Whist I've been engaged in many private conversations this week, I've had hesitations about sharing publicly...
Firstly, I am not Aboriginal and, secondly, I'm certainly not an expert. Like, at all... by any stretch of the imagination. Oh and thirdly, I've got stuff I'm absolutely still learning and unlearning. I absolutely have bias - conscious and unconscious. But without awareness nothing can, or will, EVER change. I'm not here for that.
It's become heartbreakingly obvious to me that many were not given the same education or experiences as I have. And so many of you honestly don't know where to start.
I don't believe it should be solely the responsibility of our Indigenous brothers and sisters to educate us. 230 years of trying to tell us can only be exhausting and frustrating. It's time for us to step up.
So here are some super practical places you can start.
Learn our history. It's brutal and ugly and totally fucked up. Don't look away. Take it onboard.
In the early 90s I had an incredible rogue teacher who taught us the truth of Australia's history. I'm so grateful to this incredible woman. Here is one of the videos she shared with us back in the early 90s (be prepared to cry - it's heartbreaking):
Learn about the land you live on. Know what country you are on and know more about the people who inhabited it for 60000 years before we arrived.
Go study Australian history. Our education system has, and continues, to let us down in this area. And I would like to see MASSIVE change when it comes to what is taught in school. A common comment from the friends I've been speaking with this week is that they know more about other countries and cultures than they do our own. And that could all change in one generation, if we learned this stuff early on.
But it's easy to blame the system. It means we, as individuals, get to pass the buck. That's not good enough.
Education starts at home.
There are often plenty of resources available via your local library. You can often find local language resources and books about local culture and history. One simple trick is to type which Country you live on into the search box at your library. See what comes up.
Edited to add: Here’s a couple of websites that are not indigenous run but are created in consultation:
Have conversations with your children about what they know... share what you are learning with them. They are NEVER too young. I've been having these conversations with my little one since before she was old enough to understand.
There are some seriously amazing kids books out there. I remember loving the dreamtime books as a kid - Rainbow Serpent was a fav of mine and now my daughter. These should all be at your local library and school. Plus, check out Magabala Books for some great reads (adults and kids, fiction and non-fiction - it's all there):
https://www.magabala.com/Listen to Indigenous stories and voices. Here's a few podcasts that I LOVE....
Obviously, Indigenous Health MedTalks (because I produce it).
Tiddas 4 Tiddas
Always was, always will be our stories (Marlee Silva's new podcast - she was the host of Tiddas 4 Tiddas)
Black Magic Woman
A few days ago I shared a document that contained details of places you can donate and campaigns you can lend your voice to. Go check that out.
Ask your kids school what Australian history the kids are learning. Ask the school what cultural education programs they are running. Are they doing acknowledgement of Country? Is there any Indigenous language being learned?
Get involved. Naidoc is coming up in July. Plenty of opportunities to connect and celebrate.
We have the oldest living cultures in the history of the planet on our doorstep, but we've been too in our own shit to listen and learn.
Hope this helps!
If you have other resources, feel free to add them to the thread. This is obviously just one post and a bit of a starting point.
Let's do the work. xx