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Research Rumble | Guiding Voices: Co-designing Pathways to Success in Indigenous Health Research

Jinda Maawit – Star Baby

This design represents our maawit that has passed to the Dreaming before being born.  Our maawit rests in the ancient cradle that is the coolamon, carved by the strong hands of the father and passed to the mother to lay maawit into the care of their ancestors.  The design on the hands represents all the aspects of culture and lore, the knowledge and wisdom of the ancestors as they hold there maawit and receives the maawit back to the earth to rest with them, even as the spirit of our maawit travels to the night sky to rest with the other jinda maawit’s, shining forever as a reminder of the precious maawit’ s who passed before they were born.

Below the maawit is the placenta that goes back into the earth connecting the maawit’ s spirit to country, acting like a map to their belonging and connection.

The umbilical cord is represented by the dots, reaching up to the stars and connecting to the circles of colour that hold the space for maawit, which represent’ s the colours on Noongar Boodjar the colours of land, forests, sea, skies and sun.

This project represents the first step toward our broader vision of supporting the capacity of Aboriginal men to improve maternal and newborn health.

This vision addresses concerns raised by our Elder network and community partners and responds to the priorities established in the National Stillbirth Research Priorities Report 2023. In this project, we will implement an Elder- and community-led co-designed process to build a foundational understanding on Aboriginal men’s involvement in antenatal care (ANC).

This understanding will be achieved by:

1) undertaking an Aboriginal-led community consultation to identify key research priorities, and

2) conducting a systematic review on the experiences of men’s involvement in ANC within First Nation populations globally.

Addressing these aims will contribute to the refinement of research priorities and development of a Category 1 grant application. This, in turn, will provide a blueprint for change in guiding ANC practices to fully include Aboriginal men, with potential benefits that include a reduction in stillbirth rates and early life morbidity among Australian Aboriginal peoples

Aunty Millie Penny is a Noongar Yorga from Pinjarra. Her connection to country is Ballardong Binjurup, Whadjuk and Yamatji while her family connections are Walley, Winmar, Indich and Oweir extended families. Aunty Millie is the eldest daughter of Richard Wally senior and Violet Wally (Winmar). She is married to Fred Penny and together they have 4 children and 12 grandchildren.

She is part of our Aboriginal Advisory Group. Aunty Millie believes that our children are our future spokes poeple and leaders, and that as a community, we need to nurture and guide them to be successful, competitive, and most of all respectful.

Carol Michie is the Co-Herad of Aboriginal Health and Wellbeing at the Telethon Kids Institute. She is an East Arrernte woman from Alice Springs who has lived in Perth for over 30 years and has established strong connections to Indigenous communities across WA.

With a background working in child education and child development services, Carol is passionate about improving the health and wellbeing of Indigenous children through culture-led research.

Christine graduated as a Doctor of Medicine in 2008, and is currently working at Curtin University as part of the Aboriginal Health team within the Medical School. Christine has dedicated her professional life to promoting the health and wellbeing of her community. She is dedicated to increasing representation within the medical field of graduating Aboriginal doctors.

Aunty Muriel was born in Kutapine under a gum tree as her mother was not permitted to deliver in the local hospital. She was the 2nd eldest of 10 children to John and Gladys  Blurton (nee Bandry). Muriel spent most of her childhood living in York while her parents both worked clearing the land and living on the properties of the farmers around the York and Beverley district. Because both parents worked Muriel helped her mother at home to help raise her siblings but also attended the local York State Primary School then started working as a domestic for many years as she had no access to a High School. In her late teens Muriel was the first Aboriginal employee at the new York hospital which was pretty ironic as she wasn’t allowed to be born in the old York hospital. Muriel was also very active in the local sporting scene playing competitive hockey, basketball, netball and football (all women’s team!!).

In the early 1960’s Muriel moved to Perth with her family where she found work and met her husband Lyall Bowie who was here from Badu Island, Torres Straits.  Muriel had three children & went back to Midland TAFE to further her own education so she could help her own children through school. She then went on to work at the Anawim Aboriginal Women’s Refuge for the next 20yrs as a trained qualified counsellor to support the many women who sought help with homelessness, accommodation, domestic violence, childcare, and the many issues they faced in returning to the community. She was also a foundation member of Yorgum.

Muriel is a well respected Ballardong Elder and is still active in the community on a number of Aboriginal committees and is an active member of People Who Care. She is passionate about making change for a better future for the children, families and Noongar community.