Nolita Edwards works with Aboriginal people in healing and wellness spaces

Can you tell me a little bit about yourself and your work?

I'm a Gunditjmara woman through my mother, which connects me to the tribes of the Western districts of Victoria. And then through my father, I'm a Nari-Nari, Muthi-Muthi woman and connect to about 5 tribes throughout the Murray River Region- also known as the Riverina Plains; Northern Victoria, and just over the river into New South Wales. I'm also a mother of three children. I've always worked in the Aboriginal community-controlled sector in primary health care. I'm a qualified psychotherapist/counsellor, and a drug and alcohol worker.

For over 15 years, I've been in the healing and wellness spaces where we develop and offer opportunities to our community, Aboriginal people, to do their own healing in their own way, using alternative methods that aren't normally offered in the mainstream arena.

What do those alternative methods look like? And, why is it important that they’re offered?

The alternative methods I’m talking about are art therapy, massage, Aboriginal spiritual healers, yarning circles and healing programs developed by Aboriginal people for Aboriginal people. But it’s also about giving people an opportunity to really just have time out and be in a space that is quiet, relaxing and informative.  For a lot of our people, we live in quite chaotic environments with the impacts of drugs and alcohol,  mental health, family violence, loss and grief etc. And there's a lot of consistent trauma: it’s not just something that happens every few years, it’s a daily, weekly experience for many of our people. These different methods of healing give our mob opportunities to have that quiet time, which is really important for us to find new ways of navigating in our lives and becoming aware of what it is that we need to move forward in healing and wellness.

I recently delivered DIY Bush medicine workshops/program using aromatherapy, and it encouraged our local Aboriginal women to make their own products and learn new ways to incorporate their own healing in their own homes.  It also gave participants that quiet time for reflection, self -awareness and relaxation. This program was not about the products being made, but more about the process and interacting with other Aboriginal women.  It was also a platform for local Family Violence Organisations to promote their services and programs and engage with the Aboriginal community. 

For many Aboriginal people we're in a state of stress all the time: grieving for those who we have lost, or angry about certain situations we find ourselves in.  Many Aboriginal women are raising their children on their own and trying to maintain our own holistic wellness, which incorporates the mind, the body, the heart and the spirit becomes a real challenge.  I share with our women that when one of these aspects become out of balance, our whole being becomes out of balance. So I try to give people the awareness around holistic healing and wellness through a cultural lens.

What drew you towards working in the space of trauma, particularly for the Aboriginal women and children?

I started off landing myself a job as a stolen generation’s worker, and it was through that journey that I realised the impacts of transgenerational trauma/ historical trauma.  It wasn't until I was exposed to that arena as a worker that I realised just how much the past history of my people had impacted me as a woman, and as a descendent of the Stolen Generations – my dad’s siblings were stolen and institutionalized.  The impacts of these past government policies are still very much felt today. 

Through working with the descendants of those people who were stolen, I realised that the impacts are so great from what happened: it's one of the reasons for the high child removal rates, incarceration rates, mental health issues, addiction and suicide etc. Aboriginal women are our matriarchs, they’re the wisdom keepers that hold sacred knowledge and medicine. Aboriginal women have a lot to offer, and they’re currently in spaces where they can’t be seen or heard.

How do yarning circles play a role in talking about and addressing trauma?  

When facilitated properly, yarning circles can create a sacred space where women feel safe, and they can share commonalities with each other.  A lot of our women, they're at home raising their children, or their working full time, they rarely get that opportunity to have personal conversations with others. Yarning circles give people an opportunity to reflect, to gain a new level of awareness, to share information, and then walk away from these spaces feeling validated and inspired. There is a difference between just having a conversation in a circle and then having a ceremonial space where spiritual awakenings can happen. The yarning circles I speak of are intimate, they're personal, and they're challenging. And they're a space where you feel safe to have a cry, talk about things that you're not coping with.

What are some of the goals and outcomes of your work?  

I would love for people to realise that spiritualism is really important in maintain holistic healing and wellness; that these Aboriginal ways of being, of thinking, of interacting can work for and beyond Aboriginal people. They work for all people. And medicine comes in all shapes and forms: there is a place for white man's medicine and black man's medicine to hold hands for the betterment of everybody.

For Aboriginal people we carry our family’s sicknesses too. When a family member is not good mentally or emotionally or spiritually, we also absorb that type of energy and we can also find ourselves feeling very similar emotions.  Holding a space for people to process some of that more negative energy and emotions is medicine in itself.  A lot of our ways can be seen as absurd in the mainstream context. But to look at it through a cultural lens and try to replicate what our ancestors done and how they behaved and interacted with each other and the world around them is really beneficial.  I'm really passionate about getting people to understand that for holistic healing to unfold, you must be willing to try new things and find the ‘medicine that works for you.  What works for one, doesn’t work for all. 

What are some of the biggest issues that you see women and non binary people in Victoria facing?

A lack of resources, and a lack of spaces. Back in the day, people were welcome to walk in off the street and have a cup of tea within these Aboriginal community service organizations; for no other reason but to interact with other people.  Now there's a way of operating that's focused on crisis.  These meeting places for my mob are becoming non-existent. And it concerns me greatly that the meeting places for my mob are now scarce, and that you have no reason to access these services unless you're in crisis and have an appointment pre-arranged.  We don't have anywhere to go, unless there’s a traumatic reason.

 The Aboriginal way of operating and engaging with the community has changed. I'm passionate about trying to hold up our old ways of caring for our mob.  We sign funding agreements with governments for programs and services and then we must operate in a particular way that is not culturally appropriate. And it's detrimental to the holistic healing and wellness Aboriginal people need.

I want to see residential healing spaces. Give me a space where I can go with my kids that's beautiful and relaxing, that's nature based, where I have access to alternative therapeutic services, learn new skills and access opportunities to work on myself and where my kids are safe and looked after. I want alternative healing centre’s that aren't based on crisis and trauma.  Give me prevention models so that I have access to the things I need to keep myself and my children strong so we can live in wellness and balance.

 Interview: Jessamy Gleeson