4 Winds Blow

It has been VERY windy here, but that's not what this post is about. Some friends have asked me to write about race relations in Australia. Honestly, I don't feel like I'm in a position to speak to that in any well-informed manner, though I have been observing and learning. I'm including in this post lots of links where you can learn more if you want.

I will say that there have been many interesting opportunities to learn about indigenous people through art, performance, and education. I can see many similarities between the indigenous relations here and the history/contemporary issues of native people in the U.S. But, there are many things that are very different as well.

This is a framed copy of The Apology to Australia's Indigenous People (which occurred in 2008) that I saw hanging in a school I visited. I see this document in various government buildings, but this one happened to be in a private Catholic school.

Andy and I have experienced the Welcome to Country or Acknowledgement of Country at various public meetings or performances. Each time it has been a pretty moving experience for me. It reminds me of how I feel at the morning drum circle at 4 Winds School in Chico - enriched and connected.

We went to see Kutcha Edwards who is an amazing blues singer. His music was full of references to his upbringing as a ward of the state, one of the stolen generation. You can learn more about the apology to the stolen generation here. We also saw the Skin Choir and Philly perform music that helped to share the stories of indigenous peoples.

Kutcha and his band at the Brophy Center show

These free performances and our visits to art galleries have been both educative and inspiring. When we were in Cairns, we attended a big tourist attraction - an indigenous cultural performance dubbed as "edutainment." Maybe that should have been a clue. I will only say it felt more like Disneyland than 4 Winds drum circle.

Finally, I observed a class where this segment of video (below) was shown to talk about white privilege. This is the first of a few episodes on the White Australia Policy. I think you'll see some references that might remind you of the U.S. as well. These were broadcast on Special Broadcasting Service (SBS), "Australia's multicultural and multilingual broadcaster." We don't actually get SBS stations at our house, but I often see advertisements for what look like really interesting shows. We do get four ABC stations (their PBS) and we learn a lot about Australia (and the world) from those stations.