think, "I might finish up soon - I will give that child my kuuti." (vital energy, life force). He will push the kuuti into the child's two palms. Then that child will sleep and his spirit will go out and sit down with all the Ngangkaris, and everyone will know that child is really a Ngangkari.

Whitefella doctors learn from paper; Ngangkaris learn from the spirits. Years and years and years of learning.