Illness Is a Weapon: Indigenous Identity and Enduring Afflictions

225 Pages·2013·1.06 MB·English

by  Eirik Saethre

Illness
Is a
Weapon
Indigenous Identity and
enduring afflictions
e I r I k s a e t h r e
Illness Is a Weapon

Illness Is a Weapon
Indigenous Identity and Enduring Afflictions
eirik saethre
Vanderbilt University Press
Nashville
© 2013 by Vanderbilt University Press
Nashville, Tennessee 37235
All rights reserved
First printing 2013
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Manufactured in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data on file

LC control number 2012033912
LC classification number RA553.S236 2012
Dewey class number 362.1089’99—dc23
ISBN 978-0-8265-1920-7 (cloth)
ISBN 978-0-8265-1922-1 (e-book)
In memory of Ladislav Holy and D. J. Japanangka

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
1 everyday Illness 1
2 Food, Meaning, and economy 32
3 Contemporary Cosmologies 59
4 Medical systems and Illness experience 82
5 noncompliance 100
6 Imposed empowerment 120
7 Closing the Gap 149
Glossary 177
Notes 179
References 185
Index 205

acknowledgments
This book would not have been possible without the support and
guidance of a number of individuals. Foremost, I would like to
thank the Warlpiri people of Lajamanu who brought me into
their families, taught me how to hunt, took me to ceremony, and always
looked after me. I must also recognize the invaluable assistance of the
medical staff of the Lajamanu Community Health Centre. While there
are many names I could list, I will refrain from doing so to protect the
privacy of individuals who appear in this book.
For assisting with the creation and completion of this project as a PhD
thesis at the Australian National University, I would like to thank Nicolas
Peterson, Margot Lyon, Francesca Merlan, Yasmine Musharbash, Katie
Glaskin, Derek Elias, Goran Sevo, and Roberta James. I must also acknowl-
edge the financial support of the Australian National University and the
Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies.
For providing unerring guidance as I transformed the thesis into a
book, I must thank Isak Niehaus, John Sharp, Geoffrey White, Christine
Yano, and Christine Beaule.
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