Nagarlu Flashcards
What is meant by Ngarlu?
Indigenous word for centre of inner spirit responsible for emotional and physical wellbeing.
The indigenous inner spirit has been weakened sick colonisation with change in lifestyle, drugs and alcohol, disposession, disempowerment.
An aboriginal elder who points to the stomach may infact be referring to their ngarlu, which rather than implying a stomach problem, may infact be a spiritual or emotional issue.
In Aboriginal culture before, if a person felt bad about another person, they would
approach them, express their feelings and get it out, instead of suppressing it. They would clear
their Ngarlu. This used to be their strong point when the culture was strong.
How has Ngarlu changed with the stolen generation and colonisation?
Indigenous communities may have lost the normal practice of letting people know of their problems.
In the past, if a person bad feeling against another friend, they would let them know, rather than bottling in the problem.
