Tag Archives: Reconciliation

Lessons from the Yolŋu people of East Arnhem Land

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Nyinyikay sunset

I have just returned from a week on Country in East Arnhem Land, being immersed in Yolŋu culture and community alongside 25 other educators from South Australia and New South Wales, as part of an Aboriginal Cultural Immersion Program run by Culture College.

As I begin to process my learnings, below I reflect on three of my takeaways from this experience. I do not aim to tell the stories of Yolŋu or to share the knowledge they so generously shared with me, but rather to reflect on my own story and experience.

  • Tune in – to self, others and Country.

The Yolŋu have a deep, ancient and ongoing connection with land, story and ancestry. It is the land from which Yolŋu law, knowledge and custom emerge. Across the week we were encouraged to ‘Let Country be the teacher’ and to listen to what the land and our surroundings tell us.

When we arrived at Gulkula, 31 kilometres from Nhulunbuy, we were welcomed with a purifying smoke ceremony and a bush medicine healing. At the Yirrkala Art Centre we experienced a sound healing through the playing of a yidaki and immersed ourselves in the histories of the Yolŋu, cross-hatched in ochres and clays from the land onto bark and trunks. The stories of the land were also woven into basket works made from pandanas leaves painstakingly harvested, stripped, dried, dyed and entwined.

Between Gulkula and Nyinyikay we travelled winding rainbow-dirt roads in colours of rust red, burnt orange, buttery ochre, wattle yellow and cotton white. Landscapes of eucalypt-green leaves and bleached stringybark trunks were punctuated by mauve star-shaped flowers, architectural termite towers and smouldering charcoal husks soon to sprout new green shoots, representing the renewal and new beginnings that come from fire and smoke.

On arrival at Nyinyikay we were painted with clay from the land and welcomed with a traditional dance of the ancestral animal of the Country and of the people welcoming us. We walked on Country with Nyinyikay family to learn about food and medicine available from the bush.

On this journey we were helped to embrace a deep tuning in – to self, to Country, to others. As we sunk deeper into Yolŋu time, space opened up to breathe and be, to listen and learn.

  • Respect culture, wisdom and truth.

For Yolŋu, ancestors and the oldest members of family and community are shown the utmost love, kindness and respect. Age and wisdom are valued and revered, in stark contrast to the glorification of youth in Western cultures. For Yolŋu, grey hairs and deep facial lines are signs of a life well lived, of sacred knowledge known and shared, of legacy protected, and of challenges overcome.

We felt the honour of learning from Elder Djapirri Mununggirritj, and Nyinyikay martriarch Nancy Mutilnga Burarrwanga (fondly referred to as ‘Old Lady’ by her family). We were privileged to learn from the wider family of all ages and from its emerging leaders. We learned that in Yolŋu society, only those who know themselves and act with respect and integrity are taught ancient, sacred and powerful knowledges. One must demonstrate their capacity to bear the weight of the responsibility of carrying and passing on those knowledges. We witnessed the great power, privilege and responsibility that comes with leading, and the capacity of an individual to inspire.

We walked and worked, listened and yarned. We engaged in women’s business for the women and men’s business for the men – opportunities for knowledge telling, yarning, connecting and supporting one another. Together with our hosts, we shared stories and photos, jokes and laughs. We spent an evening under the stars dancing ceremonial dances together. Each evening, our group of educators gathered in a circle around the fire to reflect upon our day and our learnings.

  • Community is all.

In Yolŋu society, all is balanced and all are equal. We learned about the two moiety (groups) that make up the Yolŋu worldview, and keep the equilibrium in all things. Like the Kaurna concept of yara (reflecting reciprocity and ‘twoness’), the moiety are two complex halves that make up a harmonious whole. No matter someone’s age, race, background, needs or idiosyncrasies, all are welcome, all are included, and all are loved. All are family and family is all.

Each of we 26 visitors to these Aboriginal-owned lands were overwhelmed by the deep care and deep presence of our Yolŋu teachers. The compassionate welcome and safe space we received from Yolŋu was one of generosity, kinship and total acceptance. We were embraced as family and bestowed mälks (skin names) and Yolŋu names.

Reconciliation is represented in the Yolŋu metaphor of ‘the place where freshwater and saltwater meet’, and find balance as they come together and unite. In a symbolic act of reconciliation, of coming together, we visitors worked alongside the Nyinyikay family to help build the wall of their fish trap on the mangrove mudflat.

Djapirri reminded us that we are all “wired for love” and should “speak from the heart”. Abundant love, openness and trust were tangible to all of us in the way the people interacted with one another and with each of us. Walking with and learning from Yolŋu reinforced the need for us all to be active in moving towards a reconciled Australia. It brought to the fore the importance of belonging, identity and a relational community in which each member is seen, heard, held, respected, and welcomed with open hearts, open minds and open arms.

Nyinyikay Country

What Reconciliation Means: National Reconciliation Week 2023

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Australia is a diverse country with the oldest continuing living culture in the world, and a colonial past with devastating consequences for First Nations Australians. Reconciliation Australia describes five dimensions of Reconciliation: historical acceptance, race relations, equality and equity, institutional integrity, and unity. ‘Be a Voice for Generations’, the theme of Australia’s National Reconciliation Week 2023, reminds us that Reconciliation is everyone’s responsibility, and that it is a journey of coming together to reflect on past generations, while building a better tomorrow for future generations.

It is my privilege to have been born and raised on Whadjuk Noongar Country, and to have lived and worked in Naarm on the lands of the Kulin Nation. I am now getting to know the traditional lands, waterways and language of the Kaurna people of the Adelaide plains, as well as of other South Australian lands and peoples.

