59-05-032 Proceeding

321 Proceedings of the Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Congress associations, organizations and institutions. The link that connects us all in these four areas is the healing power of the creative process and its vital importance to our lives and well-being. The First People Although there is debate (Cane, 2013; Dorey, 2011), indigenous Australians are generally understood to have travelled by sea fromSoutheast Asia and to have first arrived on the Australian mainland between 40,000 and 70,000 years ago. Their artistic, musical and spiritual traditions are amongst the longest surviving such traditions in human history. Rock art in the Northern Territory, for example, is thought to be as much as 20,000 years old. Indigenous New Zealanders, Maori, originated from eastern Polynesia and used their sophisticated navigational knowledge and practices in order to travel and settle in New Zealand, approximately 1,000 years ago. They too brought with them a rich culture of musical, artistic and spiritual traditions. In Singapore indigenous Malays are known for their artistic and musical cultural traditions. In contemporary society, these indigenous artistic and spiritual traditions continue to influence current Asian and Pacific cultures, includingmodels of health andwell-being. In turn, these traditions are increasingly acknowledged and valued by Australian, New Zealand and Singaporean arts therapists. All three countries were colonised by Britain in the 18 th and 19 th centuries. All are still members of the Commonwealth Countries. The population of Australia is currently about 23 millions, with most people living in cities on the coastal fringes of the continent. While still constitutionally linked to Britain, subsequent waves of immigration from all over the world have helped to shape Australia into the richmulticultural society that it is today. Indigenous Australians were nomadic, with distinct peoples and languages. Colonisation had a devastating impact on Aboriginal people who, according to Westwood and Linnell (2011, p. 2) are still “profoundly disadvantaged in terms of their economic, social and health status”. Covering a much smaller geographical area, New Zealand consists of narrow islands surrounded by sea. The current population is about four and a half millions. Although also colonised by the British, there was a relatively large and assertive indigenous Maori population, who rather than being nomadic, had a tradition of land occupation and agriculture. Although it has also been significantly affected by colonisation, New Zealand has had a history of indigenous rights that contrasts with that of Australia, due largely, to the Treaty of Waitangi (History Group of the New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage, 2015), a partnership agreement between the British Crown andMaori. New Zealand has also been influenced by further migration of other Pacific people who share a similar worldview toMaori. Similarly to Australia, many other cultures have migrated and settled with, recently, significant numbers being from Asia. There has always been a close relationship both economically and socially between Australia and New Zealand. As a trading nation, the island of Singapore has a population of approximately five and a half million people and is known to be one of the most economically successful countries in the world (CIA, 2015). Under a stable political environment, Singapore has developed high standards