ABORIGINAL HEALERS, BUSH DOCTORS & WESTERN MEDICINE: Bridging the Divide with Dr.Francesca Panzironi

From Italy to the remote Central Desert of Southern Australia. Thought leader, international human rights academic Dr. Francesca Panzironi created an international platform to document and support the practice of the 60,000 year old Aboriginal traditional healing knowledge system. Traditional Australian Aboriginal healers are working alongside doctors and nurses for the first time in Australia. Dr Panzironi is the founder and serves as Chief Executive Officer of ANTAC, Aṉangu Ngangkaṟi Tjutaku Aboriginal Corporation. She applied her knowledge and experience, to promote the recognition of the internationally recognised right of Indigenous Peoples to maintain and practice their traditional medicines within Australia' s national health care system. Dr Panzironi traveled across South Australia for over four years (2008-2012) collecting evidence of the current status of Aboriginal Traditional Medicine in community and clinical settings. The findings of her research are published in Hand-in-Hand. Report on Aboriginal Traditional Medicine. This is her story and this is her passion.

WIN News Riverina NSW

Aboriginal community members from across the Riverina have embraced a rare opportunity to connect with traditional healers - known as Ngangkari - during a visit initiated by Wagga City Council. 

Sadly, the 60,000 year old tradition has all but disappeared in the region, but - after the Ngangkari's empowering visit - there's a renewed hope for the future.

https://www.facebook.com/WINNewsRiverina/videos/464779747656132/

60,000 years of traditional aboriginal medicine touches the spirit of Katungul

Batemans Bay was gifted 60,000 years of traditional medicine with guest Ngangkari or Aboriginal healers who are spending two days at Katungul re-centring the spirit of their patients.

There wasn’t one person who came out of the healers’ room un-rattled, in a good way.

It had such a profound effect on first-timer Debbie Grant that she returned in tears.

“The pain has gone from my knees and I’m with spirit again, I really can’t even explain why I’m crying.

“When she was working on my head it was almost like she was pulling thoughts from me and they were just disappearing, it was amazing.”

Debbie went on to talk about what the healer did. “She rubs on your body and pulls out what doesn’t need to be there.”

Supported by the Hand-in-Hand. Report on Aboriginal Traditional Medicine and led by Dr Francesca Panzironi, Ngangkari is now available across several locations in South Australia.

“Ngangkari are kind of like a mixture between a general practitioner and a psychiatrist all in one. Their medicine is holistic in nature, concerned with a person spiritually and physically, and this is important to many indigenous people,” Dr Panzironi CEO of ANTAC (Anangu Ngangkari Tjutaku Aboriginal Corporation) told Uplift.

Ngangkari is still being introduced into health services in New South Wales. As soon as the team at Katungul heard about Ngangkari healers, they worked on bringing them to Batemans Bay.

“A lot of our clients through drug and alcohol and mental health teams really jumped at the opportunity to see the healers,” community services director Angela Nye said, who felt “light as a feather” after her experience.

“When I came to work today I was so heavy and tired but now I’ve got an energy, I don’t even feel like I’m here actually, that’s how light I feel.

The Aboriginal woman whose healing power is described as ‘a miracle’ comes from a long family lineage of healers. Debbie Watson grew up learning with her father different Ngangkari skills.

She aligned Angela’s spirit connecting her back to mother earth.

Katungul‘s CEO, Joanne Grant is determined to close the gap in Batemans Bay through providing targeted services for specific needs, like Ngangkari.

“We lead with our heart, we’re part of this community,” Ms Grant said.

Pirili felt she could benefit from healing but had no idea what to expect.

“I’m a bit nervous because I don’t know much about it, I’m just anxious to see what is going to happen.”

Cyril started healing people from a very young age. He learned his Ngangkari Tjukurpa from his mum and family. (Photographing him made me nervous, I found it hard to look into his eyes – I felt he could see right through mine.)

