Traditions and Beliefs of Indigenous People on Death Essay

Traditions and Beliefs of Indigenous People on Death and Dying

Table of Contents (Jump to)

Traditional Beliefs in Present Times

Customary societies have survived AND advanced.

Objectives

The Circle of Life

Life:

Dying

After the Funeral

Fire

Health services

Communication

Causes of disease

Implications for palliative care Traditions and Beliefs of Indigenous People on Death Essay

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PALLIATIVE CARE NURSES

Conclusion:

Nursing Care in a Palliative Setting.

References

Traditional Beliefs in Present Times
Customary Beliefs in Present Times
Customary convictions have survived
Composed methods for religion
Lifestyle
Christianity is the overwhelming religion in numerous groups
Minister Intermarriage Willful transformations
May have a few beliefs or ideologies spoke to Parts of conventional convictions may be kept up while regarding Christian ways. (Boland, Foulds, Ahmedzai & Pockley, 2012)
Customary societies have survived AND advanced.
Survival is a fitting term subsequent to intense
Blend of chapel, state and financial matters
Dispossession of grounds and convictions
Differing qualities: no single “Local” society (Burke, 2010)
Objectives
Discuss customary convictions about the ways furthermore, significance of death and biting the dust.
Discuss how present day medication can look into comprehend, regard and suit these
Traditional convictions
The Circle of Life
So as to comprehend demise, first must grasp the circle of life. Four stages in the excursion of the human soul:Traditions and Beliefs of Indigenous People on Death Essay

(a) Conception

(b) Life

(c) Demise (Campbell, 2013)

Life:
We are soul having a human experience
We are made out of three awesome parts
Soul
Mind
Body
As it conceived our soul leaves the Creator and Soul world
Dying
At the point when passing on, a customary individual will require the functions, prescription and petitions to God that will manage his/her soul back to the soul world.
Otherworldly pioneer or prescription individual near to the Passing on individual will direct the services Family and tribe individuals will be available “Drug” in this setting means profound force .A blend of capacity and power – connected .To a capacity to prompt. (Campbell, 2013)
After the Funeral
Basic for close relatives to hold a 24 Hour precursor fire on the cherished one’s birthday To pay tribute to his/her memory Helps relatives, particularly kids, to comprehend they are the latest in a long line of progenitors driving back to the start of time at the point when the Creator put the first man and lady on earth .Demise Feast dependably goes hand in hand with this progenitor Traditions and Beliefs of Indigenous People on Death Essay

Fire
Haudenosaunee Creation Story gives more profound experiences into the start of life, the first individuals and all parts of creation. Characterizes relationship between all life on Mother Earth to the spirits in the sky and the creatures in the Sky World. Awesome widespread challenge between the upper world of consideration and lower universe of disorder .People need to arrange between these circles in life and passing patients and families toward the end of life is mindful so as not to sum up. (Downing, Boucher & Marston, 2012)

Overabundance passing’s among Indigenous individuals are because of circulatory ailments, harm, harming, respiratory conditions and diabetes.6 In conventional times, unforeseen demise may ordinarily have been ascribed to witchcraft; in current times this understanding stays dormant, however, there is a more noteworthy propensity at fault awful eating routine, and harming by contaminations, for example, insect poisons tainting grass and water. (Gardiner, Ingleton & Gott, 2012)

Health services
But where there are settled Indigenous medicinal administrations, social insurance offices of numerous kinds are utilized reluctantly. Significant conditions, for example, disease regularly come to restorative consideration just late throughout the ailment. As of not long ago, open healing center, convenience was isolated, and human services administrations were very deficient, especially given the checked social imbalance and the related weakness status of Indigenous individuals. (Gould, 2002)Traditions and Beliefs of Indigenous People on Death Essay

Communication
It might be viewed as rude or hostile to take a gander at an Indigenous individual. Wellbeing choices have a tendency to be a family or group undertaking. Family structure is unpredictable and represented by perceived commitments and social guidelines. It might be viewed as more fitting to converse with people other than the patient when examining that quiet’s circumstance. In a few groups as it is unthinkable for a child in-law to converse with his relative. (Shimoinaba, O’Connor & Lee, 2010)

