(NURBN2025) Health and Cultural Diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People

Purpose: To reflect on how culture, beliefs, and values affect us.

This analysis engages in a dispute over how a person's culture, beliefs, and values affect them and shape their personalities; how similar they are to Aboriginal people, communities, and organizations; and how significant these differences and similarities are. The goal is to examine and debate indigenous peoples' identities and cultures to gain insight into their worldviews. We will also consider how one's own identity, together with one's sociocultural context, shapes one's perceptions of and relationships with others. Exploring the foundations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals' personalities, taking into account their culturally wide range of beliefs, ideology, and perspective on life; evaluating the factors that contribute to cultural security vulnerabilities and tenacity, and also own correlation to lifestyle factors.

Culture and Identity

Religions, debates, and the difficulties of daily life all serve as sources of cultural inspiration. It's notably tough to define the term "culture" because of the particular character of human beings and their relationships with people. Communities' achievements, especially as they are expressed in antiques, are a set of institutionalized ways of thinking, perceiving, and behaving that are transmitted from generation to generation primarily through the medium of symbolism. Culture consists mostly of conventional ideas and the ideology that goes along with a person's beliefs and way of life. Culture is "a generally held, shared collection of values, beliefs, and ideas," as defined by sociologist Edgar Schein. Belonging to a group is influenced by several variables, many of which have to do with the shared cultural and social norms among its members. When boiled down to its essence, culture may be described as a "way of life" (Weinhardt, 2021).

Identity's impact on cultural values and beliefs

One's sense of cultural identity is created early in life, either by the attitudes and behaviors that are typical in one's family or the surrounding environment, therefore it is crucial to remember that one's ethnic heritage is fundamentally linked to our urge to belong. Everyone longs to be part of a group where they can relax and be themselves without fear of judgment or reprisal. Both our actual life experiences and our worldviews contribute to the formation of our core beliefs, which in turn determine our personalities. Our connections and careers are affected by our beliefs and ideals since our lives are founded on our thoughts (Bettache & Chiu, 2019).

Own culture and identity

My culture and identity

I am from the "Hindu Nation," which is widely considered to be one of the world's first continuous cultures. Even if they didn't practice the religion they do now, their cultural legacy—including their clothing and the language they call "Sanskrit"—could have been around since the fourth century, according to several scientists. It is widely held that Sanskrit is one of the three "mother tongues" (the others being Aramaic (the "ancient" version of Arabic) and Hebrew) with which people are born. These three languages also have several ancient traditional religious scriptures, with the Hebrew language being the oldest.

Beliefs & Values; Personal and Aboriginal – Interaction with Aboriginal people

The magnificent culture of aboriginal people is based on the values of self-control, independence, bravery, brotherhood, friendship, empathy, a sense of belonging and interconnectedness, reverence for land and nation, and a responsibility to protect and respect others. Aboriginals have a deep spirituality because they consider the soul to be a divine gift shared by all sentient creatures. Some indigenous people are Muslims, but the religion of the vast majority of them is unclear (Aboriginal Self-Determination - Aboriginal Cultural Capability Toolkit - VPSC, 2021).

What shaped my cultural lens

Being Hindu makes me a little different from the indigenous people living in Australia. The poor got poorer due to the system of Brahman, Sudra, and Khatri, where Brahmin consumed Sudra and Khatri off their resources in the name of bogus religious practices; in my opinion, Hindus are very cunning and mischievous people, and their actions reflect the pressure that existed on themselves due to Hindu teachings (Tagade & Thorat, 2020). The Hindu caste system is flawed because it is built on discrimination. The highest caste, Brahman, rules over the next lowest, Khatri, which in turn rules over Sudras, who are described as "the pre-ordained commoners of the community" (Singh, 2019).

Cultural safety

The Effects of Contact with Native Islanders on Oneself

According to the idea of cultural safety, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people must be provided with a secure setting in which they can freely engage in cultural activities. To maintain their cultural traditions, most modern-day Australians and immigrants have adopted a strategy centered on identifying points of resemblance between their own and the host country's society (Fleming et al., 2019).

