Throughout this unit, country and story have both played an important part in my development and understanding on Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders. Country and story is a significant aspect of indigenous culture, as it is the basis in which they have gained all their knowledge and understanding throughout their life and identifies them as a culture. Indigenous people have identified themselves with country; they believe that they and the land are “one”, and that it is lived in and lived with. Indigenous people personify country as if it were a person, as something that connects itself to the land, people and earth, being able to give and receive life (Bird Rose, D. 1996). Country is sacred and interconnected within the indigenous community, …show more content…
The importance of a story is to have a purpose and meaning, through this, people are able to engage and learn with what is being told to them, it has to have a connection to the past, bringing it to the present and to involve both the body and mind senses. Through storytelling the audience should gain an understanding and have a sense of emotion touched and come alive, they should also be able to explore the possibilities within their culture and feel a deep connection to country. It is important as a future teacher that I have a sufficient understanding and am able to learn the concept of country and story in order to approach teaching, not only for the indigenous children within my classroom but also to teach those who are of non-indigenous cultures about the significance of the indigenous culture and history to this …show more content…
To the indigenous community, country and story creates a strong cultural identity and is the starting point to their education. The second outcome; connected with and contribute to their world, is shown through the experience and learning of the indigenous culture and the history of the country and land they live in. Outcome three; strong sense of wellbeing is shown through enhancing indigenous children’s wellbeing socially, culturally, mentally and emotionally through learning about their heritage, country and history through the stories passed down through generations and gaining a sense of belonging and self identity. Both outcome four and five; confident and involved learners and effective communicators are important as they show a unity and understanding between the indigenous culture through learning about the country and stories together about the indigenous
Through campaigning for equal rights and fairer treatment surrounding cultural heritage, traditions and freedoms, Peris has maintained a consistent display of advocacy across may topical issues; where she has established herself a powerful voice for change. To this day, Peris uses her status to inspire Indigenous youth, particularly females to adopt any lost sense of traditional identity and provides inspiration for them where she encourages them to take pride in who they are, what they can accomplish, and what they represent; where she states “I want all Australians to learn about the true history of this country, and the significant journey we have ahead of us all to make this right!” (IndigenousX, 2014, p. 1). Peris has proven that she has a strength of voice in addressing Aboriginal disadvantage on a Federal, State and Local level, where she has helped to deliver more than 100 health and education checks across remote communities Australia-wide and has worked to establish the innovative Nova Peris Girls Academy (NGPA), which focuses on keeping Aboriginal Girls’ engaged with education. (Korff, 2015, p.
Stories are a means of passing on information, acting as a medium to transport cultural heritage and customs forward into the future. In his essay titled "You'll Never Believe What Happened," King says that, "The truth about stories is that that's all we are” (King Essay 2). Contained within this statement is a powerful truth: without stories, a society transcending the limitations of time could not exist. Cultures might appear, but they would inevitably die away without a means of preservation. Subsequent generations would be tasked with creating language, customs, and moral laws, all from scratch. In a way, stories form the core of society's existence.
This paper addresses the results of interviews, observations, and research of life in the Ottawa tribe, how they see themselves and others in society and in the tribe. I mainly focused on The Little River Band of Ottawa Indian tribe. I researched their languages, pecking order, and interviewed to discover the rituals, and traditions that they believe in. In this essay I revealed how they see themselves in society. How they see other people, how they see each other, what their values were, what a typical day was etc. I initially suspected that I would have got different responses from these questions but in reality the results in the questions were almost completely the same. I studied this topic because mostly all the people that are close to me are associated in the Ottawa tribe. I additionally love the Native American culture, I feel it is beautiful and has a free concept.
Another example of how important it is to listen to stories in order to understand the land is in The Way to Rainy Mountain when Momaday writes about how the storm spirit is so important to the Kiowa’s because it can understand their language while other people have a hard time understanding it. Momaday illustrates this point perfectly when he writes, "At times the plains are bright and calm and quiet; at times they are black with the sudden violence of weather. Always there are winds"(49). This quote shows the importance the wind plays in the culture of the Kiowa’s because it is so powerful and they can speak to the spirit of the storm and it will understand them anytime.
This strategy of developing a relationship with Aboriginal communities can be seen as one of the most important strategies in the regards to the realisation of meeting 1.1.2 (NSW DET 2008). These learning partnerships have been proven to be beneficial to the community on the whole, not only “giving credibility and integrity to the teaching of Aboriginal students and syllabus content related to Aboriginal issues” (NSW BOS 2008, p. 2) but also builds pride and confidence within the Indigenous parents and therefore their community. The NSW BOS (2008, p. 2) goes on to say that for a school to provide authentic experiences, skills and knowledge in context to Aboriginal studies; they must consult Aboriginal people. The AETP (NSW DET 2008) believe that consultation with Aboriginal communities will provide the support and knowledge teachers need to develop engaging and motivating learning environments and scenarios, demonstrate high expectations and work with Aboriginal students in their pursuit of ‘personal
For First Nations youngsters, relevant education should include education about their heritage. Where Aboriginal children are in school with other Canadians, this part of the curriculum needs to be shared generally, as self-esteem grows when an appreciation of one’s background is shared by others.
