Speaker List


   
 

Indigenous Perspectives

This theme addresses the concerns of indigenous Australians and other indigenous people around the world. Key concerns such as the history of colonisation, the ownership of land and the removal of children find parallels in other countries. This theme will concentrate on listening to Aboriginal voices both in Australia and around the world.

Speakers include:

Lillian Holt and Patricia NiIvor

"Physician, Heal Thyself!"

This is the firm belief of Lillian Holt and Patricia niIvor who are neighbours and old friends. They first met at University some thirty years ago.

Reconciliation for them, as black and white players, is about an interrogation, of the interior - of oneself - first and foremost!

Lillian is Aboriginal Australian whilst Patricia is a 2nd generation Irish Australian.

They will both speak of their journeys through the Reconciliation process and what it means to be participants from both an Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal perspective.

Both agree that there is a need for interrogation of the acculturated self and what it means not just for Reconciliation but for a future Australia and its identity.

In doing so, Trish niIvor will respond to Lillian Holt in terms of her own interrogation of her own "Whiteness" which, both believe, is an essential process, for non-indigenous people if genuine reconciliation is to be furthered, as opposed to endless examining and researching of "Blackness" (i.e. Aboriginal issues).

Hence, Physician, Heal Thyself!

Ms Lillian Holt was appointed as a Vice-Chancellor's Fellow in 2003. Between 1998 and 2003 Ms Holt was the Director of the Centre for Indigenous Education at the University of Melbourne. For Lillian Holt this represented a continuation of her genuine commitment to Aboriginal education and involvement in community life through agencies such as the National Aboriginal Education Committee (NAEC) and Tauondi (formerly Aboriginal Community College) Port Adelaide. Her position at the Centre for Indigenous Education entailed overseeing the operations of the Centre, providing leadership in terms of the values and the vision of the Centre and raising its profile. Ms Holt is actively involved in the discussions and debate on 'Whiteness' and issues of 'Reconciliation' within the Australian context. She is well known on the public speaking circuit and fulfills a wide variety of engagements locally, nationally, and internationally throughout the year.
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Geoffrey Clark (NNTT), Dr. Geoff Dickie, Sonny Ah Sam and Tony Heske

"Talk the Talk: Walk the Walk". Reconciliation Through Communication: Some Design Considerations in Deconstructing Conflict

To examine the effectiveness of the use of techniques developed as part of a Western model of dispute resolution in a cross-cultural environment involving disputes over access to land.

Parties to mediation bring with them significantly different value sets, experiences, educational, cultural, social and contextual backgrounds. These backgrounds as well as contextual issues such as the subject matters of the dispute, previous dealings, etc, present significant design challenges for the mediator.

The paper analyses, from the mediator's perspective, the use of the interest-based model of dispute resolution. It focuses on the importance of design of the mediation process and the use of Western 'tools' available within the model. The design and the tools are intended to foster appropriate modes of communication across three groups: government, mining and Indigenous. The intent is to enable each group to make informed decisions about the mediation process, their respective roles in it, and the outcomes they wish to achieve from it. The paper focuses on an actual set of negotiations in Australia and may be complemented by perspectives provided by the participants in panel discussion and possibly by other papers.

Mr Geoffrey Clark (NNTT) is a part-time member of the Native Title Tribunal as well as a member of the Land Court and Land Resources Tribunal in Queensland and the Deputy Chairperson of the Queensland Aboriginal Land Tribunal. He has been involved in Indigenous affairs, mining and pastoral issues for over thirty years and since 1999 has operated a consultancy practice specialising in native title matters. Mr. Clarke has a Bachelor of Law with Honours from the Australian National University and has held numerous legal positions in and out of Government. He has also completed a number of courses on alternative dispute resolution, anthropology and native title.

