Until now, there has been an absence of strong theoretical frameworks relating to Indigenous Australian health and human services. Muller's text seeks to fill that void. The book is long overdue and I am confident that it will be embraced by those who live and work at the ‘cultural interface’ (Nakata, Reference Nakata2007). The text is an invaluable resource that draws on experiential learning that is as equally informative as it is multilayered. It will raise awareness among those working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of the significant and distinct knowledge that grew out of an oral theory that guides the everyday practices of Indigenous people who work with their own people in the helping professions. Muller documents this knowledge and presents it as a theory that is appropriate for use as an undergraduate and graduate resource across a range of disciplines in the humanities and social sciences; in particular, education, social work, and nursing.
Muller's work grew out of her frustration at the overarching social controls that are embedded within the discipline of social work and the disturbing health and education statistics for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia. She also recognises the active role that social work and the other professions play in contributing to the ongoing marginalisation of Indigenous peoples. Another major impetus for her work was an absence of a formal, accessible theory on Indigenous Australian health and human service that could be used within the tertiary education sector. The book holds Indigeneity at its centre, as it draws together the work of many notable Indigenous scholars who have made significant contributions to our understandings of Indigenous knowledge. This offers a unique way of doing, seeing and being that is considered appropriate and responsive to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people's needs. According to Muller, one of the most challenging aspects of the project was to translate multidimensional, multifaceted concepts into a linear text that could be more easily understood by a non-Indigenous audience. She uses stories to place concepts in relevant contexts, which intentionally slows the reader to pause, reflect and consider the ideas presented, and uses circular learning to highlight the importance of mutual learning and the need for reciprocity.
Muller states that the primary audience for the text are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, workers and scholars. But she also hopes that more non-Indigenous people will be encouraged to work closely with Indigenous peoples by reading the text. Far from providing prescriptive ‘solutions’ for social work graduates, the book prompts readers to reflect critically about knowledge production, as well considering health and social workers’ unique responsibilities and obligations to Indigenous clients and the far-reaching implications of their work. Muller's premise is that a distinct theory informs Indigenous social health workers’ practice. She details the principles and protocols of honouring culture, knowledge and wisdom, and the importance of undertaking consultative processes and obtaining consensus, which far exceed merely formal university ethics requirements.
The range of multifaceted and complex issues that influence Indigenous peoples’ social health are documented thoroughly in the book. Although dealt with in a light-hearted manner, Muller is not without serious intent. With a commitment to challenging and repudiating the myths that enable and perpetuate colonisation, Muller also respectfully acknowledges that her work can be confronting and destabilising for non-Indigenous people. Historical examples of the dehumanisation inherent within the colonisation process are used as a platform to explore their far-reaching, moral and social consequences. Citing anger and hatred as unhelpful, negative and destructive emotions, feelings of grief and loss are positioned as being normal responses. Although there has been no shortage of guilt in the past, it has repeatedly failed to produce what is needed in the future. Muller positions forgiveness as central to the healing process, which can assist Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to reclaim wellbeing and harmony and move toward a more positive future.
Readers are provided with first-hand examples of how Indigenous people share knowledge. Seemingly simple stories incorporate multiple layers of knowledge, and the use of metaphors guides the transference of knowledge in both visual and written forms. By undertaking unique analyses using everyday examples, experiential methods of learning encourage readers to challenge embedded, stereotypical notions about Indigenous Australians. Muller adopts narratives and the use of story to outline the sets of interlocking rules and principles that guide best practice to describe and prescribe what Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people determine as both acceptable and unacceptable, in theory and practice.
The processes of colonisation and decolonisation are outlined by Muller to assist the reader in understanding the importance of healing for both the coloniser and colonised. Muller argues that the concept of healing itself presents many challenges as it is no easy task to cleanse one's mind of traumatic memories. Bamblett, who is quoted by Muller in the text, states that ‘our stories have been subversive and dangerous remembrances. Even remembering our law, our dreaming stories was a subversive practice, let alone our tales of massacres, resistance, dispossession, living on the mission and “welfare” coming to take our children away’ (Bamblett, as cited on p. 208). Healing transgenerational trauma is complex, but forgiving does not mean forgetting. Despite these challenges, healing is essential for reclaiming one's state of wellbeing and harmony. This state of wellbeing refers not only to realising equality and justice between the coloniser and colonised, but also to decolonising the mind. Muller explores the state of being that is known to many Indigenous peoples as ‘Dadirri’, which, in the Ngangikurrunggkurr language, means ‘deep water sound’. According to Elder, educator and artist Miriam-Rose Ungernmerr-Baumann, achieving Dadirri is the state of ‘inner deep listening and quiet still awareness’ (as cited on p. 27). Dadirri is a complex Indigenous concept that has been employed as an Indigenous research methodology. For those people who have been traumatised but are unable to express their feelings verbally through narrative, expressive arts processes can be used to facilitate and complement the healing process (Atkinson, Reference Atkinson2002).
Muller argues that before knowledge is shared and made available to the mainstream, it must first be considered as to whether it is indeed appropriate for sharing. She notes that it is the misuse of knowledge that frequently alienates and divides Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. Those skilled in both knowledges are considered assets of the collective body of knowledge-holders, provided they remain grounded and connected to community. Knowledge brings with it obligation, and it must always be shared appropriately, responsibly and respectfully. Misunderstandings surrounding knowledge often occur at the cultural interface. Tokenism and knowledge are inextricably entwined in the everyday lived experiences of Australia's first nations people, and are predominant, interlaced themes that run throughout Muller's research.
Muller's theory for Indigenous Australian health and human service work helps readers understand why tokenism and knowledge are both inherently problematic, but even more so when knowledge is constantly sought after, only to be then be disregarded, disrespected and misappropriated. Culture, identity, systems of law and knowledge are built on a platform of respect. It is the breaking down of the systems of respect that have led to discrimination, which breeds dysfunction, disadvantage and poverty. By re-establishing respect for ourselves, and between others, Muller argues that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people can begin to recover from the effects of colonisation. Further, Muller argues that we must first begin by respecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders, mothers, women, men, children, and future generations. As Bonnie Robertson so concisely articulates in the preface, the concept of respect is an important one in the book, particularly for those with an interest in the principles of social inclusion, professional competency, social justice, spirituality, tradition, culture, reciprocity, and Indigenous heritage (preface, pp. vii–viii).
