INDOGENOUS AUSTRALIAN MEDICINE
>TRADITIONAL ABORIGINAL MEDICINE <
> HANDBOOK OF MEDICAL PLANTS <
> DEUTSCHES ÄRZTEBLATT: „Health Service“<
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands, and these peoples‘ descendants.Indigenous Australians are distinguished as either Aboriginal people or Torres Strait Islanders, who currently together make up about 2.6% of Australia’s population.
The Torres Strait Islanders are indigenous to the Torres Strait Islands which are at the northern-most tip of Queensland near Papua New Guinea. The term „Aboriginal“ has traditionally been applied to indigenous inhabitants of mainland Australia, Tasmania, and some of the other adjacent islands. The use of the term is becoming less common, with names preferred by the various groups becoming more common.
Aboriginal people traditionally were much healthier than they are today. Living in the open in a land largely free from disease, they benefited from a better diet, more exercise, less stress, a more supportive society and a more harmonious world view.
Nonetheless, Aboriginal peoples often had need of bush medicines. Sleeping at night by fires meant they sometimes suffered from burns. Strong sunshine and certain foods caused headaches, and eye infections were common. Feasting on sour fruits or rancid meat caused digestive upsets, and although tooth decay was not a problem, coarse gritty food sometimes wore teeth down to the nerves. Aborigines were also occasionally stung by jellyfish or bitten by snakes and spiders. In the bush there was always a chance of injury, and fighting usually ended in severe bruises and gashes.
To deal with such ailments, Aboriginal people used a range of remedies – wild herbs, animal products, steam baths, clay pits, charcoal and mud, massages, string amulets and secret chants and ceremonies.
- SSHRC Aboriginal Research <
- Center for Aboriginal Studies <
- University Adelaide, Aboriginal Sites, Studies <
- Oliver Möhwald Didgeridoo Workshops <
- Aboriginal Children „LOST GENERATION“ <
- Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council <
> Meet Aboriginal Friends and Groups at facebook <
Comments are closed.