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Missionaries brought Christianity to the canefields and converted the majority of Islanders. Today Christianity is still an important part of many Islander communities.
Hal's story illustrates the way religion permeates the life of many Australian South Sea Islanders. Again, this story is based on a specific event and does not categorise the cultural patterns of all Australian South Sea Islanders.
My brother-in-law's daughter died up at the hospital.
All the family was there except for a sister and an uncle.
The nurses were about to move the body but we couldn't let her be moved until the whole family had arrived.
We had to ask the nurses if they would let the body stay there until the sister and uncle arrived. The nurses looked confused but they let the body stay in the room.
After a few hours the sister and uncle arrived and gathered around the body.
We asked the nurses if we were allowed to stay around the body and pray.
The nurses again looked confused but they let us stay.
We sang, sang, sang and more people arrived and the more that arrived, the better it was. We all came.
The nurses – they had these looks on their faces. They didn't understand.
In this story the nurses at the hospital allowed the grieving Islander family to hold a vigil over their deceased relative. In doing so the nurses showed the Islanders respect and also demonstrated their ability to provide flexible services.
The family was aware, however, that the nurses didn't understand their culture.
Select the More information button to find out what the nurses could have done to make the Islanders feel a little more comfortable.
More information
The story above shows how satisfactory health care can, with a little cross-cultural training, become excellent health care. However, it is sometimes helpful to remind ourselves that health care can sometimes be below standard. Let's take a look at Respect and death.
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