There were no explicit opportunities for Yolŋu to discuss their own approaches to managing their health in any of the interactions videotaped for this project. In two of the interactions the patients attempted to talk about their knowledge and management practices (related to Yolŋu food) but these attempts were either not understood or not pursued by the staff members.
In the interviews and informal discussions which occurred during the project Yolŋu participants often discussed at great length and with passion the value of traditional Yolŋu foods in maintaining their health. Creating opportunities for hunting and gathering of their preferred foods is a central concern for Yolŋu living in town, both dialysis patients and their family members. These opportunities are highly variable and limited primarily by access to transport, either having the minibus fare to Buffalo Creek or finding a car to pull the boat owned by one family member from the hostel to the water, and some of the patients are also limited by their physical capacity to participate. When the researchers visited a remote community during the project there was some contact with pending patients who appeared to be staying relatively healthy despite their chronic renal failure. Other Yolŋu attributed this primarily to the pending patients' high consumption of appropriate Yolŋu foods and the exercise involved in hunting and gathering these foods.
Another strategy - self-medicating with white clay - was also described
as highly prevalent amongst the Aboriginal patients of the renal unit
and others:
.. all the dialysis patients like to eat clay and
also pregnant women and some children like it very much - when I feel
weak I have clay and then I feel better: strong, healthier - walk around,
wash clothes.. We used to eat green clay but that was hard for our teeth
- it;'s like rock and we dig it out from the salt water in front of old
hospital... sometimes people sell clay at card games - it comes from Groote
and Goulburn - it gets stuck in your throat - and Darwin - it's just right
- people from Galiwin'ku like Darwin clay best. They ring up for it and
your(maternal grandmother) sent two boxes and people paid $20 for one
bag - hard work to collect it - she digs it out then sits in the shade
and cleans it up with a knife then it's dried in the sun to make it white
then it's packed and sent away (interview with Galikali)
Although the use of white clay is a common topic in the Yolŋu discourse about managing their illness, there is little awareness of this amongst staff. One of the reasons for this is the lack of opportunity for Yolŋu to express their health-related knowledge and practices in renal encounters. It is also likely that past experiences of medical disapproval of the practice inhibits such sharing of information.