Today was another jam packed day at Curtin University, although it was all very thought-provoking. We started out with a visit to their art gallery which currently has an exhibit on by a contemporary artist who comes from an indigenous background. Many of his works are reclaiming old images of Aboriginal people who have been stripped of their identities; by manipulating and changing the mediums of the images, he gives them back power and identity. Some of the artworks are in neon lights, others are photographs, and many use traditional patterns from his Aboriginal tribe, though not knowing the context of them, they appear very contemporary and op art.

We also went on a “behind the scenes” tour of the museum and boy, could Colgate use facilities like those. The collection is only about 2,000 pieces, but there is a huge amount of exhibition space compared to our gallery and the storage facility includes a number of racks for upright painting storage.

After our museum visit, we went back to the Aboriginal Center for a workshop on Noongar culture and traditional technologies. Our two presenters, Delvene and Tom, were extremely knowledgeable and very well sync-ed – you could tell from their chemistry and presentation that they work with a lot of school-age and community groups. Delvene used a lot of Noongar language and history in her presentation, while also describing how kangaroo skins were used, the division of labor between the sexes and how food was gathered. Tom showed us kylies (boomerangs) and explained how they were used to hunt, while Delvene explained how women would trap and kill a duck by digging a small trench and luring the duck into the trench with seeds. Since ducks can’t walk backwards and the trench wasn’t wide enough for them to fly out of, they would be trapped in the hole. She also taught us to make bush string from a river reed and Tom demonstrated how to make a bush knife using resin, a mineral, kangaroo poop, quartz, a stick and fire.

Lunch was sponsored by the Vice-Chancellor of Curtin. Professor Kraly gave a presentation about the Colgate/Carrolup connection to a crowd that included our group, several Curtin administrators, faculty from the Aboriginal Center, several of the Noongar elders from Katanning, and some business people from the community who Jaime would like to help support the girls’ fashion project we’ll be working on next week. Both food and presentation were great, and after Vice-Chancellor Hackett made some brief remarks, I had to present her with a card and Colgate souvenir. Everyone has taken a turn at thanking our lecturers and hosts, but I’m pretty pumped that I was chosen to thank the President of the University. We spoke briefly after the lunch, and she is a very nice woman; she has also been an excellent, foresighted leader for Curtin which is very impressive.

After lunch, Dr. Ted Wilkinson gave us a lecture on Aboriginal health issues; it was very compelling, as he shared personal experience and recent statistics from his work in the community and as a Whadjuk (Noongar) man. There is currently a 17 year discrepancy in life expectancy rates for Aboriginal peoples in Australia overall, although for Noongar peoples that discrepancy is less. Still, that is quite unacceptable given our present knowledge and capabilities. Diabetes, heart disease, kidney failure are all plaguing the population, though, as nutrition and quality of care lags behind white standards.

To close our two days at Curtin, we were then joined by Dr. Richard Walley, a renowned Noongar musician who has toured throughout the world and met other great performers like Stevie Wonder. Dr. Walley spoke to us for a while, but also led us through some meditation and played the didgeridoo. We ended singing a song while he played the didgeridoo and sang.

While Dr. Walley is very important in the community and it is huge that he spoke with us, I found some parts of his talk frustrating, as he spoke in binaries. One particular point which I did not agree with is that Western life lacks balance and spirituality; while this might be true for many, the three principles that he stressed (spirit, mind and body) are part of the core values of the YMCA. Having been fortunate enough to be raised in such an environment, this is something that has been stressed in my life. I was grateful to feel that I am an exception to what might be a standard, although by speaking in binaries, Dr. Walley ignored those exceptions.

I kept going back to the idea of education today, especially after Dr. Wilkinson’s lecture and keeping in mind some ideas that Dr. Walley presented. Currently there is a very high dropout rate for Aboriginal students, and few earn the necessary grades to go on to University. Even there, Curtin has one of the highest retention rates and that is around the 20% mark. Thus on the one hand, the community is suffering from a lack of education (health issues), while on the other hand there is a very poor legacy of education in Australia’s past (stolen generation). Additionally, if a school is not culturally sensitive, the Aboriginal ways of knowing may not be prized, and thus lost on or alienating to the students. I am thinking that there is a possible connection here to Lisa Delpit’s work, but I’m wondering if there is a model of culturally sensitive education in the country, and if not, why? Jaime said she might be able to arrange for me to have coffee with her sister while I am in Katanning, as her sister is the principle of the school there. Hope that works out as I have so many questions, and my questions are leading to ideas and wanting to fix the world. Ok, enough for today.

Peace,
Jill