Causes of disease
Sickness in Indigenous groups is regularly seen as stemming, partially, from introduction to magical powers, estrangement from the country (maybe the consequence of constrained uprooting) or some individual insufficiency (egg, a stately obligation ignored, or an inability to take after a standard principle of conduct). An attribution of accusing may take after, and the maxim of “sorry” by persons thought, mindful will be viewed as essential; fizzling that reaction, a “payback punishment” may be looked for, conceivably including physical discipline. (Whitehead, 1998)Traditions and Beliefs of Indigenous People on Death Essay

Implications for palliative care
1. Diverse elucidations of analysis and reason may make doubt in the middle of staff and patients. Medicines coordinated at moderating side effects, even extreme torment, may be seen as meddling in a fundamental methodology coming about because of a socially decided disorder. A socially “safe” way to deal with torment administration is called for. (Whitehead, 1998)

2. In trying to uncover the circumstances and reason for a passing, it might be reasoned that a career has been ensnared. He or she may confront Indigenous equity, which could mean anything from a short expulsion from the group to a skewering. The utilization of infusions by a career or wellbeing laborer may raise suspicion of harming.

PALLIATIVE CARE NURSES
Palliative care, the latest range of specialization, is characterized by the Last Acts Task Force (1999) as the “far reaching administration of the physical, mental, social, profound, and existential needs of patients, especially those with hopeless, dynamic disease. The objective of palliative consideration is to help them to attain the best conceivable personal satisfaction through alleviation of torment, control of indications, and rebuilding of practical limit, while staying delicate to individual, social and religious values, accepts and hones”. (Woodman, Baillie & Sivell, 2015)Traditions and Beliefs of Indigenous People on Death Essay

The consideration that both hospice and palliative consideration medical attendants give is basically the same as exhibited by the Hospice and Palliative Nurses Role Delineation Study. Then again, hospice and palliative consideration attendant’s variant in their arrangement and practice settings. Hospice and palliative consideration attendants work as a team with other welfare supplier in the setting of an interdisciplinary group. Made out of very qualified, uniquely prepared experts and volunteers, the group mixes their qualities together to foresee and address the issues of the patient and family confronting terminal sickness and deprivation. (Yannakakis, 2013)

Nursing Care in a Palliative Setting.
The hospice development has developed in the United States in the course of recent years. The center of hospice consideration is in complete physical, psychosocial, enthusiastic, and profound consideration to critically ill persons and their families. Hospice suppliers advance personal satisfaction by shielding patients from troublesome mediations and giving consideration at home, at whatever point potentially, rather than the healing facility. Hospice medical caretakers give mind basically under the rules of the Medicare Benefit Act of 1983, a government program that permits patients to bite the dust in their homes with their families and companions next to them.Traditions and Beliefs of Indigenous People on Death Essay

Palliative care, the latest range of specialization, is characterized by the Last Acts Task Force (1999) as the “far reaching administration of the physical, mental, social, profound, and existential needs of patients, especially those with hopeless, dynamic disease. The objective of palliative consideration is to help them to attain the best conceivable personal satisfaction through alleviation of torment, control of indications, and rebuilding of practical limit, while staying delicate to individual, social and religious values, accepts and hones”. (Yannakakis, 2013)Traditions and Beliefs of Indigenous People on Death Essay

Conclusion:
Despite the different misfortunes and hardships continued by Indigenous Australians, a noteworthy versatility and a pride in their surviving society is clear in numerous spots, and non-Indigenous Australians have slowly been directed to a more prominent admiration and esteem for the individuals themselves progenitors totally wrecked. “Appreciation” is a word that passes on numerous parts of the proper way to deal with health awareness and palliative administer to Indigenous Australians: regard for the frightful history of relocation, dispossession and roughness that portrayed white–black relations over eras; regard for distinctive implications of “family”; regard for the suspicion and distress usually felt by Indigenous individuals needed to enter significant medicinal services foundations, and the requirement for Indigenous possession, administration and staffing of more adequate social insurance offices; and admiration for the need to “take a seat” with patients and relatives, sufficiently giving time and space to hear how needs are communicated and to bring family-based choices into expert drove consideration arranges.Traditions and Beliefs of Indigenous People on Death Essay