Dr. Geoff Dickie

Dr Geoff Dickie is a Special Adviser on mining negotiations in Native Title and Indigenous Land Services (NT&ILS) in the Department of the Natural Resources and Mines in the Queensland Government. NT&ILS is the lead agency for native title in the Queensland Government, having responsibility for the resolution of native title claims, the overall direction of native title negotiations and providing advice to all of Government on native title issues. Prior to this position, Geoff was engaged in minerals and petroleum development for the Queensland and Commonwealth Governments, with a major focus in recent years on native title negotiations. Geoff has qualifications in geology and economics and worked in exploration and mine development in Canada and Australia for 25 years before joining Government.

Sonny Ah Sam

Kalkadoon Elder
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Pearl Wymarra

About: Time; Place; People; Love; Joy and Peace

The presentation will tell the story of the models of unconditional love which the presenter saw demonstrated by her parents and community in her place of upbringing and how this established a firm foundation for her life away from that place of upbringing. It will also include reflections on her search for the demonstration of the same models elsewhere.

Spiritual health is a key focus of this presentation as the presenter believes that this is the secret of how we find love, joy and peace.

Pearl Wymarra was born at Old Mapoon Presbyterian Mission in North Queensland. Her parents Nicholas and Marjorie Wymarra had ten children and later adopted and raised another child. Pearl's Primary School education was on Thursday Island and her Secondary School education was at Charters Towers, Brisbane and Penrith.

She has a Diploma of Primary Education and a Masters of Health Science (Primary Health Care) and is an Honorary Fellow of the University of Western Sydney. Her professional teaching experience range from primary school to university.

Project Officer for Emotional Health and Social Well - Being is her current position and this is based at the Wentworth Area Health Service in New South Wales.

Pearl is a grandmother and lives in Penrith, New South Wales.
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Olivia Ball and Paul Gready

Moving forward: Reconciliation and time

There is a temporal dimension to many post-conflict and transitional justice discourses. Pankhurst (1999) outlines a possible shift from a minimalist version of the rule of law in the short term to a maximalist conception, including human rights, democracy and good governance, which may only be possible in the longer term. Galtung's (1985) framework of negative peace (the absence of violence) and positive peace (including ideas such as 'harmony', 'cooperation' and 'integration') can be placed within a similar temporal frame. The danger is that the initial phase becomes permanent, positions entrenched, and the future is defined by such minimalist, negative conceptions of wellbeing. The problem examined by this paper, in the above context, is the relationship between reconciliation and time, and specifically the following two questions:

1) How can reconciliation be framed/defined in terms of time? Some work has been done on this topic. Where crimes remain locked in the "eternal present", there is a simultaneity of the past and/in the present which means that the past is "not past at all" (Ignatieff 1996). To come to terms with the past means superimposing serial time on simultaneous time, reactivating the movement of time.
Borneman (2002) argues that "to render no longer opposed", the "departure from violence", means sharing a present that is nonrepetitive, which in turn requires the inter-subjective creation of a "sense of ending" ("a radical break or rupture from existing relations"), and a "sense of beginning" ("a departure into new relations of affinity marked not by cyclical violence but by trust and care").
How can the movement of time, a nonrepetitive present and the temporal break as beginning and ending, be achieved and identified? This leads to a second question:

2) What processes/interventions facilitate the move from minimalist/negative conceptions of reconciliation to more maximalist/positive formulations? This question will be answered with reference to the Australian experience. Reconciliation is a complex, multi-faceted process, not an inexorably forward-moving one. Insofar as reconciliation has been achieved in Australia, it is a partial, minimalist vision of what is needed. Moving the process forward will demand recognition of the intimate, necessary connection between reconciliation and human rights.
The 20th century saw some restoration of indigenous Australians' civil and political rights, while other rights remain grossly violated. Action for human rights has advanced reconciliation, while failure to halt ongoing violations and offer reparations impedes the process. A human rights framework recognises the equal dignity and humanity of reconciling parties, offering internationally recognised, inter-connected entitlements that are measurable and justiciable.
Attaining a 'positive' reconciliation will require a radical re-making of Australia - its social, legal and political institutions - on a just and equitable footing. Personal as well as institutional transformation is necessary. This will need the support of the wider public. Non-indigenous indifference to reconciliation can be counteracted by reconceptualising the responsibilities of bystanders and beneficiaries of past and present abuses. In this case study, respect for human rights is proposed as a means of moving forward into a nonrepetitive future characterised by 'positive' reconciliation.
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Luke Behncke

Two Tribes: Experiences in Purpose, Reason and Need in Reconciliation.

