Aboriginal bush medicine heals body and soul

By Pauline Askin

NHULUNBUY, Australia (Reuters) - As the campfire burns slowly, a group of Aborigines build a "place of healing" in a remote outback camp where they will treat the ill using traditional bush medicines.

The Healing Place is set in Gulkula, a stringy bark forest with views of the Gulf of Carpentaria, about 15 km (9 miles) southeast of Nhulunbuy in Arnhem Cape in the Northern Territory.

Bush healing is a part of the Yolngu aboriginal culture, remedies from the ancient Dreamtime stories have been handed down through the generations for more than 40,000 years.

Poor health is a serious issue for Aborigines in this remote outback community. They have limited access to modern medical services and the Yolngu women are determined to continue to teach and practice their traditional bush medicine.

"The older ladies, the mothers of the people here, the mothers of this land, are concerned that it's not being handed on like it used to be," said Tash Eles from the aboriginal Yothu Yindi Foundation, which promotes Yolngu culture.

The Healing Place is a Yothu Yindi project currently on a six month trial basis.

"There's an urgency, as traditions and oral histories are handed on through generations. If you skip a generation you lose a whole body of knowledge," said Eles.

Australia's 460,000 Aborigines make up two percent of the 20 million population and have a life expectancy 17 years less than white Australians. They have far higher rates of heart disease, diabetes, alcohol and drug abuse and domestic violence.