Book Reviews
A healing place: Indigenous visions for personal empowerment and community recovery
By Kayleen M Hazlehurst
ISBN: 978-0908140879; 1994; 274 pages; Central Queensland University Press;
Reviewed by Elvira McIntosh
Orana and Far West Dementia Education Project, NSW
'This is a book about hope', the author states in the introduction to this scholarly, yet easy to read book. Ironically, for a book of hope, it opens on a rather dark note - the sad history of racial conflict in Australia. Samuel Johnsons statement that the only way to understand the present is to study the past is applicable to A Healing Place. Ms Hazlehurst has covered just about every possible aspect of the current problems underlying the present maladies in Aboriginal communities in Australia, particularly the catastrophic influence that video-porn has had on their traditional lifestyles.
As each chapter progresses, the light of hope begins to shine at the end of a rather murky tunnel of past history and dismal present reality. Her chapter on 'Visionary Programs' outlines the scope in those communities that have made the vision work. Ms Hazlehurst says in the book that the key to taking back control is taking responsibility for community healing. She convincingly illustrates the power of powerful ideas with examples of changes that have occurred in Alice Springs - the women took control of the lives of their families and joined forces to fight against addictive practices in their communities.
A similar program in Canada confirms that families and whole-community efforts can make a real difference for good among those who desire a better lifestyle for the younger generation. A central theme in the book is the importance of the spiritual dimensions of humanity. This aspect has been played down or blatantly ridiculed by the patronising efforts of some public programs.
It is indeed refreshing to read that the spiritual aspect of a human being is not only acknowledged, but encouraged to soar above the shackles of oppression, conflict, and the disgrace of addiction. The workbook chapters at the end of the book contain 'personal discovery, healing games and exercises' of a highly practical nature. Their apparent simplicity hides a remarkable depth of understanding.
Perhaps Ms Hazlehurst occasionally errs on the side of overgeneralisation. For example, she states that fully employed Aborigines have vowed that they will not even pay parking fines because Aboriginal people, they feel, have paid enough. But as a whole, these same generalisations paint a picture of the feelings that are an undercurrent in the minds of many, though not all, Aboriginal people: feelings of hope for a brighter future.