The meaning of the peace and reconciliation process is questioned. The three elements of the process, conflict, peace and reconciliation, are identified as possibly ambiguous. To elucidate the problems and highlight issues, personal experiences of two cultures living together in the North West Kimberley region of Australia are given. The question of practical need is raised in relation to reconciliation. This is further elucidated by briefly examining the nature of purpose, reason and need, concluding that without need, there is no foundation for reason, without reason, there is no direction for purpose.
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Daniel Kiag and Elder Beryll Booth

Bunjil Warrin Ngarrap Biik: Habitat Creation- Australia's First Treaty

Welcome to Australia's First Treaty completed in both an indigenous language of the WOIWURRUNG and English. John Batman's unsuccessful attempt of a treaty was only in English, unconstitutional and manipulative. It was misrepresentative and was an English corporate document, which eliminated the language, culture and law system of the indigenous inhabitants. Therefore, it was not a mutual agreement but supports genocide, theft, murder, rape and racial discrimination. The Australian flag has symbols such as the Union Jack and the Southern Cross that reminds us of this oppression towards the indigenous peoples and ethnic minorities (Chinese), which effectively gave birth to the white Australia policy. Australia's First Treaty was agreed, delivered, completed and signed on the 8th, November 2002 at 2.20 pm between the Aboriginal Embassy and Habitat Creation. The University of Melbourne as a thesis later passed it. The goal of this treaty is to show and teach the world, that white, red, yellow and black can live together in harmony and peace setting the foundation to unite, accommodate and share multicultural perspectives in order to re-establish sovereignty and solidarity.

History has shown that in order to have economic sustainability, there must also be social and environmental sustainability. Unfortunately all languages, systems and religions that have been introduced into WURUNDJERI, WOIWURRUNG, KULIN, KOORI country (otherwise known as Melbourne and Victoria) and Australia have been consumed by corruption and capitalism. Therefore these education processes have also woven or integrated corruption, propaganda, media, marketing and capitalism into society. In order to sustain the current economic system, we must also develop and implement Kooriology as well as science and technology. Stable systems should always consist of a constantly creating vigour, recycling or destroying force and a protecting influence.

Due to invasion, colonisation and assimilation, there has been much injustice, manipulation, division and misrepresentation between authorities and the indigenous peoples. The treaty aims to bridge the polarisation and marginalisation between Kooriculture and Corporate culture via the inclusion of language, cultural perspectives, indigenous law and customs. Through sharing society will repair the emphasis for a cultural voice on behalf of the environment, sustainability and biodiversity. In order to achieve this, it has been recommended that Koori's be granted ownership and custodianship of their heritage, past, present and future, rather than the Victorian State or Australian Federal Government. Potentially, this could be a global model, where indigenous and non-indigenous Koori's in partnership act some what like a tribunal, commission, arbitration or ombudsmen for re-protecting, reeducating and re-managing the environment leading government, industry, institutional and legal entities.

