How good are you at throwing a boomerang? Such a stereotypical question. When was the last time you encountered casual racism?
Every bloody Uber. Where you from? Who?
You know. And I'm just like, I'm Aboriginal. And they're like...
But you don't look Aboriginal. And then I'm straight up like, but you didn't look racist till you said that. And they're like, okay, sorry, I'm just gonna drive. Why is dancing so important in Indigenous ceremonies? What happens if you're a bad dancer?
wouldn't know. Dancing is about telling our stories and also passing on our history so it's very important that as a young person you learn those dances coming through as into adulthood and once you learn them you know them for life. There's no such thing as a bad dancer.
Indigenous ceremonial dance is about the ceremony it's not a performance so you're not trying to look good for anyone you're participating in sacred ceremony so it's not about being good or bad. There's no such thing. Yeah, you're doing it to honour the old people, your mob, yourself, your family. It's not really a bad, being a bad dancer.
You a good dancer? Nah, I'm not a good dancer. Is it ever okay to ask someone how Aboriginal they are?
Oh my God. I get this all the time. Short answer means no. Can I just answer it flatly, straight? No, it's never okay to ask somebody how Aboriginal they are.
It's very offensive to ask that question. If you look at our history, there's a reason why people aren't 100% Aboriginal and that's really heartbreaking. It doesn't matter what colour our skin is or anything like that.
It's another stereotype, you have to be black to be Aboriginal. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And people don't realise that we lose our skin colours in each generation and things like that.
So that's probably one of the ones we cop all the time. How black are you? You don't ask somebody how much Anglo-Saxon they are or how much Irish or how much Welsh. It doesn't even come into consideration. I think there's a lot of people at the university.
who've asked me that and yeah I think they just think it's okay because it's a matter of curiosity. Absolutely a matter and I understand that as well but to answer this question no. It just I think it opens up to you having to justify yourself and justify how much you are how much you feel it's just kind of taking away from who you really are and your identity. If somebody said to you I'm of Aboriginal heritage pretty much it should be expected that you just accept that statement. It's like the coffee, you know, you have your long blacks, you have your black whites, whatever, it's put as much milk in as you want but it's still that coffee.
How good are you at throwing a boomerang? How good are you? Haha, crap. Pretty bad.
I won't even try. I can't throw anything, let alone a boomerang. It's such an art skill. Such a stereotypical question. One time I threw it and it came back and hit me in the head.
Oh, there you go. And you've got to think about it, they were used as a hunting tool, basically to cause an injury to a lower limb of an animal. So we actually don't have that much of a purpose for them anymore.
What do you think about the commercialisation of boomerangs though? Anyone can buy them. one and throw it. Sorry, I can't walk into an antique store and see 65,000 identical factory made boomerangs.
I think that's incredibly wrong. What is one stereotype that needs to stop? Well that's hard. There's more than one but yeah there's plenty. Petrol sniffing, all black fellas on the dole, yeah the list goes on.
We get stereotypes all the time. I hear it every day. We had one just yesterday, you get free stuff from the government.
I wish they paid my university degree, I still wouldn't have a headscarf. And wish they gave me a car like people think we get cars or free homes. It's going on and on.
All Indigenous people are drunks and that they live in the bush and they don't know how to live and they can't live in houses. We sleep in parks. Like, I sleep in a house, yeah, you know. I've never lived out bush. The only time I sleep in our side is when I'm gone bush, gone camping and everything, our island, yeah.
Yeah. So I added. I think one of the biggest stereotypes, I agree, is that Indigenous people are the lower rank in society.
Indigenous people can be successful businessmen, academics, anything that they want to be. And I think it's very important for people to recognise that and to understand that Indigenous people will never just fit into one box. Like, we make up 3% of the population and we come from all walks of life and you'll never meet two Indigenous people.
as people who are the same and who have the same sort of mixes of cultural and Western life. It's just never going to happen. What do you do on Tuesdays? 26th of January.
Yarbin Festival. Yarbin Festival. Yarbin.
