One passionate educator – Mayalil Marika – is helping to lead that change, developing a powerful new initiative at Flinders University of South Australia. She imparts invaluable knowledge of bush medicine to students nearing graduation, aiming to preserve First Nations culture and wisdom for future generations. The program focuses on the importance of knowing Indigenous cultural practices, especially as it interfaces with the healthcare system and how to best interact with Aboriginal patients.
The bush medicine program provides a flexible learning experience, between six weeks and six months. It acts as a translator between Indigenous traditional knowledge and western health practices. Marika’s teachings encompass critical aspects of Yolngu culture, including kinship, which she regards as essential for fostering mutual respect and understanding within healthcare settings.
Students enrolled in the program are taught the Native names for many plants and their medicinal uses. This understanding goes hand in hand with land and is transmitted in oral tradition. Marika feels it’s important to get students ‘out bush’ to immerse them into the learning experience. There, they engage with the stories, families, and local history.
Though only one of them was in the preparatory program this year, Tameka has benefited from the partnership the University holds with the University of Canberra. She hopes to apply what she’s learned throughout her Master’s studies to her final placement working at a hospital in Canberra. Today, the program continues to make strides in creating better communication between healthcare professionals and Aboriginal patients. It addresses the systemic inequities that have long impeded patient care.
Richard Fejo, the senior elder on campus at Flinders University, expresses his pride in witnessing students graduate with an understanding of bush medicine. He emphasizes the important difference this understanding can make on health inequities.
“And everything we’re doing here in the cultural space is about improving the doctor-patient relationship. This is how we contribute to making better health outcomes. A complete different – and new class of doctor.”
The program is equally concerned with combating chronic health conditions in Indigenous populations, most notably renal disease. Fejo has noticed a healthy increase in research to avoid renal failures with these populations.
“There is a couple of programs. There is a lot of chronic kidney disease. So just over this weekend, I have met people that doing research in renal disease – and through that I have now got research papers that have been made and done on Indigenous community to prevent renal failures.” – Richard Fejo
As her teaching into the curriculum, Marika shares old remedies, multi-generational practices to go with bush medicine. She illustrates the plants used to prepare remedies for flu symptoms, letting us appreciate their strength and efficiency.
“It’s bush medicine. We eat them, raw or we make juice. And it’s for flu. Any flu. And, have a smell…” – Mayalil Marika
As someone deeply connected to Indigenous healing practices, Marika shares how specific trees help heal and restore balance. She identifies initial attempts to innovate on the different ways tree bark has been used in traditional Betel painting and in medicine.
“The (Yolngu dialect name for a specific tree) trees are here. It is everywhere. The outer bark is used for painting. Maybe you have come across the paintings around the camp, the shelters? It is used from (made from) bark. But it is the inner part that was used when we had the COVID, flu, itchy throat. Your whole body. It can heal you. And it goes real deep.” – Mayalil Marika
The program immerses students in the teachings of bush medicine. It fosters an understanding of Yolngu culture and its fundamental concept of kinship.
“I think it is really important to actually demonstrate that. We actually have a beautiful culture. So out here Yolngu talk a lot about kinship. And this is a system that most Australians are unaware of.” – Richard Fejo
Sarahjane Salmon, another fellow in the program, remembers how learning from Indigenous elders transformed her perspective.
“The wisdom is beyond anything you can imagine. It is amazing being able to go out – and go out bush – and listen to their stories and their families; and their history.” – Sarahjane Salmon
The bush medicine program is a vital and inspiring step in connecting cultural divides within Australia’s healthcare system. Flinders University medical students discuss how their school is incorporating Indigenous knowledge into the medical education ecosystem. This program is intended to grow a new generation of Aboriginal health-care professionals to better serve Aboriginal communities.