Burial Rituals of Native American Culture

At some point in our lives, we all come to realize that death is a part of life. Cultural diversity provides a wide variety of lifestyles and traditions for each of the unique groups of people in our world. Within these different cultures, the rituals associated with death and burial can also be uniquely diverse. Many consider ritualistic traditions that differ from their own to be somewhat strange and often perceive them as unnatural. A prime example would be the burial rituals of the Native American people. Leslie Marmon Silko’s story entitled The Man to Send Rain Clouds describes a funeral service carried out by a Native American Pueblo family. Traditions and Beliefs of Indigenous People on Death Essay
The feather tied to his hair is a prayer feather and the painting of the face is to ensure that he will be recognized in the next world by his ancestors who have crossed over before him. The colors are representative of the earth, sky, sun and water. The sprinkling of corn meal and water are said to provide the dead with nourishment on their journey to the next world. The pollen is representative of the earth’s renewal from the rainclouds that will be sent back by the spirit of the deceased. Silko frequently refers to a “red blanket” that the old man is wrapped in for burial (149). The Native American people often leave a cord hanging from the blanket which wraps the body of the deceased and is thought to provide a way for the spirit to be released into the afterlife. All Native American cultures have strong beliefs in life after death, although the means of reaching the next life may vary from tribe to tribe. They traditionally believe that death is a part of a natural cycle in which their spirits are transported back and forth between this world and the spirit world so that they can bring renewal and new life when they return. Most consider this transition to be an honor or privilege since it will ensure the survival of their people. In Native American culture, it is believed that neglect of tribal rituals can result in death and sickness, because the spirit returns without blessings, having been unable to enter the other world. Traditions and Beliefs of Indigenous People on Death Essay

In palliative care we know that for an individual close to death, the sense of impending loss is often magnified by earlier experiences. Ever since the first intrusions of Europeans into their country, Australian Indigenous communities have lived with the consequences of losing their land, their culture, their autonomy and, in many cases, their language, their dignity and their health.Traditions and Beliefs of Indigenous People on Death Essay

During the 20th century, many Indigenous people also lost their knowledge of family, and their recognised place within it, through the forced removal of children from their parents to placement in institutions or adopting white families. Family strength remains one of the outstanding characteristics of Indigenous life, and a loss of identification with family surely underlies much of the dysfunction of Indigenous society.3 Deep emotional scars affect many Indigenous individuals and groups.Traditions and Beliefs of Indigenous People on Death Essay

Demography and epidemiology
A person recognised as “Aboriginal” is, by Federal Government definition, of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent, identifies himself or herself as an Aboriginal person or Torres Strait Islander, or is accepted as such by the Indigenous community in which he or she lives.4 At the 2001 census, Indigenous Australians comprised 2.4% the total Australian population — double the proportion identifying themselves as Indigenous in the 1986 census. Some Indigenous Australians live in rural or remote communities, but the majority live in urban centres, primarily in Queensland and New South Wales.5 The Northern Territory has the highest proportion of Indigenous Australians — some 25%–30% of the general population — and at the Royal Darwin Hospital, the Territory’s main medical centre, about 65% of inpatients at any one time are Indigenous.Traditions and Beliefs of Indigenous People on Death Essay

Indigenous communities in all parts of Australia have a close association with death and dying. In part, this is because death rates for Indigenous Australians are among the highest in the world. This is particularly so in the 25–45-year age range, where death rates are 5–8 times those of non-Indigenous Australians, leading to a life expectancy up to 19 years less than non-Indigenous Australians.5 An intimate awareness of death and dying is also facilitated by the close involvement of extended family in supporting a patient during terminal illness, and in the ceremonies that follow a death — gatherings that may extend over several weeks. This can mean that, as one informant suggested, “We have no time to grieve; once one funeral is over we have to prepare for another one”.Traditions and Beliefs of Indigenous People on Death Essay

Excess deaths among Indigenous people are due mainly to circulatory disease, injury, poisoning, respiratory conditions and diabetes.6 In traditional times, unexpected death might commonly have been attributed to sorcery; in modern times this understanding remains latent, but there is a greater tendency to blame bad diet, and poisoning by pollutants such as insecticides contaminating grass and water.

