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dc.contributor.authorMcGrath, Pam
dc.contributor.authorPhillips, Emma
dc.date.accessioned2017-05-03T14:29:56Z
dc.date.available2017-05-03T14:29:56Z
dc.date.issued2008
dc.date.modified2011-08-24T07:16:18Z
dc.identifier.issn1322-7696
dc.identifier.doi10.1016/j.colegn.2008.03.002
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10072/40325
dc.description.abstractThe ceremonies surrounding death are extremely important to Aboriginal peoples and take precedence over all other activities. This article presents research findings on Aboriginal mortuary ceremonies in the hope that it will be useful for non-Indigenous nurses working with Aboriginal peoples. A qualitative research methodology was used, whereby data were collected by conducting 72 open-ended interviews with patients, carers, Aboriginal health care workers, health care workers and interpreters in four geographical areas in the Northern Territory. A descriptive phenomenological approach was taken to the recording and analysis of the data. The findings reveal that traditional practices including the smoking ceremony (a spiritual ritual conducted in the deceased's living space with the rationale of driving the deceased's spirit away), painting ochre on all living spaces inhabited by the deceased, or alternatively of putting up "flags" (which is considered to drive away the deceased's spirit and also to notify to the community that this is the house of a deceased) and the death ceremony (which includes practices such as keeping the deceased's body in the home, painting the bodies of the mourners and bringing kinship communities together to share food, song and dance) are of great significance in many Aboriginal cultures. It is the authors' hope and expectation that an understanding of these rituals, and their significance for different cultural groups, will assist nurses by increasing their knowledge of Aboriginal cultural and ceremonial practices associated with caring for the deceased and so aid their important work in this area.
dc.description.peerreviewedYes
dc.description.publicationstatusYes
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherElsevier
dc.publisher.placeNew York
dc.relation.ispartofstudentpublicationN
dc.relation.ispartofpagefrom125
dc.relation.ispartofpageto133
dc.relation.ispartofissue4
dc.relation.ispartofjournalCollegian
dc.relation.ispartofvolume15
dc.rights.retentionY
dc.subject.fieldofresearchMedical and Health Sciences not elsewhere classified
dc.subject.fieldofresearchNursing
dc.subject.fieldofresearchcode119999
dc.subject.fieldofresearchcode1110
dc.titleInsights on end-of-life ceremonial practices of Australian Aboriginal peoples
dc.typeJournal article
dc.type.descriptionC1 - Articles
dc.type.codeC - Journal Articles
gro.date.issued2008
gro.hasfulltextNo Full Text
gro.griffith.authorMcGrath, Pamela D.


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