Deusdedit Ruhangariyo
Special to ICT
Around the world: Far North healer embraces revival of traditional Māori medicine in New Zealand, Indigenous music star Emma Donovan denied service by taxi drivers in Australia, and an Uyghur journalist’s colleagues are jailed and sentenced due to their association.
NEW ZEALAND: Traditional Māori medicine being revived
A Far North traditional Māori healer has welcomed the resurgence of traditional Māori healing practices after the country’s first Traditional Māori Healing Conference, Te Ao Maori News reported on June 9.
Jolie Davis (Ngāti Kuri, Te Rarawa) says it was a special experience being part of the healing conference last month in Rotorua.
The two-day conference brought together more than 450 traditional Māori healers and health providers within the traditional Māori healing community to build relationships and grow understanding of traditional Māori healing and its place in New Zealand’s health sector.
“It was really exciting to bring everyone in the traditional Māori healing community and health providers together, which we have never done before,” Davis said, according to Te Ao Maori News.
“It was a good opportunity to share, learn and see how we can work together to meet all the needs of our communities. We hope this conference will help grow the understanding and awareness of the benefits of traditional Māori healing.”
Davis is a traditional Māori healer from the Far North. She says there has been a resurgence of traditional Māori healing.
“Traditional Māori healing seeks to restore balance and find the cause of disease and unwellness. Currently in New Zealand, traditional Māori healing is experiencing a massive revitalization of our traditional practices. We’re happy about that as more and more people want to know more about traditional Māori healing and access traditional Māori healing,” she said.
AUSTRALIA: Indigenous music star denied taxi service
Beloved Indigenous singer Emma Donovan expressed shock and dismay after being refused service by at least two taxi drivers at Perth Airport in Western Australia on Friday evening, the National Indigenous Times reported on June 7.
Donovan, an award-winning Gumbaynggirr and Yamatji musician, had just returned from an album launch in Melbourne. “Please someone help me,” she wrote on social media. “I arrived at Perth Airport tonight after an amazing CD Launch last night in Melbourne only to find 2 drivers refusing me in the front of the line, one making a comment that he doesn’t like ‘My Kind,’” she wrote on social media, according to National Indigenous Times.
“I am absolutely fuming writing this in tears and anger. I will be reporting to these guys somehow. The whole cab line arguing who would take me, no one wanting to. A kind fulla offered me a lift in his car and took me to Vic Park. I know this wasn’t because of a short fare; I know this was racism at its finest. If anyone has information on how to report these two cars properly, please help, DM would be nice. Sorry for the rant, just felt so hopeless & wild.”
Donovan posted photos of the license plates of the two drivers but did not state the company or companies for whom they worked.
Donovan has been touring the country for more than 20 years, performing soulful songs and sharing powerful stories with audiences around the globe. She first appeared on the stage with her renowned family band, The Donovans, performing church song renditions.
She regularly performs songs in Gumbaynggirr and Noongar traditional languages and shares stories to provide her audiences with an understanding of Country and community.
CHINA: Uyghur journalist’s colleagues sentenced
Authorities in Xinjiang have sentenced five Uyghur former colleagues of a Voice of America journalist each to a minimum of seven years in prison due to their connections with him, according to Kasim Kashgar, who has been with the government-funded news organization since 2019, Radio Free Asia reported on June 7.
The jailed men include Mirkamil Ahmed, Semet Ababekri, Abdukadir Rozi, Mehmut Abdukeyum, and Akber Osman.
Kashgar said he found out about their imprisonment in May from people who traveled overseas and had details and proof about his friends’ arrests. They told him that the men had been accused of being members of terrorist and separatist organizations.
The men had worked with him at a language school Kashgar established in Xinjiang’s capital Urumqi, he said. The five were all arrested around April and May 2021, according to Kashgar, who fled from Xinjiang in May 2017 and arrived in the United States that October.
“Their arrest was not a random occurrence,” Kashgar said, according to Radio Free Asia. “These individuals have committed no crimes.”
Through his contacts, Kashgar learned that Chinese authorities claimed he had secretly tried to recruit the five men to join the World Uyghur Congress, a Germany-based organization that advocates for the rights of the predominantly Muslim Uyghurs. About 11 million Uyghurs live in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, which they prefer to call East Turkestan.
Kashgar, who reports on Uyghur human rights for Voice of America, sometimes interviews members of the organization. But the accusation that he tried to get the five men to become members of the World Uyghur Congress is “a blatant lie and slander,” said Zumretay Arkin, the group’s spokesperson and global advocacy director.
The Congress doesn’t know the individuals or have connections to them, she said. “It is widely known within the Uyghur diaspora that people are often arrested based on false accusations of being linked to the WUC, with some even being forced to become spies,” Arkin said, according to Radio Free Asia.
“This recent arrest is yet another instance of the CCP’s transnational repression policies,” she added, referring to the Chinese Communist Party.
The arrests of Kashgar’s former colleagues in 2021 came at a time when Chinese government authorities were arbitrarily arresting and detaining numerous Uyghur intellectuals, businessmen, and cultural and religious figures, purportedly to prevent religious extremism and terrorist activities.
“The Chinese government continues to call for the normalization of counterterrorism policies in the Uyghur region,” Kashgar said.
My final thoughts
My final thoughts are in New Zealand where the efforts of traditional Māori healers in the Far North to revive and promote traditional Māori healing practices have yielded fruits. This is truly commendable.
The country’s first Traditional Māori Healing Conference, bringing together over 450 practitioners and health providers, marks a significant milestone in recognizing and integrating these invaluable practices into New Zealand’s health sector.
Jolie Davis (Ngāti Kuri, Te Rarawa) highlighted the profound impact of this event, noting the excitement and potential it generated for collaboration and growth within the traditional Māori healing community.
The conference not only fostered relationship-building but also deepened the understanding and appreciation of traditional Māori healing’s benefits, aligning with the broader goals of holistic health and wellness.
The resurgence of traditional Māori healing, as described by Davis, represents a meaningful shift toward restoring balance and addressing the root causes of disease and unwellness. Two-hundred practitioners are now registered to provide these services nationwide.
The impact in the Northland region alone, with 658 clients accessing traditional Māori healing services, underscores the demand and effectiveness of these practices. This significant progress calls for the replication of such initiatives across all of New Zealand and, indeed, the world.
Embracing and integrating traditional healing practices globally can contribute to a more comprehensive and culturally inclusive approach to health and wellness, benefiting communities everywhere.
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