McCoy S.J, Brian F2019-09-252019-09-252011-12-1520111941-8450http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12424/181836"The example that begins this paper also adds a further dimension of complexity. Most cultures have their own ways of dealing with death and what they believe about a person’s transition from life into a next, or other world. In some cultures there are also very strong traditions that allow people to express their grief at this time, that is, before death. In providing very public expressions of grief, they allow people to communicate to the family and those most closely related to the dying, that they have played no part in that person’s final and terminal condition. It is not surprising, then, that there are cultural contexts where the rituals associated with a person before they die link closely with those immediately after death. This is the case with a number of Australian Aboriginal peoples. As I describe these understandings further in this paper, I note that such approaches to the dying may not be shared or understood by non-Aboriginal health care professionals. They are likely to be more focused on their own culturally appropriate and immediate responses, and less aware of other possible responses, at such critically important times for the dying person and their family."(pg 170)engWith permission of the license/copyright holderindigenious ethicsRites of Passagehealth careAboriginal theologyIntercultural and contextual theologiesIntercultural theologiesIndigenous theologiesArticle