| Warning: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are advised that this eNews may include images of persons who are deceased. October 2019It is official! It’s time to ditch the scarfs, puffer jackets and beanies – spring is here! Like clockwork every year, spring calls and Country responds with life as it finds a rhythm in the warmth and new growth. Reconciliation Victoria is warmed and ready to go with this month promising to be as busy and exciting as the last. I encourage you all to join us for this year’s Annual General Meeting and Forum, ‘Connecting the Dots: Victoria’s Changing Landscape’, an opportunity to unpack the Uluru Statement, Treaty and self-determination. The Reconciliation Victoria team are excited to announce that one of our guest speakers joining us for this conversation is Thomas Mayor. Thomas continues to advocate for the proposals contained within the Uluru Statement from the Heart, and is the author of ‘Finding the Heart of the Nation – The Journey of the Uluru Statement towards Voice, Treaty and Truth’, published by Hardie Grant. The book tells Thomas’s story, the story of the Uluru Statement, and features some of the remarkable Indigenous people he met on his campaigning journey. We can’t wait to welcome Thomas to Melbourne. We saw so many highlights in September, but particularly the beginning of the voting period for the First People’s Assembly of Victoria. This is a significant step on the journey to Treaty and increased self-determination. With the end of the year quickly approaching, let us all reflect on where we have been and where we want to go. There is still a lot of work to do, but let October be a month where we acknowledge all the great work happening in the reconciliation space, and be excited for all the important work that will follow. Thanks everyone for your ongoing support and stay Deadly! Diana David CEONEWS2019 AGM and Reconciliation ForumSaturday 26 October Victoria has a long history of strong activism from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people fighting for their rights; with several recent developments around Treaty, Statement of the Heart and Self-Determination in Victoria. Join us to unpack what these developments mean in the midst of ongoing injustice, what this means for reconciliation work in Victoria, how we define reconciliation and create systematic change. Thomas Mayor, advocate of the Uluru Statement from the Heart will join us for a panel discussion along with two other guest speakers (to be confirmed). Keep an eye on our Facebook page and website for further updates. Reconciliation Victoria and ANTaR Victoria will hold their respective AGMs prior to the Forum which will feature a panel discussion. We hope to see as many of our members there as possible, and everyone (including non-members) is welcome. Head to our website for more information and to register.Volunteer call out for AGM and Reconciliation Forum We’re looking for volunteers to help with logistics at the AGM and Forum on Saturday 26 October. Tasks will include helping with set up, catering flow, pack down, merchandise/handout table, etc. Know anyone who might be interested? A great opportunity to support reconciliation in Victoria! Please contact the office with your availability on the day/interest area and for more information.Leading the Way Voting for the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria election opened in September. More than 70 Aboriginal people have put their hand up to run as candidates in the election, with Assembly Election Officers to support the process. From next week, more than 40 polling places across Victoria will be open and ready for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to case their votes. More info on candidates and polling. Vale Aunty Dot Aunty Dot Peters passed away recently. The Reconciliation Victoria team sends our condolences to the Peters family.Aunty Dot was a champion for reconciliation and recognition for over 40 years. Her legacy will live on through the annual Victorian Aboriginal Remembrance Service that she established, as well as through the Aunty Dot Peters Award, which supports young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to complete Year 9 and 10. Aunty Dot’s work has been acknowledged with many awards, including a NAIDOC Elders Award, a Yarra Ranges Shire Lifetime Achievement Award, a Victorian Aboriginal Award, and, in 2001, a Centenary Medal. In 2011, Dot was inducted into the Victorian Honour Roll of Women. As Mayor of the Shire of Yarra Ranges Tony Stevenson said: “The community of the Yarra Valley is better for having Aunty Dot in it, and I know her loss will be felt by all of us.”Djab Wurrung Sacred Trees protest continues At the sacred Djab Wurrung site just outside Ararat in Victoria’s