Yarbin. Yarbin means to make music with a beat. Every year I go to that. You know that everyone's going to be there.
It's just a gathering spot. But I also go to community and have a yarn with the mob at Redfern. They do a protest march.
I don't really do those protest marches these days, but it's still good to talk to the elders and what they've gone through and why they're doing the march. And I think it educates people as well that what do they mean. People think 26th is always a good thing. been Australia Day.
The first Australia Day was in July, you know what I mean? So it's crazy that we can't change that date. It still brings a lot of sorrow to our people, and I think it's something that's got to be done, something's got to change.
Obviously I don't celebrate this date. I think it's incredibly wrong to celebrate on this date. I will sit at home watching TV.
I mean, yeah, it's nothing new, you know? It's nothing special. And you'll remember what happened, being Aboriginal and everything. You think back on things like that and just process it through your mind.
People who march, it's awesome and it's great that they're willing to stand up for what they think should be changed and they're happy to show their support that way. I don't march because I don't feel like I should be there, but I come to the after thing so that I can support that way and be seen around. I had... I had quite a few debates with my friends about this year actually. I don't do anything.
I haven't really been to many protests because I don't think that violence or yelling is the way to resolve things. But at the same time, I'm not going to go out and celebrate. But we should change the date. 100%.
Is it the dreaming or dream time? Do all Aboriginal people believe in the same thing? And what's the deal with the snake? What's it do with Kinyaha?
Kinyaha. Our ancestors, we say, exist in the dreaming, but these are our dreamtime stories. The snake, collectively in history, is the oldest known religious relic.
Cultures all around the world have a connection to a creation serpent, which is what the rainbow serpent is for us. Sildering through the land, creating the land masses and rivers. No, not all Indigenous people maintain the same beliefs. There are a lot of Christians.
indigenous people, agnostic, Catholic, Buddhist. My family's Catholic and that just happens when you're living in such a multicultural country. What's the one thing about indigenous people or culture that others can't seem to understand?
One. I can't pick one. You could say a lot about this one.
Well there's a lot that people don't understand and that's why we're here. I think the most annoying thing for me is the what percentage are you question. If there's anything I could ask people to stop asking it's...
Friends of mine always talk to me and I've grown up very middle-class white Australian so when I was from 10 years old I went to a school where I was the only Indigenous child and I went right through high school and even now as an older person a big thing that my friends ask me is like why why don't we know about these Indigenous things these Aboriginal stories or why aren't they shared or why aren't things marked and it's pretty much you know Because there's stories in our lives that we don't have to share because they're our own stories and makes the story a little more watered down once we share it with people because then people share it on and it changes its meaning. to the land. We don't own any land which a lot of people misunderstand.
We're with the land, we're one with the land, there's no ownership in our old ways. Yeah and with that you get so attached to it you know like I come from footy circles and everyone blames me. up every now and then because certain people get homesick and want to go home and they don't understand it but it's incredibly hard to be taken off the land. As an example from where I'm from, there's a particular type of fish that you can peel its stomach out and splay it open and it shows the root system that that fish's eggs were actually laid on which then has implanted into that animal's lining of its gut. That is the type of connection and strength that our people have for the natural environment and that's what I feel. I feel like mining companies and these big entities that want to pillage the land for their own benefit aren't really understanding.
And indigenous people around the globe, in particular in Canada as well, have that understanding that we need to think forward for those next generations. It's not about our needs or our children's needs. We've got to think beyond that.
Because our culture is the oldest living bone in the world. People don't understand how long we've been on this earth, how our stories were told in the past, what happened to our ancestors, to us as well. We've got no language back home where I'm from. It's only two hours north from here and there's no language.
And I know that myself and other people in the community are actually trying to bring that back. And trying to bring our language back, eh? If you look at the language map, you've probably all seen that. You'll see that out of that there's not many that are still active.
I'm not sure if you guys speak traditional language out there or anything? My mother's country is Palm Island, so that was one of the main settlements and everything where they sent everybody as punishment, you know, and yeah. since then, Carlton has been lost.