Truly, there is a possibility that people of the world unite together and be collectively baptised in the spirit of life. We must believe that, through the resurrection of custodianship and kinship, we may recreate a kingdom of heaven, respecting all life here on earth. If the zeitgeist is to restore balance, then Habitat Creation exemplifies the appropriate democratic plenipotentiary order. MARN GROOK, NGAMAT, COOLAMON, BUNJIL MAMAN AEC, All Elders in Council.
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Heidi Norman and Penny O'Donnell

Reconciliation Studies: From community study circles to the academy

In 2001, an innovative new subject called Reconciliation Studies was introduced at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS). Education had been one of the focal points of the decade-long bipartisan Reconciliation process, facilitated by the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation (1991-2000). In that period, many ordinary Australians educated themselves about contemporary race relations issues by forming community study circles using kits provided by CAR. However, to our knowledge, this subject represents an unprecedented attempt in Australia to develop the academic study of Reconciliation through collaboration between Indigenous and non-Indigenous staff and students and through a multi-disciplinary exploration of contemporary Reconciliation and social justice issues. Reconciliation Studies is a university-wide elective that encourages undergraduate and postgraduate students to identify working for better race relations as an essential aspect of their professional profiles. This paper draws out some of the key issues raised by this complex and demanding project. They include:

  • the ongoing relevance and vitality of 'Aboriginal Studies' as a disciplinary frame for studying Indigenous knowledge and experience;
  • the practicalities of creating a learning environment that is culturally inclusive and supportive for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and within which Indigenous students can freely express, celebrate and critically develop their perspectives;
  • the influence on the educational environment of the current politics of Reconciliation and developments in Indigenous policy at the federal Government level.

The authors of the paper designed the curriculum for Reconciliation Studies and co-taught the subject in 2001 and 2002.
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Michelle Lee

The Politics of Indigenous Reconciliation in Australia: A policy analysis of native title rights in the context of multicultural nationalism

The study of nationalism has yielded a wide variety of perspectives on the subjects of national identity, citizenship, and group membership. Of particular importance have been discussions focusing on the continuous process of defining and articulating identity as it is connected to nations, or what Benedict Anderson has termed 'imagined communities'. Central to Anderson's thesis is the notion that nationalism is sustained by groups of people who imagine themselves as possessing some historical continuity based on language, race, culture, and/or other objectified traits in the national context. The seeming permanence of national group identity is in fact a socially constructed permanence, one that relies entirely on the members themselves believing that such historical continuity exists. While the discursive case for historical continuity is stronger in certain places (e.g., France, Germany, China), the myth of historical continuity faces specific issues in other, more pluralistic societies such as the United States, Canada, and Australia. Namely, there is a disparity between nationalism that rests on historical and/or cultural commonality in places where the national membership is very explicitly heterogeneous and uncommon. The myth in these cases emerges through different discourse, exemplified in rhetorical devices such as the 'melting pot' ideal and other politics of 'multiculturalism' in an effort to define a unified national identity vis-à-vis diversity. Eriksen has argued that ethnic, racial, and cultural differences in such societies take on a fluid and selective character, noting that "as an individual moves between social contexts in the flux and transience of urban life, the relative importance of his or her ethnic membership changes… and that, for all their claims to primordiality and cultural roots, ethnic identities can be consciously manipulated and invested in economic competition in modern societies." Given the shifting ground on which national identity rests in pluralistic societies, the exploration of nationalism in these cases is even more provocative in terms of its constructed, invented attributes. Such cases raise even more questions about how national identity is constructed, by whom, and the discursive strategies used by political elites in these processes.

This paper explores the politics of Indigenous rights in Australia in determining how a multicultural political agenda has simultaneously opened up dialogue for considering the multiple versions of national identity in this country as well as its role in reinforcing the historically White, British hegemonic structures in place there. In Australia, the multicultural agenda emerged most strongly in the 1960s and 1970s and then became part of the political foreground with respect to Indigenous rights in the 1990s. Even as the government has put forward various multicultural policy aims (especially in the areas of Indigenous rights and immigration) to redress historical discrimination under its White Australia Policy, policy decisions in recent past would seem to question how well practice matches discourse in these areas. It is argued here that, rather than devising policies which would support the aim of solidifying a truly multicultural national identity, political elites in Australia continue to endorse policies which strategically reinforce existing and historical power structures.
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K.C. Boey

The Marginalisation of Voices: Reconciling Ethics in a Divided World

Casting out demons is a praxis we should practice [sic] as well as study. -- Clifford Geertz, 1984

My proposition overarches the conference themes. I locate the goal to international peace in civil society, through a reconciliation forged from a recognition that the root of global division lies in the marginalisation of voices. I will argue this by extrapolating the liberal democratic tradition in the domestic (Australian) context to the global/regional reality, drawing on concepts of universal ethics.

