I am an international student from Vietnam, and I have only been in Australia for over two years, so my first-hand experience with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples is minimal. For me, Indigenous people seem to be outcasts from the Australian society since it is very rare to meet any of them on the streets, so my image or visualisation of Aboriginal communities has come mainly from media and societal depiction of them. Yet, my ‘worldview’, which forms from my culture, context, background knowledge and the way I was brought up, has provided a lens for my understanding of the Aboriginal culture and their philosophy of life (Williams et al. 2016).
It is interesting, that even though I have learned about the diversity of Aboriginal Peoples, especially before the time of British colonisation when the Australian continent was not one nation as we see now but comprised of several separate language groups (roughly five hundred at the time) with their own language and culture (Sherwood & Geia 2014), the mental image of Rick came to me just as a single visualisation, and there is no appreciation of the diversity of the Aboriginal Peoples . I believe this is because, as a result of Australian media and press trying to paint historical pictures, a single assigned image and collective terms such as ‘Aboriginal’ or ‘Indigenous’ have gradually replaced and dismissed their origins and their names for themselves (McCausland 2004).
My visualisation of Rick arrives merely from photos and public depiction of the Australian press and society – from his physical appearance, including his dark skin, long hair in a ponytail, height, shape, messy beard and moustache with white strokes of paint across his face, to the traditional Aboriginal clothes he is wearing (McCausland 2004). However, as described above, Rick has sad-looking black eyes, which I believe comes from the fact that two of his children were taken away a long time ago as a result of history of British colonisation and the implemented policies, especially the establishment of the Aboriginal Protection Policy (Sherwood & Geia 2014). This was considered as an act of betrayal where Indigenous children were forcibly separated from their parents and families from 1814 under Western people’s attempt to ‘civilise’ them, where in fact they were ‘exploited as slaves and guides for settlers’ (Durey et al. 2012). His family is a victim of this, and his children are the ‘Stolen Generations’. It has left nothing but pain and sorrow over his eyes.
Rick’s family is living in the outback in the Northern Territory in terrible conditions. The belief that most of the Aboriginal communities are living in poverty, again, arises from the societal depiction of their history of colonisation (Sherwood & Geia 2014). Its consequences were tragic and have still impacted on the current life of the Indigenous people (Williams et al. 2016). Aboriginal Peoples are considered to be socially disadvantaged, with continual sufferings from social, educational economic, social, and political marginalisation (West et al. 2010). At their worst, some of them are living in caravans where there is limited supply of clean water, leading to poor hygiene practices, adequate amount of healthy food and so on. The colonial forces brought about ‘dispossession and ongoing warfare’ that depleted the resources once supplied to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, which ultimately has caught them in a poverty trap (Sherwood & Geia 2014).
Health problems, diseases and deaths are direct causal effects of history, ongoing warfare and policies (Williams et al. 2016). The British introduction of diseases to which the Indigenous people had no exposure to before (hence their immune system was vulnerable), resulting in tragic deaths (Sherwood & Geia 2014). Furthermore, limited access to primary health services as well as the way ‘the system operates against explaining and education of patients and their families about the significance of their illness and the need for follow-up care’ (Williams et al. 2016) have created barriers to communication between Western healthcare system and the Indigenous people (Williams et al. 2016). Until now, statistics have shown a significant higher number of Aboriginal Peoples suffering from chronic health issues such as cardiovascular diseases and cancer (West et al. 2010), and this is why in my visualisation, Rick has various co-morbidities and alcohol abuse. Furthermore, his drinking problem and seemingly depression may have arisen from social stress, depression and his children being taken away and the past and implemented policies from the government.
Rick was admitted to the Emergency Department of my hospital as his head was injured with a deep cut, resulting in loss of blood and disorientation. The test results showed a significant amount of alcohol in his blood, and it was believed he had gotten himself into a fight before admission. I think this image might have come from the idea of criminality, aggression and conflict associated with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, which again arises from societal illustration of them (McCausland 2014). This false image is a result of institutional racism of media and press, where they ‘selectively’ portray ‘newsworthy’ events regarding the negativity and stereotype of the Indigenous communities. This has profoundly influenced the way Australians, as well as general public, view the First Peoples, and the way policies are formulated and established (McCausland 2014). ‘Media stories portray examples of appalling health, social breakdown, housing crises and waste money’ (Sherwood & Geia 2014). However, the Aboriginal Peoples have not only been known with negativity, but also for their maintenance of living in absolute harmony with nature (Graham 1999). My visualisation of Rick’s family hunting and gathering, as well as burning bushes to promote further growth of plants, arises from literature and stories I learned from high school, where there is significance appreciation towards their way of living with nature.