Welcome to the June 2022 edition of the ANTaR ACT newsletter. Please keep reading for an update on ANTaR locally and nationally, and information about other events of interest.
ANTaR News
ANTaR ACT
Our next committee meeting will be on Monday 11th July 6pm via Zoom. If you would like to join us, please email at info@antaract.org.au and we will send you details.
AHPRA ACT: Recently members of ANTaR ACT were invited to meet with representatives from the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Authority (AHPRA). Their national body has a Reconciliation Plan, April 2021 – April 2023 and were seeking to work on ways to build on the cultural competencies with their local staff and in so doing build understandings and awareness of First Nations Peoples in the ACT. Representatives from our ACT committee look forward to follow-up partnership opportunities with AHPRA ACT.
SAVE the DATE: 2022 David Hunter Memorial Lecture – LET’S HAVE SMART JUSTICE IN THE ACT
The annual David Hunter Memorial Lecture will be held on Thursday 25th August at the Australian Centre for Christianity & Culture with the option to join the lecture and Q&A online. The topic for the 2022 DHML is SMART JUSTICE IN THE ACT. The lecture will be hosted by Dr. Chris Bourke and will feature guest speakers, Cheryl Axleby from Change the Record, and Tanya Keed, Acting Chair of The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body (ATSIEB) and Director of Clybucca Dreaming Consulting. More information to come soon.
Date: Thursday 25th August
Time: 5:45pm (for those in person)
6:30pm (online)
Location: Durie Room, Australian Centre for Christianity & Culture, Barton
ANTaR National
Mabo Day: Together with the National Native Title Council, ANTaR National is in support of Kaleb Mabo and his family in calling on the Australian Government to recognise Mabo Day (3 June) as a National Holiday for all Australians to celebrate. Add your name to the petition today: antar.org.au
What’s happening in Canberra & online
Connection Experience
8 June – 9 October
National Museum of Australia
https://www.nma.gov.au
Connection: Songlines from Australia’s First Peoples is a breathtaking exploration of the rich culture of our Indigenous Australians, the experience stimulating your senses of sight, sound, and smell to create a feeling of belonging. For roughly 35 minutes, visitors are transported to the red desert sands of land country, the fishing waters of water country, or caught in the storms of sky country. Original artworks by some of Australia’s foremost Indigenous artists fill the room with colour and light while powerful indigenous voices resonate through the space. Indigenous faces and bodies move through the screens as they welcome the audience to their country. Scents of the Australian outback, such as lemon myrtle and wattle seed, waft in the air. The creativity, thought, and hard work that went into creating this experience is evident in every moment.
Indigenous Knowledges and Climate Resilience
5pm 29 June
Online, Australian National University
In the next Game Change Webinar, Tahitian and Pacific Islander woman and Game Change Scholarship recipient, Vehia Wheeler, will explore the how Indigenous knowledges can and should be used appropriately within the Pacific as a form of climate resilience. How can we better understand the experiences of Indigenous communities when it comes to their approach to climate change? Often disproportionately impacted by the devastating consequences of global warming, there is much that can be learned from the resilience of Indigenous communities as they respond to ongoing climate disruptions. Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com.au
NAIDOC Week
3 July – 10 July
National NAIDOC Week is on 3 July to 10 July is a time to celebrate and recognise the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAIDOC Week is an opportunity for all Australians to learn about First Nations cultures and histories and participate in celebrations of the oldest, continuous living cultures on earth. The theme for 2022 is Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up! We have getting up, standing a proud history of up, and showing up. From the frontier wars and our earliest resistance fighters to our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities fighting for change today—we continue to show up. Now is our time. We cannot afford to lose momentum for change. We all must continue to Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up! for systemic change and keep rallying around our mob, our Elders, our communities. https://www.naidoc.org.au
Some of the local NAIDOC Week events include:
Community Sector NAIDOC Week Event 2022
11am 7 July
Woden Town Square and Woden Library
https://www.naidoc.org.au
The ACT Community Sector invites you to join us at our eighth annual NAIDOC Week Event, celebrating the history and culture of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. This year the event will take place on Tuesday 7th of July between 11:00am – 2pm, in the Woden Town Square and the Woden Library. After a Welcome to Country and Smoking Ceremony, we will open the event. Throughout the day there will be music performances, children’s activities, art workshops, yarning circles, stalls, and food.
Culture on the Move – Bush Animal Weaving Workshops
10 July and Wednesday 13 July; 10–11.30 am & 1–2.30 pm
Banksia Centre
https://parksaustralia.gov.au
Come and join Ronnie Jordan a Kalkadoon Pitta Pitta woman who will share her traditional ecological knowledge with you. Enjoy a hands-on experience where you and your child can each create a woven bush animal. The workshop inspires a connection to Aboriginal culture, and both children and adults will learn techniques of the age-old art of traditional weaving. All materials, wool and straw supplied.
NAIDOC in the North
2 – 9 July
Various locations
https://www.belcoarts.com.au/naidoc
NAIDOC in the North is a celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Culture through story, song, art dance and ceremony. It is held in Canberra, on the lands of the Ngunnawal People, and welcomes people of all ages and backgrounds to learn from our local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community through workshops, performances, activities and entertainment. In 2022, we’re spreading out the celebrations right across North Canberra, with intimate opportunities to connect to country, raffia’s and integrating community and culture right throughout NAIDOC Week, including:
Dilly Purses with Angela Pisciotta-Firebrace
1pm 2 July
Gungahlin Library
https://www.belcoarts.com.au
Dilly Purses is a weaving workshop with Wiradjuri, Yorta Yorta and Kamilaroi artist Angela Jane Pisciotta-Firebrace. Combining natural fibres, coloured found objects: gum nuts, feathers and sticks, Angela will gracefully guide participants into the ancient and living skill of weaving. Participants will learn traditional weaving techniques whilst creating a contemporary and personal Dilly Purse. Feel free to include your own special finds and materials to weave into your creation
Saturday Afternoon Tunes NAIDOC Showcase
3pm 9 July
Cornerstone Pub, Gungahlin
https://www.belcoarts.com.au
Saturday Afternoon Tunes is back with a special cosy winter edition featuring two of Canberra’s finest First Nations performers as part of NAIDOC in the North 2022. Cornerstone Pub is this month’s venue, with delicious beverages and tasty snacks available at the bar. Dale Robert Huddleston is a renowned singer, songwriter and artist. Dale writes a blend of songs about Aboriginal culture and a connection to land, people and family. He is a gifted musician, and plays the guitar and the didgeridoo.
BANGARRA Dance
28–30 July
Canberra Theatre
https://canberratheatrecentre.com.au
Bangarra’s award-winning Terrain returns for a 10th Anniversary Tour of Australia in 2022. Choreographed by Frances Rings, Terrain is a breathtaking exploration of our largest salt lake. The nine-part performance evokes the power of body and land converging to bring spirit to place. Stand with us and feel the ancestral ties that bind people to Country: a rich cultural spine stretching through the generations. Watch the waters rise and fall as we reconnect with the energy of land and the resilient spirit of the people who care for its future. Featuring David Page’s irrepressible score, Terrain is an iconic work. The textures of Kati Thanda take shape in Jacob Nash’s sets, Jennifer Irwin’s costumes and lighting by Karen Norris. As Cultural Consultant, Arabunna Elder Reginald Dodd shared with Bangarra his role in caring for the land, waters and precious cultural resources of the region.
ANTaR ACT wish to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which Canberra is situated, the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people. We wish to acknowledge and respect their continuing culture and the contribution they make to the life of this city and this region. We would also like to acknowledge other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who may visit this area.