I want to suggest that the marginalisation of voices leads to the consequent lack of ownership of outcomes, and increasingly insistent assertions in reaction to global issues. Claims of the marginalisation of voices is a recurring refrain in international debate. This detracts from the substantive issues of global concern. Rhetoric on the marginalisation of voices exacerbates the domination-subjugation discourse, with disruptive consequences for international relations. On the other hand, dialogues in collaboration illuminate areas of common morality on which to build approaches in unison. I shall argue for the prospects of convergence in a civil society built around universal notions of ethical good.
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Susan Carew

How effective is laughter and comedy in creating an atmosphere of positive peace?

This paper discusses the nature of peace, in particular concepts of happiness, liberty and elevating the human spirit through humour. The human activity of laughter has been in existence as long as tragedy has existed. Humour is a social activity which services social conflict and social control. It has the ability to disintegrate or unify groups. It releases tensions, anxieties and provides an non-violent outlet for dissent. Laughter is the expression of humour and results from incongruity and discontinuities. Positive humour is considered empowering and a force which creates happiness, joy, love and unity. Purveyors of humour such as fools, clowns and comedians are able to unmask society and power holders. They are in a privileged position to overstep societal boundaries and challenge conventions and taboos. They stretch society past comfort zones and are given permission and admiration by the public. Power holders are powerless to defend themselves in the face of humour. Humour provides the ability to transcend opposition, resolve disputes and correct aberrant behaviour. Humour can be used as aikido to flow with attacks and positively respond in a way which creates unity. Humour in activism is uncommon, however Patch Adams has attempted to use clowning to overcome fear in society. Lastly, aspects of positive humour have similar features to Gandhi's Satyagraha and offers the possibility of consciously developing humour as a means of nonviolent resistance.
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Lillian Holt

Indigenous Humour and Reconciliation

Is humour an invaluable tool for Indigenous people and their survival? How is it used? What are the uses of humour in conflict resolution? Is humour a tool for mediation and/or moderation? How do Indigenous people perceive humour in terms of historically conflicting race relations? What function does it serve? Lillian Holt, herself an Indigenous Australian, will explore the perceptions of a number of Indigenous people she has interviewed and how they see humour as a shield from conflict and a tool for resolution - overtly and covertly.
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Gary Thomas

Indigenous Students within Higher Education - the Path of Leadership

Education is a priority for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Through its successful completion, members of the Indigenous Australian communities gain access to participation within Australian society at a level historically unattainable. Access provides a new set of tensions, responsibilities and pressures. The Centre for Indigenous Education is the Indigenous Student Support Unit with the University of Melbourne and as such is responsible for the recruitment and support of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students completing qualifications at the University and its affiliated institutions.

Preparation of Indigenous Leaders for the future is intrinsically part of the promotion of Indigenous people, cultures, knowledge and issues. The responsibility to promote and actively engage in cultural change within institutions is both exciting and daunting. This paper attempts to outline issues of inclusion vs accommodation; meritocracy in an equity rhetoric and the preparation of people to fulfil their cultural and social potential. Reconciliation activities begin by proximity, acknowledgement and interaction. Do breeding grounds for reconciliation exist, how can they be fostered and is it worth the effort?