As a non-Indigenous person and second-generation Australian whose parents were both born overseas, for me engaging in Reconciliation means learning about local Indigenous language, culture, histories, stories, and knowledges. It is about seeking out and listening to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices, as well as considering how I might use my own voice. It means acknowledging and reflecting on traditional Country at events, in meetings, and on my podcast, The Edu Salon. It means seeking out, citing, and recommending the work of Indigenous scholars, educators and artists. For example, I have enjoyed listening to outstanding Indigenous scholars Marnee Shay and Kevin Lowe, both of whom advocate for strengths-based approaches to education for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people in schools.

In a school context, Reconciliation means having, revising and refining a school Reconciliation Action Plan. It means engaging in conversations about Reconciliation at student, staff and board tables. It means an active Reconciliation Action Plan Committee that meets regularly, includes students and staff, and is focused on collaborative action. It means teachers, from early learning through to Year 12, considering how cultural competence is built through curriculum, pedagogy, texts, issues explored, and language used and learned. It means engaging in, and deeply reflecting on the significance of, cultural protocols such as Welcome to Country and Acknowledgement to Country, including in local language and by local people. It means schools considering student learning and scholarship opportunities, enrolments policies, human resources processes, assembly content, events protocols, student experiences beyond the classroom, and school-wide anti-discrimination strategies. It means providing opportunities for staff and students to engage in reflection, learning, service, and culture. It means considering how to build mutually beneficial relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stakeholders and communities. It means working to consider how we can develop spaces, supports and opportunities for Indigenous young people.

Contributing to the ongoing work of Reconciliation means all Australians engaging regularly in meaningful discussion about, and taking action on, Reconciliation. It means celebrating, amplifying, and making space for the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and communities. It means enshrining an Indigenous Voice to Parliament in our Constitution. It also means acknowledging the violent, unjust, uncomfortable colonial history of our nation and the ongoing intergenerational trauma experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. It means considering what behaviours and structures are normalised in our organisations and systems, who benefits from these, what unconscious biases exist, and how we might recognise and interrogate our own ability to participate in a range of opportunities not equally available to all Australians.

Beyond recognition and acknowledgement is action: considering how we might be an effectual part of positive change towards reconciling the peoples of Australia, every day.

What might ‘taking action’ for Reconciliation look like?

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This week is National Reconciliation Week in Australia (27 May-3 June), a week that challenges all Australians to work towards a reconciled relationship between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous peoples, for a unified, just and equitable Australia for all Australians.

It was only in 1962 that Indigenous Australians were granted the right to vote. And it was only in 1967, via referendum, that Australia’s First Nations peoples were recognised by the government as people. Previous to that, the Australian constitution stated that “in reckoning the numbers of the people of the Commonwealth, or of a State or other part of the Commonwealth, aboriginal natives should not be counted”. In 2008, then- Prime Minister Kevin Rudd issued a formal apology to Indigenous Australians for the Stolen Generations—children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families under parliamentary authority. The 2017 Uluru Statement from the Heart calls for the ancient sovereignty of First Nations Australians to be recognised through structural reform including constitutional change and a ‘Voice to Parliament’.

This year’s National Reconciliation Week theme is:

“More than a word. Reconciliation takes action.”

Reflecting on what reconciliation action looks like for me, it’s the macro and micro actions we take.

In my school our actions include a Reconciliation Action Plan working group who meet to consider what Reconciliation can look like in our school, and to plan how to bring our Reconciliation intentions to action. It’s building a meaningful relationship and mutually beneficial partnership of listening, seeking to understand identities and realities, and positive action with a remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community school. It is acknowledging Country in ways that are respectful, embedded and that show awareness of and respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, cultures and heritage. For my school, that means acknowledging the Whadjuk people of the Noongar nation as the traditional custodians of the land on which we learn and work, recognising their continuing connection and contribution to land, waters and community, and paying our respects to them, their culture, and to Elders past, present and emerging. It means providing students and staff with opportunities to increase understanding, value and recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, histories, knowledges and rights. It means celebrating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander days of significance. It means always working to improve the ways in which we and our community engage with the ideas and actions of Reconciliation, and with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

This year in my classroom, engaging with Reconciliation includes studying the poetry of Australian poet Samuel Wagan Watson who encourages his readers to consider the lasting impacts and trauma of Australia’s colonial past, land dispossession, historic and continuing violence towards Indigenous Australians, and the erosion, appropriation and commercialisation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture, language, identity and mythology.

In my academic writing, my actions include citing Indigenous authors and seeking out Indigenous ways of knowing, researching and communicating. In my editing, actions include inviting Indigenous authors to write for books and journal special issues. I can highly recommend engaging with the work of ‘Deadly’ Australian scholars Tracey Bunda, Melitta Hogarth, Marnee Shay and Janet Mooney. In the conclusion of the upcoming edited book Future Alternatives for Educational Leadership, I call for those in educational leadership to openly engage with complex issues and uncomfortable debates, and to make space for the perspectives and knowledge systems of Indigenous and culturally marginalised groups.

During this week’s Q&A program on the ABC, Marnie Omeragic asked:

“It is Reconciliation Week. Is Australia ready to hear its truth? Are we brave enough to learn the atrocities of our past and our present? Deaths in custody, children being removed- it is happening at a faster rate today. The gap is not closing. How will Australia find its heart?”

The panel’s responses can be watched here from the 34-minute mark. The challenge remains for all Australians to consider how our thoughts, language and actions contribute to the aim of a reconciled, just, equitable and unified Australia.