1) First topic chosen was wellness which is “a conscious, self-directed and evolving process of achieving full potential.” (The National Wellness Institute, para 3) What wellness means to me is being with my family, surrounding myself with your loved ones, or even being with the environment. To Indigenous people it is the exact same with their wellness with each other, or the wellness with their environment. Mental wellness in Indigenous is living a journey along the way being fulfilled in good health. This changed my thoughts because sometimes I don’t always see the good or surround myself in happiness which can create bad health for me.
This is important to understand when looking at Indigenous women, as culture encompasses both ethnicity as well as gender (Bogo, 2006, p. 35). I have some cultural competency for women, seeing as I am a woman, and although I have a relatively little understanding of an Aboriginal woman’s culture at this point, it is important that I acknowledge that for all persons, including Indigenous women, no one’s culture is congruent for every single member of the group. Therefor, in order to gain cultural competency in a way that does not assume a universal experience, Bogo (2006) suggests the importance of taking a stance of naïveté so that the participant can tell the worker about their own culture (p. 38). This will also help to develop a non-judgmental stance, if one comes into their practice without assumptions. In his article, Michael Anthony Hart discusses the importance of having a non-judgmental stance in Aboriginal culture, as he says it “limit[s] a person’s self determination” (1999, p. 99).
Akram Azimi, born on the 9th of February 1987, is an Afghanistan refugee who came to Perth in 1999, with his family due to a civil war. He found it difficult to adjust to his new life due to his family’s financial state upon arrival. While studying at University, he became involved with a mentorship scheme, working in Looma, a northern region in Perth with Aboriginal families. He has since initiated other schemes to promote understanding between Indigenous and non-Indigenous cultures and perseveres to mentor young people across Western Australia.
In the excerpts from Fluffs and Feathers, Doxtator discusses the ideas of indianness and he talks about how people perceive First Nations people. The dominant fantasy of a First Nations person is someone that is spiritual, environmental, primitive, and in need of support. In the text by Doxtator it states “every culture creates images of how it sees itself and the rest of the world” (13). But how did the idea of indianness come about? The power of storytelling is a powerful tool because stories are rooted in people’s culture and it affects the way they see the mimetic world. Stories help people form dominant fantasies about things that they may not actually experience themselves. It would be impossible for all of Europe to travel to America and experience the new world. Therefore when the European travellers came to the Americas they would tell stories of their travels and their experiences so that other people could understand what they had experienced.
(Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2016). As a Pre-Service Teacher specialising in Early Childhood Education, it is imperative to understand how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities were treated in the past and the impact that this may have on Indigenous families in the
When I first walked in the class, I knew nothing about Indigenous knowledge. But now, I could think what they think, I could see what they see, and I could feel what they feel.
CAFCA. (2011). Working with Indigenous children, families and communities Lessons from. Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family
Indigenous Knowledge (IK) can be broadly defined as the knowledge and skills that an indigenous (local) community accumulates over generations of living in a particular environment. IK is unique to given cultures, localities and societies and is acquired through daily experience. It is embedded in community practices, institutions, relationships and rituals. Because IK is based on, and is deeply embedded in local experience and historic reality, it is therefore unique to that specific culture; it also plays an important role in defining the identity of the community. Similarly, since IK has developed over the centuries of experimentation on how to adapt to local conditions. That is Indigenous ways of knowing informs their ways of being. Accordingly IK is integrated and driven from multiple sources; traditional teachings, empirical observations and revelations handed down generations. Under IK, language, gestures and cultural codes are in harmony. Similarly, language, symbols and family structure are interrelated. For example, First Nation had a
By integrating different levels of capabilities into learning, it gives Indigenous students a chance to begin where they are comfortable at, giving them the confidence they need to progress onto further levels of work. Positive impacts to Indigenous education outcomes are greatly affected by the ‘8 ways of Indigenous learning’ framework which interconnects pedagogies, creating a further degree of understanding (8 ways of learning, 2012). This strategy is not only benefiting the Indigenous students in the classroom, but can also cater to diverse learning needs of non-Indigenous students. It will also increase the feeling of inclusion for Indigenous students as everyone can participate in their cultural ways of learning, expanding their connectedness to the school, therefore, desire to succeed (Devlin,