The 10 minutes I spent with the healers, left me with an even greater curiosity for the tried and proven practice of Ngangkari. As Joanne Grant says, “How can we get 60,000 years of traditional medicine wrong? Our hearts just have to be open in order to receive the healing.”

https://aboutregional.com.au/60000-years-of-traditional-aboriginal-medicine-touches-the-spirit-of-katungul/?fbclid=IwAR3iDJXJJwh-kbbNl2eLPPCpeXJOFWKUdkt7BYsetTucATSGP3PcFKibYmY

Aboriginal healers treat patients along side doctors and nurses at Lyell McEwin Hospital

A public hospital in Adelaide is tapping into 60,000 years of traditional medicine from Aboriginal healers — also known as Ngangkari — to help treat Indigenous patients.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-02-20/aboriginal-healers-treat-patients-alongside-doctors-and-nurses/10826666

Key points:

• The traditional practice uses touch, breath and bush medicine to heal a person's spirit
• The program couples traditional Aboriginal treatment with Western medicine
• A health expert says doctors have been pushing for Ngangkari to work with them

Under the program, the traditional healers will work alongside doctors and nurses to provide what Lyell McEwin Hospital staff have described as a "complementary" treatment to medical care.

Trying to 'close the gap'

Lyell McEwin Hospital executive director of Aboriginal health, Kurt Towers, said doctors had been pushing for Ngangkari to work alongside them for some time.

"There's been a real want and need from our clinicians in the hospital and the mental health centre to want to incorporate traditional beliefs and spiritual care to complement the mainstream medicine," Mr Towers said.

Dr Simon Jenkins works at the hospital and said he believed it would encourage more Aboriginal people to seek medical treatment, because they would know they could also access Ngangkari healing.

"If you don't address the spirit of the Aboriginal people in the healing process then they are far less likely to engage in the healthcare system," he said.

"This is one step forward for our journey in all of our services to try to close that gap," Mr Towers said.

SBS The FEED  The Healing Touch: Indigenous healers getting results

The ngangkari travelling across New South Wales to heal communities and individuals featured in THE FEED.

Max Watson, Mukayi Baker and Margaret Winton visit Wellington's hospital to provide Ngangkari Clinics as part of the Western NSW Local Health District's Ngangkari Clinics visits. 

Sandra Hocking tells her story of healing with the ngangkari healers from the APY lands. Dr Clayton Spencer, Medical Director of Western NSW Local Health District, outlines the significance for Aboriginal communities  to access Aboriginal traditional healing practices and the benefits from a cultural, spiritual, emotional and physical perspective.

Channel 7: Bush Medicine - The House of Wellness

Director Debbie Watson and CEO Francesca Panzironi featured in 'Bush Medicine' by The House of Wellness - Channel 7. Debbie explains the significance of bush medicine which has been used from time immemorial to alleviate physical ailments in her community and across other communities in the APY lands. 

Debbie shows how she prepares the irmangka-irmangka bush rub in our newly established Aboriginal Traditional Healing Centre in Adelaide.

1382 kilometri per rispondere ad una domanda

La medicina aborigena ha una tradizione che dura da circa 60.000 anni ma è ancora poco conosciuta. Il lavoro pionieristico di Francesca Panzironi tenta di ricostruire la storia attraverso le testimonianze dei guaritori aborigeni delle APY Lands del South Australia.

Secondo la Dichiarazione delle Nazioni Unite sui Diritti delle Popolazioni Indigene, queste hanno il diritto a poter esercitare e ricevere i loro rimedi medicinali tradizionali. Ma, seppure la medicina tradizionale cinese ad esempio è riconosciuta anche a livello istituzionale, la medicina aborigena è pressochè sconosciuta. Perchè?

Questa è la domanda che si è posta la Dottoressa Francesca Panzironi che, non trovando risposta nei libri, è andata a cercarla lungo le strade rosse del deserto meridionale australiano.

