women's past, present, future

Traditional Palawa shell necklaces made by Palawa artist Lola Greeno

Samuel Carnell     Unidentified Young Woman, Hawkes Bay District, Maori Nation, North Island, New Zealand     c.1890

Aboriginal art by Kitty Kantila

Tiwi Art Aboriginal Australia

ochre on canvas

Queenie McKenzie (Australian aboriginal, 1915-1998) - Rainbow snake over Texas downs, natural earth pigments and synthetic binder on canvas, 90.00 x 116.00 cm (1997)

Billie Jean Hamlet by Saskia Wilson for Vogue Australia, November 2020

Ngangkari are Anangu traditional healers. Traditional healing is as old as the culture itself. Over this time, Aboriginal healers created a system of healing based on the resources of the land and their own spiritual connection to it.    Aboriginal traditional healers are born into the ability through family lines and knowledge passed down through family. Becoming a Ngangkari can begin as a toddler, when a child is identified by family and community members as being a natural healer. “Depressed people can feel a lot better within themselves after a Ngangkari treatment. That’s one of our specialities. Their spirits are out-of-sorts, and not positioned correctly within their bodies. The Ngangkari’s job is to reposition their spirits and to reinstate it to where it is happiest.” - Naomi Kantjuriny Ngangkari healers in northern South Australia work alongside doctors and medical staff in community clinics and hospitals, and often visit Adelaide to tend to Aboriginal hospital patients and deal with everything from childhood illnesses, pain relief, pain management to restoring the spirit balance within the body and treating loss of spirit. “The touch of my hands has a healing effect. I give a firm, strong touch, and remove the pain and sickness, and throw it away from the sufferer.”

 Painting: “Bush Medicine Leaves” by Jeannie Petyarre

by Anna Castellano

Ebor, NSW, Australia

This piece sold to a lovely lady living in Brisbane to brighten up her outdoor pool area.