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Health services
Except where there are well-established Indigenous medical services, healthcare facilities of all types are used reluctantly. Major conditions such as cancer often come to medical attention only late in the course of the illness. Until recently, public hospital accommodation was segregated, and healthcare services were quite inadequate, particularly given the marked social inequality and the associated poor health status of Indigenous people.Traditions and Beliefs of Indigenous People on Death Essay

The services offered by Indigenous healthcare providers often have no link with mainstream services and may be unaware of what local palliative care services can offer. Similarly, mainstream providers may have little awareness either of the special needs of Indigenous patients or the services, networks and cultural supports available to them. In many communities, Indigenous people have not accessed palliative care services to any great extent. Many have not heard of palliative care, or associate it only with inpatient care and cancer.Traditions and Beliefs of Indigenous People on Death Essay

Experience of providing palliative care in a centre such as Darwin offers useful insights, though even within the Northern Territory great diversity exists. Weather is a major factor in provision of healthcare services. During the long “wet” season, communities may be isolated by flooding for up to 6 months, and even air access may be impossible for days or weeks at a time. Some Indigenous communities have their own planes, and government-supported services may be able to be maintained by this means. But road access to the more isolated communities, even in the “dry”, can prove difficult.

The 50 Aboriginal communities across the Top End range in population from 200 to 2000 persons. In addition, there are many separate outstations formed from established communities for various cultural or clan reasons. An outstation may comprise as few as 15–20 people. Many communities have a clinic staffed by Indigenous health workers, non-Indigenous nurses and either resident or visiting medical officers. Telephone and fax services connect communities to bigger centres. Each community has unique cultural characteristics and often its own language. Some Aboriginal people have fluency in several Indigenous languages, with English only a fourth or fifth language.Traditions and Beliefs of Indigenous People on Death Essay

To facilitate appropriate clinical interactions, palliative care workers must take note of cultural considerations that affect all clinical encounters, some of which are particularly relevant to situations of death and dying.8 Although generalisations should be avoided if possible, some common principles are discussed here.

Communication
It may be considered impolite or offensive to look directly at an Indigenous person. It will be difficult for an Indigenous person to question a doctor’s management, even if it is clearly impractical. Health decisions tend to be a family or community affair. Family structure is complex and governed by recognised obligations and cultural rules. Gender issues are important, with “women’s business” and “men’s business” being defined and held separate.3 This can prevent a practitioner from examining an Indigenous person of the opposite sex. It may be considered more appropriate to talk to individuals other than the patient when discussing that patient’s situation. In some communities it is taboo for a son-in-law to talk to his mother-in-law.Traditions and Beliefs of Indigenous People on Death Essay

Traditional healers have a good understanding of underlying beliefs about health, and may offer treatments with a greater authority than the white healthcare professional can command. Traditional medicines are used in many settings. Indigenous health workers are now widely employed to help liaise with families who are trying to make best use of both traditional and modern medicine. The value of having Indigenous people express their understanding of palliative care in their own way is well demonstrated in a published series of paintings by Aboriginal women artists (Box).9
Box
Making the right decisions”

open_in_new VIEW BOX

Causes of disease
Disease in Indigenous communities is often perceived as stemming, in part, from exposure to metaphysical forces, alienation from the homeland (perhaps the result of forced displacement) or some personal deficiency (eg, a ceremonial duty neglected, or a failure to follow a customary rule of behaviour). An attribution of blame may follow, and the saying of “sorry” by persons thought responsible will be regarded as very important; failing that response, a “payback penalty” might be sought, possibly involving physical punishment.Traditions and Beliefs of Indigenous People on Death Essay

After a death in an Indigenous community, a careful assessment and review of the circumstances and associations of the death — equivalent to the holding of a “coronial inquiry” — may be part of the funeral rituals; some payback may be considered necessary and may be the cause of major clan clashes if another community is involved.Traditions and Beliefs of Indigenous People on Death Essay