“La mia curiosità era cercare di capire se ancora esistessero dei guaritori aborigeni in Australia o se fossero scomparsi, come alcune persone mi dicevano. La mia domanda era: cosa è successo”

By Francesca Valdinoci 

Indigenous Conversations: How traditional Aboriginal healing is filling the gaps of Western medicine

For 60,000 years, traditional Aboriginal healers or Ngangkaṟi have treated patients using a set of ancient medical knowledge system passed down from generations. Today, the 21st century Ngangkaṟi  are being reintroduced into the health system to treat ailments Western medicine cannot cure....{list to podcast linked}

by Amy Chien-Yu Wang 

This featured story has been translated in many languages, including Patsha, 

Access www.sbs.com.au/yourlanguage

Key Thinkers Forum: Poche Center of Indigenous Health, University of Sydney

Uncovering the potency of traditional healing

Indigenous Australians experience a greater prevalence of health conditions, such as kidney and heart disease than other Australians since Europeans arrived in 1788. 

In fact, they die 10 years younger than their non-Indigenous counterparts, according to the latest Australian Government data.

But Tracy McCarthy says traditional medicine, which has been practiced for more than 40,000 years, may hold the key to closing this gap.

"That's what we need to do - [recognise and practice traditional healing]," Ms McCarthy, senior project officer at Deputy Vice-Chancellor Indigenous Strategy and Services of the University of Sydney, told ‘The Point’.

"Our culture is the foundation of this nation."

Seeking health policy recognition for Ngangkaṟi healers

Traditional healers from South Australia bring their centuries-old practice to a clinic in Sydney’s inner west.

Deep in the heart of the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) lands, in the far northwest of South Australia, Max and Debbie Watson learnt the traditional healing methods of the ngangkari.

It’s a practice that was passed on from their fathers when they were little.

Debbie Watson explains that ngangkari work in pain relief, and restoring the body’s spiritual alignment, often through pressing their hands on the patient’s skin.

"When people get sick, we take away the pain. We see inside the mind," she says.

By Rachael Hocking 

Ngangkari healers make their mark Sydney's inner west

Traditional healers from South Australia bring their centuries-old practice to a clinic in Sydney’s inner west.

Deep in the heart of the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) lands, in the far northwest of South Australia, Max and Debbie Watson learnt the traditional healing methods of the ngangkari. It’s a practice that was passed on from their fathers when they were little. Debbie Watson explains that ngangkari work in pain relief, and restoring the body’s spiritual alignment, often through pressing their hands on the patient’s skin. "When people get sick, we take away the pain. We see inside the mind," she says.

Max and Debbie Watson are beginning to pabut they hope to spread it much farther than their communities. Last week, they brought their practice to a wellness centre in the suburb of Leichhardt in Sydney. In the centre’s backyard, a non-Indigenous man called Andrew Crabbe gave the healing method a try. Lying on his back, Max and Debbie kneaded at his skin. "You could feel places that they were touching, there were things moving inside me that felt like they hadn't moved for a while and were maybe out of place," Mr Crabbe said. “And I feel now a lot more energised, a lot more balanced and aligned - if that's possible.” {link attached}

By Rachael Hocking

The Doctor Man’s lair: a sonic journey with Anangu Ngangkari

Producers Simon Green and Liz Thompson document their exploration deep into the geographical and ontological heart of the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) lands in South Australia. Here, they meet with Anangu Ngangkari, or traditional healers,Cyril McKenzie, Gordon Ingkatji, Kunmanara Ken and Sam Watson, and learn about the Central Desert people’s healing traditions... {Listen to the podcast on image}

The Ngangkaṟi: Aboriginal traditional healing explained 

Dr Francesca Panzironi, Debbie Watson and Cyril McKenzie invited at Radio Adelaide to talk about Aboriginal traditional healing. Debbie Watson and Cyril McKenzie, co-founders and ngangkaṟi members of the Aṉangu Ngangkaṟi Tjutaku Aboriginal Corporation (ANTAC) explain their growing up as healers in their home communities in the APY lands. They explain what it means to be a ngangkaṟi and how the traditional knowledge is passed down from generation to generation through family lines. Dr Panzironi talks about her journey with the ngangkaṟi and the foundation of ANTAC, the first organization of Aboriginal Traditional Healers in Australia.