I'm so inspired by the strength and resilience of such a people. And that's one thing I would love for all of Australia to be able to see how incredible and rich this culture is. How do Indigenous relatives work? Why is everyone a cousin, auntie or uncle?
Because we love each other. You're an auntie to me. That's right, exactly. And she has been asked many times, is she really your auntie? Because we don't look alike at all.
Yes. It's a complex system but basically we're all family. With indigenous culture as well, it's not believed that your birth mother can give you all the vital tools you need for your entire life. I mean it's not true.
So you have kind of like an array, all your aunties are your mothers. As you have this collective of leaders in your life, you really are equipped for the array of things that you do experience throughout your life. As soon as she met me she said to me, can I call you auntie?
And I said of course you can. I feel Delta site. I'm so respected that the students call me that and I know that they can come to me and ask me anything and you know it's not just school work related it's family or whatever you know everything like that so it's such a nice thing for me to have that respect from the students.
She definitely earns it. To me calling someone my Aunty or Uncle they don't even have to be like you know Indigenous I'll still call them Aunty or Uncle out of respect. When was the last time you encountered casual racing?
Racism. How do you deal with it? I get it every day on the bus.
I mean Sydney's full of it if you're indigenous. And if you don't think it is you're joking yourself. We cop it all the time. I'm pretty thick skinned. I've copped it all my life.
I travel in from the northern beaches and I sit on the bus and I will be the last person that people will sit next to on the bus. Pretty much both ways. That's an hour trip.
I've had people who've had like a broken leg and are on crutches and they've decided to stand because they didn't want to sit next to me. And it actually makes you feel like shit. It makes you feel like you are insignificant.
Got asked yesterday how Aboriginal I am, I guess. That still hurts a lot when people want to question who you are based on the colour of your skin. Racism in Townsville, that is like... That's hard being from Townsville and being my age because Townsville is like juvenile delinquency all that.
So you get seen walking with a group of other black people and they constantly will keep their eye on you and just watch every move and everything. That was actually the last time I encountered racism too when I was at home. Sydney's been good to me.
Yeah that's a big one too you know people you know you're at university you really have a real Aboriginal or you're just there for the benefits. Who is your hero? Uncle Max. Hands down Uncle Max, here he is. Got his shirt right on there.
Loving Uncle Max. That's our grandfather and our teacher, our master and he's taught us pretty much everything. It's Goodsey for me, Adam Goodes.
He's so cool. Martin Nakata, he's the first ever Torres Strait Islander to get a PhD. He's a good friend of mine and the latest.
The leadership he showed, that's why I'm still working in the higher education sector. I could have gone and worked in corporates and things like that. That's who my hero is, my Nen, because she was somebody who from early on in life was really passionate and dedicated to education but because of the laws and policies she actually was denied the right to go to school. So that meant she ended up missing out on quite a lot of formative years of education and learnt to read off rubbish at the tip, jam jars, sauce bottles, all that kind of stuff.
an understanding that she had a role to play in terms of fighting for the rights of our people in the classroom because we should be entitled to to have an education. I feel like with her in my strides I can actually do anything for my people. What can we do to try and make up for the past? I think education is the most important thing. From everything from Australia Day to casual conversations that you have with people, I think knowing more means that you'll be able to approach things better.
The main thing is just to, before you try and act, just shut up and listen. Get educated. The only way we can really move forward in all of this, in closing the gap, reconciliation, whatever, white Australians need to understand.
Well, first of all, you can stop saying, it's in the past, get over it. I wasn't here, it wasn't my fault. You know, you can't exonerate yourself from a history when that history still affects the present day.
It was not that long ago, 30, 40 years ago that we were still classed as plants and animals and people wonder like, they're still like, I'll get over it. It's like, well actually it's not that easy. It's quite close in my generations as well.
My dad was stolen so you can't tell me that's ancient history if... I don't get to know any of my family or my grandmother or my cousins. I don't think it is fair to hold people accountable for things that happened so long ago and it's not constructive.