Gary Thomas was born in Mackay, North Queensland. After graduating with a Music degree and Postgraduate Diploma in Education from the University of Queensland, he taught Music and English in Secondary Schools in Far North Queensland for six years. Gary was a member of academic staff at Kumbari Ngurpai Lag Higher Education Centre at the University of Southern Queensland before taking up a position at the University of Melbourne. Gary was appointed the Director of the Centre for Indigenous Education Centre in 2003.
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David Mellor and Di Bretherton

Peace psychology and reconciliation: the Australian challenge

In this paper we critically reflect on the role psychology has played in the structural violence perpetrated against indigenous people over the course of the last century by the non-indigenous community. Basing our argument on the evidence presented to the "Stolen Generations" Inquiry, an analysis of the emerging knowledge base in the discipline of psychology, and the apparent lack of application of this knowledge to the context of the removal of Aboriginal children from their families, we suggest that psychologists were implicated in this structural violence, which had its grounding in the geo-historical context of the invasion of Australia by Europeans. We conclude by suggesting future roles for peace psychology, particularly in view of theoretical questions related to reconciliation processes.
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Nina Burridge

Interpretations and Meanings of Reconciliation in the Australian socio-political context at the turn of the 21st Century

The paper firstly explores the various interpretations, meanings and definitions of Reconciliation prevailing within the Australian community during the 10 year life of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation. It provides an historical overview of the creation of the Council and discusses the extent to which it succeeded in its mission. The various meanings of Reconciliation are placed within a linear spectrum of typologies which characterise the various interpretations of Reconciliation, from 'hard', 'genuine' or 'true' Reconciliation advocating a strong social justice agenda, first nation rights and compensation for past injustices, to the assimilationist typologies desired by members of the Right which suggest that Reconciliation is best achieved through the total integration of Aboriginal people into the mainstream community with Aboriginal people accepting the reality of their dispossession. In between these two extremes lie degrees of interpretations of what constitutes Reconciliation, including John Howard's current Federal Government interpretation of 'practical reconciliation.' Secondly, this paper analyses research conducted with Indigenous and non- Indigenous educators, students and elders in the context of the NSW education system and makes comparisons with research conducted on behalf of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation during the 1990s on attitudes to Reconciliation in the community. Comparisons are made between meanings of Reconciliation within the community and any perceived differences with those of the education community. Research findings indicate that while both the community at large and the education community are overwhelmingly supportive of Reconciliation both as a concept and as a government policy, when questioned further as to the depth and details of this commitment to Reconciliation and the extent to which they may be supportive of the 'hard' issues of Reconciliation, their views and level of support are more wide ranging and deflective. The question which still remains to be answered is the extent to which mainstream Australia is prepared to accept that Reconciliation, if it is to have any meaning to Indigenous people, and indeed to all Australians, must constitute more than just symbolic walks in our cities and rural towns.
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Sue Smith and Larry Walsh

Yan Yan Willem - Boys learning Aboriginal Way

Yan Yan Willem (young man's camp in the local Woiwurrung language) is an outdoor experiential program delivered to Year 9 boys from Christian Brothers schools in Victoria. The program, delivered by Aboriginal men, is based on two important tenets of Aboriginal lore:

  1. By feeling at home in your country you feel at home in your self
  2. To become a man a boy must be strong enough to be able to take care of the people, animals, plants land and water in his country.

Through a series of distinct but sequential activities, where learning is through observation and direct application and allows boys freedom to move around, learning in an Aboriginal way utilises much of what is considered best practice in boys' education. Activities begin and conclude at the sacred fire. The boys make damper and cook kangaroo, paint and learn to play the didgeridoo. They walk in the bush and learn to identify bush tucker and different uses of plants. They plant new trees to regenerate eroded hillsides. The boys also have time to sit by the river and consider people and places that are special to them. Through shared experiences and empathy comes Reconciliation. Quite a different day for city dudes!
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Traditional Opening Ceremony
Indigenous Perspectives - International Cooperation for Human Security - Education and Training
Peace-Keeping, Building and Making - Culture and Healing - Discourses on Reconciliation
Closing Keynote: Leadership for Reconciliation

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