Posted by Kevin Rennie
Off to the opening of The World Indigenous Peoples’ Conference: Education today. It starts in Melbourne with a Traditional Welcome to Country Ceremony, Sunday December 7 2008 at the Aborigines Advancement League 2 Watt Street, Thornbury. 10am – 7.30pm.
Come along. It’s an open event today. Visit the ICV (Indigenous Community Volunteers) stall if you can.
3000 delegates from around the world will be attending the 5 days event. For details click the link above.
Filed under: Australia | Tagged: education, indigenous
This is a good post Kevin. Western, industrial societies can learn much from indigenous cultures.
Industrial societies communicate less, usually using a keyboard, like this and other electronic devices. Indigenous cultures seem to share a common thread; they’re closer to their own people and their environment. They have stronger community bonds.
I always say (and try to promote the idea) that the government should promote indigenous art, and strongly support indigenous artistic programs.
Through this support indigenous people are able to preserve their heritage, restore self worth and respect, and create new role models.
Not only that, but the art is rich in heritage, it is truly Australian. I try a limited amount of lobbying on this issue, but everyone ought to get on board and press the government to create this as a positive policy direction. It is better than focussing on welfare.
WIPCE is both a celebration of culture and a forum for ideas. I sincerely hope we make all the delegates most welcome.
I really do feel as if things are progressing. It seems not so long ago that people of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander heritage were pleased if the general population thought that they were Italian, Greek or Lebanese…better a ‘wog’ or a ‘dago’ than an Abo.
Yet in the last census more people than ever were prepared to identify themselves as having an indigenous background.
>blockquote>I always say (and try to promote the idea) that the government should promote indigenous art, and strongly support indigenous artistic programs.
Through this support indigenous people are able to preserve their heritage, restore self worth and respect, and create new role models.
This all sounds lovely, in a motherhoody kind of way. But this kind of thinking is what’s holding many members of the indiginous population back.
For example, you can’t get any kind of a job if you can’t speak English, and in many remote communities, school is optional; and if not – attendance is impossible to enforce. English is just a second or even third language in a lot of these places.
Tony, you seem to be suggesting that artistic endeavour by the indigenous community happens in some manner that is exclusive to education. Strange take you have on education, if cultural appreciation and artistic development isn’t part of it. No doubt you think we’d all be better off if everyone was an accountant.
It is actually your kind of thinking (rather than mine) that “is holding these people back”.
Far from this being a “lovely and motherhoody” statement, creation of role models is probably the most effective mechanism for supporting people that are seeking to leave the poverty trap.
The indigenous community need to re-establish their cultural links, and identify their own pride in their heritage. From this they may then seek to participate in our jobs more widely with self confidence. It is far too simplistic to focus on western style 3 r’s style education.
Appreciation of their culture by a wider section of the Australian community is the vital, missing ingredient.
So many support additional funding for development of European style art programs, the recipients of our taxes want the approval of critics and audiences in London or Paris. Turn their tap off and dedicate the funds to something far more unique and worthwhile.
Tom
Well said. People like Johnny Marwurndjul are excellent examples of artists who are acclaimed in Europe but still maintain and nurture their own culture in their homelands.
My point – not very well put, admittedly – is that preservation of cultural heritage is the reason given for prioritising the teaching of indigenous languages in many northern communities, often at the expense of English.
My contention is that although it is nice for us – ‘european’ types – to be able to observe these people and their traditional culture as a kind of living and breathing museum exhibit, the preservation of their traditional culture fails to help the indigenous people in any practical way.
Tony, I don’t wish to be particularly offensive but you seem to think that people remaining connected to their culture requires them to maintain a state that is frozen in time.
Art constantly changes, whether it is visual, musical. Whatever.
Western style music is hardly static, for example. Don’t you think western painters have developed a little over the past hundred years or so?
Maintenance of a heritage means respect for its origins. It doesn’t mean repeating the same form of art for centuries. There are some fantastic and innovative indigenous artists that are producing original, interesting work – but it is clearly indigenous in its origins.
Preservation of the culture is not simply relevant in the local indigenous communities in the north. The appreciation has to become entrenched in the community more generally, and this won’t happen without significant support for celebrations, programs, exhibitions throughout all cities and regions.
Our indigenous art has developed, and there are many examples of this. It isn’t all just the stuff in the souvenir shops you walk past.
Tom,
It must be lack of clarity on my part that’s preventing you from seeing my point.
I’m all for indigenous art – I have been to exhibitions featuring this kind of art. And I agree, it should be preserved and encouraged.
At the risk of repeating myself, though: it is the prioritisation of traditional culture over western learning – when this occurs – that makes me concerned for the welfare of those particular indigenous communities, and the individuals within them.
Tom,
I think the ‘confusion’ is because people just aren’t used to you being ‘nice’.
My newly born granddaughter is an ‘indigenous’. I think that she has the potential to be, well anything that she wants to be.
But point taken. Perhaps we should be following the Canadian example where at least 2 languages, English and French coexist while still promoting indigenous languages.
How many indigenous language speaking primary school teachers are there in Australia?
Possibly Tony, though indigenous people will value western education when they observe more role models succeeding through it. They aren’t all going to be leaders of the calibre of Noel Pearson, and those that aren’t like him can’t all be footballers.
The entire community needs more people to respect, and (in my opinion) this is a good way of developing some.
Artistic and creative programs run through mainstream educational institutions can do a great job in tailoring art and culture to education in an indigenous context. Developing writing by capturing the indigenous tradition of story telling, for example, or tailoring fine art and music programs in a manner that promotes this heritage. Some indigenous people research and write about their own communities.
There is a little of this going on in universities and other institutions, but it is all at the margins. It should be funded as a priority over the European style music and artistic programs.
Reb – “I think the ‘confusion’ is because people just aren’t used to you being ‘nice’.“
Then it is best that I correct this perception, as I have no intention of being known as “nice”. As Adrian said a couple of days ago…”Spew, vomit, gag, retch…”
I concur Tom.
I would rather be known for making flagrant, illi-informed, off-the cuff remarks that are bound to offend, than some wishy-washy political correct nonsense that’d designed to offend no one.
As Ken L says “f**k ‘em if they can’t take a joke.”
Tom of Melbourne | December 8, 2008 at 5:00 pm
Possibly Tony, though indigenous people will value western education when they observe more role models succeeding through it.
I am about to depart from this particular topic. Duhh, my newly born grand-daughter should ‘value western education’ and likewise she should ‘observe more role models’.
“Duhh”
Ah well, I’d probably receive more approval if I’d included a recipe, or perhaps a little anecdote that could be relayed at the local CWA or similar.
Reb, if Ken said – “f**k ‘em if they can’t take a joke.”, I can only concIude that the comment is wrong.