Produced by Marnie Round

Fregon, APY Lands: Aṉangu Ngangkaṟi Tjutaku Aboriginal Corporation

A road trip to Fregon, a small Aboriginal community in the APY Lands, take us to meet some of the 

Produced by Lindy Kerin

Traditional healers - Ngangkaṟi - in an Australia-first

In an Australia-first, traditional Aboriginal healers from central Australia have coalesced to form a corporate body to coordinate the provision of their health care services. Recently in Adelaide the new body – Anangu Ngangkari Tjutaku Aboriginal Corporation -launched the ‘Hand-in-Hand. Report on Aboriginal Traditional Medicine’.

Author of the report, Dr Francesca Panzironi said the publication and the formation of the Anangu Ngangkari Tjutaku Aboriginal Corporation are the outcomes of a four-year research project on Aboriginal Traditional Medicine. Dr Panzironi worked alongside a number of ngagkari (traditional healers) to produce the report and in developing Indigenous health policy in South Australia approved by the Aboriginal Health Research Ethics Committee of the Aboriginal Health Council of South Australia.

“The Hand-in-Hand report proposes a new statewide policy framework grounded on the extensive, evidence-based enquiry on the status of Aboriginal traditional medicine within the international, national and South Australian context,” said Dr Panzironi...read more {link on the image}

Traditional healers get organised

The first organisation of Aboriginal traditional healers was launched recently along with a report which looks at the place such healers could take within the Western medical system. Ngangkari healers already operate in remote Australia but the new Aṉangu Ngangkaṟi Tjutaku Aboriginal Corporation (ANTAC) will accredit them, and work towards a two-way health care model.

Dr Francesca Panzironi has worked with a group of Ngangkaṟi healers in the APY lands to set up ANTAC. She says while many other countries have two way systems she was amazed to find when she fame to Australia that there was no research into or recognition of Aboriginal traditional healers...{Listen to podcast on image}

Produced by Annie Hastwell

Visiting the Ngangkari in the APY Lands

'Traditional healers, or ngangkari, have been carrying our their work across Central Australia for ever. They were looking after the sick long before there were hospitals and health clinics. The deeply spiritual practices are often used along side western medicine but according to some is an ad hoc system that fails to truly recognise the ngangkari skills. As Lindy Kerin report this is about to change...'{video attached}

Launch

Aṉangu Ngangkaṟi Tjutaku Aboriginal Corporation and

"Hand-in-Hand. Report on Aboriginal Traditional Medicine"

The first study into the use and place of Aboriginal Traditional Medicine and healing (Ngangkari) has just been released in Australia.

Dr Francesca Panzironi has spent the last 5 years looking into where Aboriginal traditional medicine fits in the western medical system of Australia. Her report Hand In Hand{link} proposes a new statewide policy framework that encapsulates a two-way health care model to guarantee the systematic and consistent provision of Ngangkari health care services hand-in-hand with western medicine.

The research has resulted in the establishment of the Aṉangu Ngangkaṟi Tjutaku Aboriginal Corporation (ANTAC), the first organisation of Aboriginal traditional healers in the country.

Marnie Round spoke to Dr Francesca Panzironi, and Debbie Watson and Kunmanara Ken – two Ngangkaṟi healers and founders of the Aṉangu Ngangkaṟi Tjutaku Aboriginal Corporation.

In the second part of Hand In Hand Tauto Sansbury from the South Australian Aboriginal Coalition for Social Justice shares his perspectives on the research into Aboriginal traditional medicine in Australia, and Sonia Waters shares her moving and personal experience with Ngangkari healers.

Produced by Marnie Round