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As Remote Nurses we get to experience places and cultures not many people have the opportunity to. A lot of the communities we work in are no-go areas for "normal" people as there are restrictions on access and even if permission is granted there is no accommodation available for visitors unless you are completely self sufficient. Even then you would more than likely have to camp some distance outside the community. Also being the health-care providers perhaps gives us a more personal affiliation with the community members and the opportunity to build a more trusting and personal relationship with people.
I have been given permission by the elders of numerous communities to visit "mens ceremony" camps to deliver health care in situations that very few outsiders have been able to access. One night I was called out to assess a mental health client that was taking part in the mens ceremony at a camp outside the community. The senior elder had been contacted and consulted in order for me to have permission to enter the camp. We drove a kilometre or so out of the community then had to park the vehicle, I was led along a narrow track into the bush for a few hundred metres before glimpsing small camp fires scattered amongst the trees. As I was led into the camp these fires lit up dark faces streaked with white paint in small groups around the fires. A few comments in dialect were aimed at our group but the elder replied in the same language which I hoped carried enough authority to allay any animosity at me intruding on the ceremony ground. The man in question was located and I was able to do my assessment sitting on the ground next to his fire and with further collaboration with the elder it was decided that it was OK for him to return with me to the clinic for further assessment and treatment. On a lighter note we have also been involved in community celebrations and festivals that are wonderfully uplifting and a feast for the senses. The pics on this page were taken at the opening of a new clinic at Numbulwar in East Arnhemland where the community wished to celebrate it's opening with traditional dancing and song. These celebrations give the community members a chance to engage in age old traditional dance and song with the older community members passing on this knowledge to the younger kids. The transformation from quiet, unassuming young men into proud, forthright dancers and performers is quite miraculous. Young men that would avoid any direct contact with us suddenly became strutting peacocks competing with each other to attract the most attention. Whereas in normal interactions with indigenous Australians direct eye contact can be construed as rude and "not right", during these performances these same guys will look you straight in the eye as they gesture and posture in the very epitome of confidence. The culture of "top end" communities compared to the desert regions of the "centre" is quite different. Although each have their own cultural strengths "top end" seem more focussed on the performance angle of dance and song. This may have it's roots in the fact that coastal communities have had easier access to a regular food supply than the desert communities where traditional food sources were harder come by. This easier access to food has given these communities more leisure time to pursue these activities and I have noted a more laid-back approach to life with these communities. Either way, desert or tropics, the more I learn the more I realise there is so much I don't understand and probably never will about this culture buried in time which is struggling to coexist with a 21st century one. 
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