And I think the best thing to do moving forward is to just be compassionate and respectful of one another. I... I think about the education system, I think about the national curriculum creating a space for the teaching of historical incidences which then inform why our people are the way we are today. But again it has to be designed and delivered in a way that is relevant to the people of this country.
in a way that is inclusive. That's not a blame and shame game because we know that's not worked in the past and it's obviously not going to float in the future. I think it's just being part of our journey.
Acknowledging the past. We can't change what happened but there's a lot of people up there who try and say it's the best thing. I heard someone the other day saying it's great for people to be taken from their families. Like if that was on their foot, would they like that? Like being taken from your white family makes you white.
Yeah, there was a thing on Sunrise about that. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, yeah. What?
And the lady actually like made the suggestion to have a second style generation. I was like, oh, true. And they're not racist because they know what happens to all persons, so they're not racist and things like that. I hear that all the time, but I'm not racist when they make these sort of comments. We're still human.
That's it, yeah. And people don't want to talk to us sometimes because we're different, but we're the same as everyone else. Yeah, like we come from another planet or something.
Yeah, I know. Just have a yarn with us. Yeah, yeah.
We're not going by. What obstacles stand between Indigenous kids and higher education? Well a lot.
I'm getting the big question. Gosh where do I start? White privilege.
There's still a little bit of like the students will go to school and they're not given enough information about the services that are provided within universities or even that government provide for them at school to do better. The further out you go into the more remote places. places, the harder it gets. The less resources that are dedicated, the less time given, they're forgotten. This varies for a lot of Indigenous kids, but it comes down to varying degrees of prejudice.
If no one believes that you're going to be there, then you're not going to be there and you're just going to fall under what everyone expects of you. Letting go of home to get an education and you know, like, just get out of your comfort zone and leave behind, you know, your Indigenous, your culture. I think it is a confidence issue. Unlike a lot of other families, most Indigenous families don't have anyone who's got a tertiary education.
It's quite common and it makes it difficult to break into a world that you have no idea about and when there's no support services made available to you, it makes it ten times harder. I was involved in the AIM program which has high school students, Indigenous high school students and we bring them all in. and we discuss Indigenous success and I think that's such an important aspect in supporting Indigenous kids in entering into tertiary education because for a lot of them they just don't think about it and they have a lot of sports role models but I think having programs where you have academic role models in the Indigenous circle is very important.
What's the best part of being Indigenous? This just reminds me of... There's nothing I would rather be than to be an Aborigine. And watch you take my precious land away. I've said it a thousand times.
Say it again, say it loud! I think one of the main reasons is, I mean, the mob I have met. You and all my sisters and my aunties. Everything's great. I guess being connected to culture and we have, we're lucky enough to have great teachers and we're lucky enough to be in a mob that is still very strong culturally and still practices ceremony and to be part of that is, it's...
It's like nothing else. That'd have to be the best part of being alive. To hear the land talk to you, to see the ancientness, it's very, very special.
It's a privilege. It's definitely the best part. So for me, it's at that cellular level. Like every part of me is an Aboriginal woman and I'm proud of my heritage. And I know that the footsteps that I take have been walked by my ancestors and that they guide me.
I'm in education and we've got the textbook for our unit up there. And you know, they're written in 2017 and they're bringing some stuff into the into pedagogy which is which we've known for 60,000 years. Being black and deadly.
And I think we're pretty black and deadly ourselves so that's another good part. My name is Irene Higgins and I'm a Wiradjuri woman. My name is Mary Warrior and I come from Bardoo Island in the Torres Strait.
I'm Jack Field, I am a Kaurna and Yuin man. I'm Harry Reading and I'm Gamilaroi Yuen Man. I'm Jeremy Heathcote and I'm from the Bobolka Nation which is in Newcastle. Kianne Walsh from the Borgman and Birogabra Tribe, Far North Queensland. Hi, my name's Simone and I'm a Bundjalung woman.
Hi, my name's Bianca Williams and I'm a Barkindji woman.