mid-west stands a culturally significant birthing tree said to be over 800-years-old. Over its lifetime, the tree has overseen the arrival of 10,000 Djab Wurrung babies and been sustained by the blood of hundreds of generations of Djab Wurrung women. Taking back the land is a birthright. It is a duty to protect it for our and your future generations. Temporary reprieve for ancient Djab Warring trees Read the full report. The Age, 13 September 2019 Workers remove tree branches as Djab Wurrung standoff continues Read the full report. NITV, 11 September 2019 Western Highway duplication sub-contractor fired after making threats to activists in audio recording. Read the full report. The Ararat Advertiser, 19 September 2019Western Highway sacred trees protest comes to steps of Victorian Parliament. More than 500 protesters have stopped traffic outside the Victorian Parliament to rail against the planned destruction of sacred trees. Read the full report. ABC News, 1 September 2019To find out how you can get support, go to the Djab Wurrung Heritage Protection Embassy Facebook page or website.On 22 December 2017, Tanya Day died after sustaining a serious head injury in a police cell. The inquest into Tanya Day’s death A significant aspect of this inquest is that the coroner made the decision to look at whether systemic racism played a part in her death. This is the first time such a factor has been considered in a coronial inquest. Nothing can reverse the series of events that have led the Day family to this courtroom. But they say justice for Tanya Day will be served with the abolition of public drunkenness and a ruling of systemic racism by the coroner. Read more about the inquest:Black Thoughts Live HereEugenia Flynn on the Inquest into Tanya Day’s death. Change The RecordThe family of Tanya Day mark the end of the inquest into their mother’s death in police custody. Go to the Human Rights Law Centre News to read the full statement from the family.The GuardianTanya Day’s family demand criminal investigation into alleged police negligence. Read the full article here. Photo: Apryl Day, Belinda Day and Warren Day outside the Coroner’s Court for the inquest into their mother’s death.The World Trademark Review delves into the Aboriginal Flag’s “unique situation” in Australia The Aboriginal flag dispute in focus: who owns the right to use? The Australian government is considering whether to compulsorily acquire the rights to use the Aboriginal flag on public policy grounds.Since 1971, the Aboriginal flag has been both a symbol that has united Indigenous people in Australia and a national symbol of the country. It was recognised as an official flag of Australia by proclamation by the governor general in 1995 and under the Flags Act 1953 (Cth) in 2008. Therefore, it has the same protections as other official Australian flags. Read the full article from World Trademark Review. Find out how to support the Free the Flag campaign.We are here. We have survived. Help us take a stand for our nation’s future.– Jackie HugginsA truth and justice commission would provide a public space for our voices. The time to tell the truth is long overdue, Truth-telling is not just an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander issue. Truth-telling is, and always has been, a national issue. Historically and contemporarily, much of Australia has been blind to the experience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Read the article from The Guardian.Host a Morning Tea for Culture to support Aboriginal children in care heal and connect to culture. VACCA invites all groups, workplaces, churches, schools to host a morning tea and help Aboriginal children in care. Find out how you can help raise funds to support VACCA’s important work.The funds you raise will make a difference to Aboriginal children in care and in their programs – every dollar counts.We encourage you to learn more about VACCA by visiting their website.As a not-for-profit organisation, we rely on donations and partnerships to help create change and work towards a Victorian identify that reflects our true history, promotes and celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture, equity and self-determination. Donations are used to fund our ongoing work and projects that support meaningful reconciliation. We also welcome corporate sponsorships and partnerships. Please contact us to discuss opportunities, or donate by visiting our webpage.EVENTSTanderrumat the Melbourne International Arts Festival Performed by the Wurundjeri/ Woiwurrung, Boon Wurrung, Taungurung, Wadawurrung and Dja Dja Wurrung. Each year the first words of the Festival come from those who have carried this land’s stories the longest – the First Peoples of Melbourne. Tanderrum is a ceremony bringing together the