There are many connections between Hinduism and the cultures of Australia's indigenous peoples, including the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. I learned from talking to Islanders that their feeling of patriotism, adherence to ancient cultural rituals, belief systems, and discipline are very comparable to mine (Curtis et al., 2019). When I interacted with them, the only noticeable distinctions were in terms of religion, attire, and language. While researching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander societies and customs, I concluded that the vast majority share our commitment to monogamy (Hcasj, 2021). The only things I could tell apart from the so-called "Hindus" and the "Aboriginal people" were the way they dressed and spoke.

Thoughts I've Had About Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples

Australians of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent are considered "natives" Despite their ethnic and cultural variety, these folks are pure, innocent, and harmless. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians shaped my beliefs. These folks have distinct ethnic backgrounds and cultural beliefs. Indigenous Australians and Torres Strait Islanders are indigenous to Australia (Butten et al., 2019). Groups have different traditions, beliefs, and norms of behavior. Compared to other Australian countries, they're less progressive and prioritize ancestral customs. Some Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in Australia are still struggling to meet their fundamental requirements and are less likely to embrace the outside world's complexity, as illustrated by the press and innumerable literary works from this group (Butten et al., 2019).

The cultural safety concept's insights

From what I've observed and read, it's clear that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people need to give up their old ways of life to keep up with the rest of the world. This doesn't mean they need to give up their beliefs, but rather their social norms, clothing, and methods of conveying and absorbing information. Modern survival strategies emphasize developing one's technical expertise and putting it to use in one's chosen field. Time waits for no one, and many cultures and civilizations like theirs have faced extinction due to the race to survive in today's world, so this group needs to learn a new language to interact with the developed cultures and successful individuals of different countries to improve their standard of living.

Conclusion: knowledge gained

To know for sure that the harm done to indigenous peoples is beyond repair. Strong and tenacious, aboriginal communities have weathered centuries of colonialism, racism, and occasional bloodshed. Healthcare providers may better serve indigenous people by learning about their values and perspectives and then listening to those values and perspectives without making any assumptions. No one should be inquisitive in their culture to the point that they ask questions that might be offensive. I intend to make effective use of the knowledge I have gained about indigenous health practices and traditions via my coursework. An essential part of being a health care provider is keeping in mind and appreciating the variety of cultural backgrounds that make up the population you serve.

References

Aboriginal Self-determination - Aboriginal Cultural Capability Toolkit - VPSC. (2021, August 23). VPS. https://vpsc.vic.gov.au/html-resources/aboriginal-cultural-capability- toolkit/aboriginal-self-determination

Bettie, K., & Chiu, C.-Y. (2019). The Invisible Hand is an Ideology: Toward a Social Psychology of Neoliberalism. Journal of Social Issues, 75(1), 8–19. https://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12308

Button, K., Johnson, N. W., Hall, K. K., Toombs, M., King, N., & O'Grady, K.-A. F. (2019). Impact of oral health on Australian urban Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families: a qualitative study. International Journal for Equity in Health, 18(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-019-0937-y

Curtis, E., Jones, R., Tipene-Leach, D., Walker, C., Loring, B., Paine, S.-J., & Reid, P. (2019). Why cultural safety rather than cultural competency is required to achieve health equity: a literature review and recommended definition. International Journal for Equity in Health, 18(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-019-1082-3

Fleming, T., Creedy, D. K., & West, R. (2019). Cultural safety continuing professional development for midwifery academics: An integrative literature review. Women and Birth, 32(4), 318–326. Doi: 10.1016/j.wombi.2018.10.001

Hcasj. (2021). Aboriginal Spirituality and Hindu Faith - Hindu Council of Australia. Hindu Council of Australia. https://hinducouncil.com.au/new/aboriginal-spirituality-and-hindu- Faith

Singh, N. (2019). Mapping B. R. Ambedkar Within the Matrix of Manu's Patriarchy, the Mentoring of Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad and the Dynamics of Agamben's Homo Sacer. Contemporary Voice of Dalit, 11(1), 33–43. DOI: 10.1177/2455328X18819900

Tagade, N., & Thorat, S. (2020). Intergroup Inequality in Wealth Ownership in Rural India: Caste, Tribe, and Religion. Journal Of Social Inclusion Studies, 6(2), 117-132. https://doi.org/10.1177/23944811211006501

Weinhardt, M. (2021, April). Mohr, John W., et al.: Measuring Culture [Book Review]. ResearchGate; University of Toronto Press. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/350890617_Mohr_John_W_et_al_Measuring_ Culture_Book_Review

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