Implications for palliative care
Different interpretations of diagnosis and cause may create distrust between staff and patients. Treatments directed at mitigating symptoms, even severe pain, may be perceived as interfering in a necessary process resulting from a culturally-determined sickness. A culturally “safe” approach to pain management is called for.10,11
In seeking to uncover the circumstances and cause of a death, it may be concluded that a carer has been implicated. He or she may face Indigenous justice, which could mean anything from a short banishment from the community to a spearing. The use of injections by a carer or health worker may raise suspicion of poisoning.Traditions and Beliefs of Indigenous People on Death Essay
There is a widely held desire to return to the homeland area to die or to be buried. “Bringing them home” was the powerful phrase coined as a response to the revelations of hurt and alienation inflicted on the “stolen generation” (those children forcibly removed from their parents). “Bringing them home” is also an appropriate term for the strong imperative to return the dead to their place of birth.12
Decision-making processes
The decision-making processes in Indigenous communities are collective and often protracted. Particular people in the patient’s “skin” group will make decisions with or on behalf of an individual.Traditions and Beliefs of Indigenous People on Death Essay

Many factors may be seen as requiring consideration, including the cause of the illness, the patient’s role in the community, the possibility of blame, and even who has the right to know the story. An uncle may have more authority with a child than either mother or father. There are proscribed relationships within communities (eg, mother-in-law avoiding son-in-law) that must be respected and not invoked. A family meeting may involve up to 30 people, some of whom may need to be brought in from a considerable distance. To achieve an agreed decision within such large groups may take many days. A patient facing surgery may wish to return to the community to discuss options with relatives and receive their permission.Traditions and Beliefs of Indigenous People on Death Essay

There are “right persons” for the patient to confide in and to advise in decision making. Having such individuals available is important when urgent decisions are required. Sometimes the carer or escort sent with a patient is a nephew or niece chosen because they have a good command of English or experience with city life. Such an individual may, however, be quite inappropriate in cultural terms: if, in reaching a decision, the patient’s “story” needs to be told (clinical history, examination and investigations), the nephew or niece may simply disappear, because they know they do not have the right to such information.Traditions and Beliefs of Indigenous People on Death Essay

Death and dying
The ceremonies around death are extremely important to Indigenous people and take precedence over all other activities. Correct ceremonies should be held, with the correct people present, and the whole person must be buried or disposed of (depending on individual communities). If a body is to be removed from hospital to a homeland site there are likely to be both funding issues (no authorisation of funding for air transport) and cultural issues (an initiated ceremony person should accompany the body). The frequency of deaths in Indigenous communities can constitute a significant drain on community financial resources, as many individuals contribute to such costs.Traditions and Beliefs of Indigenous People on Death Essay

Dying in a house may mean that the family cannot re-occupy it for a period of time. In some communities the patient will be taken outside to lie on the earth under a rough shelter for the last days or hours. Many communities employ a ritual of smoking a house or structure in which a patient has died, to purify it and cleanse it of bad spirits.

Memory persists of traditional funeral rites, such as were described by anthropologists in earlier times, though many (such as the preservation of a body by smoking) have been abandoned. The custom of self-mutilation, with the drawing of blood to demonstrate depth of grief, continues in some places.Traditions and Beliefs of Indigenous People on Death Essay

Implications for palliative care
When an Indigenous person dies away from the homeland the body will need to be escorted and taken back to the homeland.
It is culturally appropriate to allow the “smoking” of a room in which a patient has died, even a hospital ward.
It is important that all parts of a “body” be sent back: amputated limbs, gangrenous fingers, hair shaved to eliminate lice and clothes worn at death or worn in hospital are deemed important parts of the person. Such items need to be collected and stored appropriately.
Conclusion
In spite of the multiple losses and hardships endured by Indigenous Australians, a remarkable resilience and a pride in their surviving culture is apparent in many places, and non-Indigenous Australians have gradually been led to a greater respect and admiration for the people their forefathers almost completely destroyed.Traditions and Beliefs of Indigenous People on Death Essay

“Respect” is a word that conveys many aspects of the appropriate approach to healthcare and palliative care for Indigenous Australians: respect for the terrible history of displacement, dispossession and violence that characterised white–black relations over generations; respect for different meanings of “family”; respect for the suspicion and discomfort commonly felt by Indigenous people required to enter major healthcare institutions, and the need for Indigenous ownership, management and staffing of more acceptable healthcare facilities; and respect for the need to “sit down” with patients and family members, giving enough time and space to hear how needs are expressed and to bring family-based decisions into professional-led care plans. The inclusion in a palliative care team of an Indigenous health worker will usually be of great value in facilitating team and personal interactions with Indigenous people. Traditions and Beliefs of Indigenous People on Death Essay