language groups of the Eastern Kulin Nation – a ceremony of celebration that reaches across Aboriginal time. This sacred ceremony, which had been hidden since European invasion, until six years ago the Eastern Kulin brought Tanderrum back to central Melbourne to open the Festival. This is a free event. Wednesday 2 October 6.30 – 8pm, Federation Square, Melbourne. More information.How is Aboriginal culture relevant to thinking about our future? Mullum Mullum Indigenous Gathering place and Eastern Metro Reconciliation groups invite you to join our one-day forum to discuss the direction modern western culture is taking us and to consider what Aboriginal culture has to offer our current challenges. Saturday 5 October 10am – 3pm. Ringwood Training at Ringwood Secondary College, 3 Hill Street, Ringwood East. This is a free event, but booking is essential. Further enquiries, email Howard Tankey. LIN ONUS ORATION 2019 Sovereign Language Rematriation Dr Lou BennettDr Lou Bennett will give an overview of her work in language retrieval, regeneration and reclamation over the past 30 years as a practising artist and academic. Dr Bennett’s project, ‘Sovereign Language Rematriation’ (SLR), examines the importance of Indigenous research methods and practice-led research to the task of ‘rematriating’ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages. SLR involves collaborative processes of Indigenous song arrangement, composition and notation to develop Song Pedagogy for language retrieval that aligns with the diverse contemporary learning contexts and needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, especially those who do not speak their languages fluently on a day-to-day basis. Thursday 17 October 6.30 – 8pm. Grant Street Theatre, Grant Street, Southbank This is a free event. Information and registration. Hosted by the Wilin Centre for Indigenous Arts and Cultural Development as part of Wilin Week 2019. A multimedia soundscape exhibition that celebrates UNESCO’s International Year of Indigenous Languages and the 25th Anniversary of the Victorian Aboriginal Corporation for Languages (VACL). Co-curated with VACL, ngulu wurneet, galada-al wurrung-u, parniwaru tyalingi, waran woorroong-ee, barringgi dyaling – River of Language encourages visitors to be immersed in Aboriginal Ways of Knowing, Being and Doing, and learn through listening and observation. The VACL curatorial working group of Vicki Couzens and Brendan Kennedy asks visitors to take the time to “learn to see the world through our eyes, through our words, stories and images”. River of Language continues until Sunday, 13 October Bunjilaka, Melbourne Museum. InformationWe respectfully acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the lands and waters of Victoria.Follow on FacebookFollow on TwitterEmail usSign up to receive this news monthlyPlease share this eNews with your networks. If you have any events or news items you’d like us to include please email the office Make a Donation to Reconciliation Victoria and help create change in VictoriaPoorneit – Wurundjeri season of tadpoles (true spring) Key Dates 26 October: Reconciliation Victoria AGM & ForumExhibitionsDhumbada Munga: Talking Knowledge This exhibition explores the transformative power of art and cultural exchange between previously incarcerated Indigenous artists and the contemporary Indigenous artists who mentor and support them. Exhibition launch. Please join us for drinks and Indigenous-inspired canapes. Thursday 10 October 6.30 – 8.30pm This exhibition will be on display until 26 October. Image: Burning Off, Robby Wirramanda, Wergaia/Wotjobaluk More information.INVITATION The Board and Staff of the Koorie Heritage Trust invite you to the launch of these three exhibitions. Saturday 5 October from 2 – 4pm Temporary Exhibition Gallery 1, Yarra Building, Federation Square. Saturday 5 October – Sunday 24 November.Camping on Country Camping on Country is an ambitious and immersive solo exhibition by Gunditjmara master weaver, Aunty Bronwyn Razem. More information. Image: Aunty Bronwyn Razem, Tower Hill (2019), acrylic on wallaby fur and raffia, collection of the artist.Old and New Old and New is the sixth solo exhibition from Yorta Yorta visual and performance artist Greg Muir. Taking inspiration from photographs, most from his own collection, Greg takes us on a captivating journey retelling the story of his life through art. More information. Image: Uncle Greg Muir, Self Portrait of a Deadly One (2019), acrylic on canvas, collection of the artist.Marnda Grik Marnda Grik means large spider in Woiwurrung. Marnda Grik is a weaver of story, history and Country. She embodies the matriarchs of our past. In this new body of work, Blackgin explores her relationship with Marnda Grik. More information. Image: Blackgin, Marnda