Surprisingly, sorcery was not identified as a cause of renal disease, even though sudden death and many other illnesses are frequently attributed to this cause. When this was discussed with two long-term renal patients they were adamant that renal disease is never due to sorcery, but this may not reflect the views of other Yolngu, particularly those without renal disease themselves. Supernatural agency within a (partially) Christian framework is, however, a strong theme in Yolŋu discourse about curing sickness, including renal disease.
Some of the Yolŋu participants expressed strong convictions that there
had been, or would be, supernatural intervention in their renal disease.
One long-term dialysis patient believed that:
.. one day I will be off from machine - that's my
faith (interview with
Wurrapa)
A family member of another patient reported that her sister was improving,
according to the doctor at her sister's last medical review who she said
told her the test results show that her kidney is working:
because of my prayer, I put my trust in God and that's
why... (interview
with G)
Although such beliefs were not expressed in the medical encounters the
nurses on the floor were aware of their importance to Yolŋu:
(Yolŋu) are very religious. ..even (a young male patient) - said to me
once that so and so went home and he's OK and he's dialysing OK because
God's looking after him - he brought it into the conversation - the East
Arnhem people are really religious compared to (other Aboriginal people)
(interview with renal nurses)
The complex interplay and potential conflict between belief systems was
powerfully illustrated during one of the encounters in which a Yolŋu woman
assisted the physician in communicating with the patient and his family,
although she is not a trained interpreter. This section of the video was
analysed with the assistance of an experienced interpreter who summarised
what the Yolŋu assisting the physician said to the family about the patient's
current status and prognosis:
.. she's saying 'yes, you've heard the story from
the doctor, your body is good, the blood test is showing that both kidneys
are falling, dropping (presumably in function) but don't necessarily believe
that there is no hope - have faith in above, believe in him' (interpretation of video data)
A Yolŋu woman who was also assisting with the video analysis explained
what she thought was going on:
.. she is rejecting doctor's story, maybe because
a lot of Yolŋu believe in God...when we get sick then we can pray to the
Lord, God will give us comfort, a lot of Yolŋu are using these words in
the hospital with sick people...we have to trust the doctor and God, both
ways because the doctors are working to make Yolŋu healthy, that's how
Yolŋu feel, prayer - tell Him what sickness the person's got...sometimes
Yolŋu reject the doctor's story and let God's power become greater, sometimes
Yolŋu get the information from the doctors and get it into their heart
but there is someone above that can 'make their fear invisible' (interpretation
of video data)
There was considerable discussion between the researcher and the interpreters
who were assisting with the analysis about what was actually being communicated
to the family and why. The Balanda interpreter suggested that his understanding
of her (possible) intended meaning was that:
she's saying this is a story that the doctor is telling you - it's true
but it's not the final thing, the most important thing is that you have
your faith, that you believe in God, that you find comfort in God, yes,
accept that story but don't believe it is the only answer. God is the
answer, God will comfort you
and he suggested that the meaning may be ambiguous to the family who might
have interpreted her meaning differently, but this could not be determined
from the video data.