The Stronger Smarter approach

In this Lunchbox/Soapbox talk, Dr. Chris Sarra conveys the importance of having a strong and positive sense of what it means to be Aboriginal in today’s Australian society, and argues that Indigenous students can achieve outcomes comparable to other students – but only when negative perceptions are changed, positive approaches taken, true consultation made and high expectations set in schools. (22 mins)

Why do we need to take a stronger and smarter approach?

• A turbulent history: Schooling Indigenous peoples
• Relationships between educators and community
• School Curriculum and Indigeneity

Schools have historically been sites of exclusion (in NSW the 'Exclusion on Demand' policy operated from 1902) and later, during the years of the Stolen Generations schools were often the sites where the authorities accessed children and from there removed them from their families, their kin and their country. Thus, for many Aboriginal peoples schools have been a place of danger.

The cultural knowledge of Aboriginal people has historically not been acknowleged by schools, let alone valued. When schools for Aboriginal children were first established it was with the explicit purpose of getting Aboriginal students to assimilate to colonial ways of living and knowing.

Read: Evidence of racial bias in Australian schooling

Understanding Systematic Oppression and Institutionalised Racism | Kyol Blakeney (7:57 mins)

My presentation was about understanding the concept of systematic oppression and institutionalised racism. This ranged from presenting ideas about the current structure we live under in the country of Australia and its perceptions of Indigenous Affairs. I speak about stereotypes and the approaches consecutive governments have taken to 'deal' with the Aboriginal people throughout the 228 year period of colonisation. Questions are raised about the effects of some of these actions pursued by governments towards Aboriginal people and the long term effects they carry for future generations of the longest surviving culture in the world.

Indigenous Australians are actively working to dismantle the systemic racism that would keep them 2nd class citizens in their own country. In May 2017 a constitutional convention bringing together over 250 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders met at the foot of Uluru in Central Australia on the lands of the Aṉangu people.

The majority resolved, in the ‘Uluru Statement from the Heart’, to call for the establishment of a ‘First Nations Voice’ in the Australian Constitution and a ‘Makarrata Commission’ to supervise a process of ‘agreement-making’ and ‘truth-telling’ between governments and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

In 1967 we were counted , in 2017 we seek to be heard. We leave base camp and start our trek across this vast country. We invite you to walk with us in a movement of the Australian people for a better future .

The Burnum Burnum Declaration England, 26th January, 1988

"I, Burnum Burnum, being a nobleman of ancient Australia do hereby take possession of England on behalf of the Aboriginal people. In claiming this colonial outpost, we wish no harm to you natives, but assure you that we are here to bring you good manners, refinement and an opportunity to make a Koompartoo - 'a fresh start'. Henceforth, an Aboriginal face shall appear on your coins and stamps to signify our sovreignty over this domain. For the more advanced, bring the complex language of the Pitjantjajara; we will teach you how to have a spiritual relationship with the Earth and show you how to get bush tucker.

We do not intend to souvenir, pickle and preserve the heads of your 2000 of your people, nor to publicly display the skeletal remains of your Royal Highness, as was done to our Queen Truganninni for 80 years. Neither do we intend to poison your water holes, lace your flour with strychnine or introduce you to highly toxic drugs. Based on our 50,000 year heritage, we acknowledge the need to preserve the Caucasian race as of interest to antiquity, although we may be inclined to conduct experiments by measuring the size of your skulls for levels of intelligence. We pledge not to sterilise your women, nor to separate your children from their families. We give an absolute undertaking that you shall not be placed onto the mentality of government handouts for the next five generations but you will enjoy the full benefits of Aboriginal equality. At the end of two hundred years, we will make a treaty to validate occupation by peaceful means and not by conquest.

Finally, we solemnly promise not to make a quarry of England and export your valuable minerals back to the old country Australia, and we vow never to destroy three-quarters of your trees, but to encourage Earth Repair Action to unite people, communities, religions and nations in a common, productive, peaceful purpose.

Burnun Burnum."

Read: Explainer - Aboriginal Identity

Watch: Engaging the community

Reflect

• Why is a focus on Indigenous education so important?
• What is the role of teachers in promoting better outcomes for indigenous students?

Western cultures and Aboriginal cultures are often presented as being opposed and mutually exclusive, but it is possible to combine these with beautiful results (see the re-imaging of the traditional hymn 'Amazing Grace' via button below - [content warning - this clip contains footage of the deceased singer Dr G Yunupingu] ). The linguistic diversity of Australian's First Peoples is at risk with the cutting of funding to bilingual education programs and lack of suitable investment in keeping Aboriginal languages alive. It is important to value Australia's cultural diversity.

Sydney band, The Preatures have also collaborated with Indigenous artists to write and produce 'Yanada" a song that incorporates a local [Sydney] Aboriginal language. Having grown up with Yothu Yindi and Warumpi Band, Isabella Manfredi of the Preatures wants to hear Indigenous languages on the radio again. Along with producing this single, The Preatures have also launched a campaign to help the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies raise money to continue documenting Indigenous languages.

From the Guardian story about 'Yanada'

“When you speak another language, you get an understanding of the cultural values – the particular way of knowing and understanding the world that you just don’t get from anything else,” Manfredi says. Tobin hopes to get more Australians to celebrate the first people, and to understand that every time they use words such as “wombat”, “boomerang”, “Coogee” or “Bondi” they’re speaking a language that’s up to 60,000 years old. “It’s as if our history got whitewashed,” she says. “The language is part of connecting to country, and the basis for our culture ... If the language isn’t spoken, then it simply doesn’t exist.”

The video below provides an insight into Indigenous peoples' relationship to Country and their traditional management practices. It details work by the CSIRO who are documenting First People's water and land management as these practices provide guidance into how to care for the Australian environment.