Grik (2019), paperbark.Museum Galleries Australia Indigenous Roadmap The Australian Museums and Galleries Association 10-Year Indigenous Roadmap is committed to improving Indigenous engagement and employment. The Roadmap was developed for the museums and galleries sector, in consultation with the sector. Information. Read the Roadmap here. Read the Report here.EducationEducation resources for schools, sporting clubs and community organisations now available online.Reconciliation in Schools and Early Learning The Narragunnawali professional learning resource, Reconciliation in Education: Learning Unlearning Relearning, encourages teachers and educators to reflect on the importance of education to reconciliation in relation to your own education experiences. Genuinely engaging in reconciliation involves personal and professional learning and reflection. Find out more.Check out the latest Narragunnawali Newsletter containing information about reconciliation in Australia, ideas for driving reconciliation in schools and early learning services, and highlights of great things happening in schools and early learning services across the country.Teaching Kindness Isn’t Enough Teaching kindness is a staple of elementary practice, but that isn’t the same as teaching justice. This article from the USA provides the case and examples for why and how to teach justice in classrooms on a regular basis – relevant to important anti-racism work for reconciliation in Australia. Read the article from Teaching ToleranceStolen Generations Schools Kit now available The Healing Foundation has launched its Stolen Generations Resource Kit for Teachers and Students. The free resource was developed to help school communities start a conversation about the Stolen Generations and introduce students up to year nine to the lived experiences of Stolen Generation survivors. Cultural consultation with survivors was key to the project, which was undertaken with guidance from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous teachers, parents, early childhood specialists and curriculum writers. Download the kit here.Resource to help celebrate the International Year of Indigenous Languages To mark the International Year of Indigenous Languages, Reconciliation Australia has put together a resource explaining the history and importance of revitalising First Nations languages, and how to respectfully explore reconciliation opportunities around language. More information.Making your workplace or classroom culturally inclusive With over 50,000 people of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin in Victoria, it’s now more important than ever to be informed on how to make your workplace, classroom or association culturally inclusive. Koorie culture has historically been disregarded or overlooked in these environments but there are a handful of things that can be done to ensure a more inclusive and positive future. Download here.MAGGOLEE Here in this place The Maggolee website, developed by Reconciliation Victoria, includes information on policy and programs, protocols and cultural awareness, Traditional Owner groups and local Aboriginal organisations, Aboriginal languages, key local contacts, news and events. It contains information about each of the 79 Victorian local government areas, and about actions councils can take across key function areas to build closer relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and to progress reconciliation. Maggolee has also proven to be a useful resource for teachers, educators and the wider community.Podcasts TV • Film The Point on NITV investigates the ongoing crisis of institutionalised racism that is affecting the nation’s healthcare system. Watch it here.Find out where the film is showing. Watch the trailer here.Kutcha’s Carpool Koorioke In this series of four short films directed by John Harvey, Kutcha’s Carpool Koorioke features a stellar musical cast including ARIA award-winners Archie Roach and Dan Sultan, music icons Bunna Lawrie and Bart Willoughby, young singers Alice Skye and Emily Wurramara, the hilarious Elaine Crombie and legend Uncle Jack Charles. Don’t miss this warm-hearted musical journey to the other side of the street. Episode One with Archie Roach and Uncle Jack Charles is now available online here. New episodes will be released weekly.LearningLittle Yarns for Kids Australia is full of diverse Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nations. From Gamilaroi to Yawuru, Palawa to Wadjigany, each mob has its own language, stories and culture. Journey with us each week to learn language on country and have a little yarn. Listen here.eNews layout by Julie CattlinCopyright © 2019 Reconciliation Victoria, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: info@reconciliationvic.org.au |
