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“Don't let anybody ever put you down culturally…. it's not good…”: Creating spaces for Blak women's healing
Author(s) -
Balla Paola,
Jackson Karen,
Quayle Amy F,
Sonn Christopher C,
Price Rowena K
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
american journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.113
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1573-2770
pISSN - 0091-0562
DOI - 10.1002/ajcp.12607
Subject(s) - indigenous , kinship , sociology , spirituality , cultural identity , gender studies , vulnerability (computing) , identity (music) , aesthetics , anthropology , social science , medicine , art , ecology , negotiation , alternative medicine , computer security , pathology , computer science , biology
Research has highlighted the importance of Indigenous knowledge and cultural practice in healing from ongoing histories of trauma, dispossession, and displacement for Indigenous peoples in Australia and elsewhere. Connection with culture, Country, and kinship has been identified as protective factors for Aboriginal social and emotional well‐being and as facilitating cultural healing. This paper draws on stories mediated through cultural practice specifically, Wayapa and bush‐dyeing workshops, to explore how women resignified experiences and engaged in “healing work.” Our collaborative analysis of the stories shared resulted in three main themes that capture dialogs about the need for culturally safe spaces, vulnerability and identity, and culture, Country, and place. Centering Aboriginal knowledge, our analysis shows the meanings of Country, spirituality, and the coconstitution of people, culture, and the natural environment. Through Indigenous cultural practice, the women “grew strength in relationship” as they engaged in the psychosocial processes of deconstruction, reclamation, and renarrating personal and cultural identities.