Jackie Small, Education Consultant at StoryBox Library, reflects on last week's NAIDOC theme; Voice. Treaty. Truth.
One year since launching our Indigenous Story Time series, NAIDOC
Week 2019 and its theme of Voice. Treaty. Truth provided an
opportunity for us to reflect on the aims of the series and the quality and
relevance of the resources we are providing educators and families.
Story Box Library (SBL) hoped to satisfy an
expressed need from educators and librarians for better representation of
Indigenous content, but as a non-Indigenous team, there was some trepidation
about whether we were qualified and worthy to produce material relating to
Australia’s First Peoples. From anecdotal evidence, we found this to be a
common feeling amongst non-Indigenous educators.
In 2018, SBL secured a grant through the Australia Council for the Arts that helped
finance the professional and cultural support we needed to embark on the
project, and led us on a path of meaningful engagement and consultation with
many talented and knowledgeable First Nations people.
We do not claim to be an authority in
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures, but we do aim
to lead by example in working collaboratively with Indigenous Australians in
producing educational resources.
Voice
Ultimately, SBL provides a platform for
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander authors, illustrators and storytellers to
share their voice, their stories, their experiences, their cultures and their
truths. Most recently, SBL published a short film titled, Stories Connect Us All, in which many of
our contributors discussed the personal importance of Story in their lives.
From the beginning of the series, we placed
incredible importance on celebrating the works of First Nations peoples,
ensuring they were represented in our library and demonstrating our belief that
Australian children need access to diverse books in schools and libraries.
Sharing these stories contributes to the wider
community developing its understandings of First Nations and their cultures
but, more importantly, it also allows Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
children the opportunity to identify with the characters and stories showcased
on a mainstream platform, strengthening their pride in their culture and their
sense of belonging to their community.
Treaty
From a small business point of view, our
interpretation of the term, treaty, has been to engage in meaningful
consultation with members of Australia’s First Nations, including, authors,
illustrators, storytellers, academic consultants and individuals from
Indigenous publishing houses.
The key to developing learning programs around Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures is consultancy and
collaboration. Non-Indigenous educators must rely on the language group of a
school’s local area to contribute knowledge and the approach of this
cross-curriculum priority at school level in order to develop an accurate and
shared Australian history and future.
Whilst the SBL team has learned a great deal, we
acknowledge that there are limitations with our Classroom Ideas. Namely, that we cannot represent all language
groups in a single resource. For this reason, we stress the importance of
localising our resources for your school by connecting with Elders and members
of local language groups through local councils or state Aboriginal education
consultative committees, and engaging in respectful and active listening with
these people when sharing stories about their group and the land in which they
belong.
From our own experiences, this process allows individuals to unpack
misunderstandings and generalisations formed in order to gain a better
understanding of the complexities of First Nations.
Truth
The stories selected as part of the Indigenous Story Time
series are diverse, as are the storytellers, but each allows the authors an
opportunity for personal and historical truths to be told, heard and
acknowledged.
Indigenous Story Time addresses the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures cross-curriculum priority, with individual
stories directly linked to the key concepts of Country/Place, Culture and
People. In Your Dreams, Dreamers and My Country provide readers
with a better understanding of the belief systems of
Aboriginal and Torres
Strait cultures, including special
connections to Country/Place, respect and responsibility for the environment
and sustainability of resources, while the narrative of The Lost Girl highlights an example
of unique kinship structure.
Some of the stories in the series can also act
as reference points for discussing languages of First Nations and Aboriginal
English, how language has changed over time, including the change in acceptable
use of language overtime, and how English and First Nation languages have
influenced one another. Language is
explored in Welcome to Country, which introduces
readers to the language of the Wurundjeri People. Accompanying resources
encourage the exploration of language, the meaning of words and the ability or
inability for some words to be translated accurately.
To gain a greater consideration of the work we’re
doing, educators can trial a SBL subscription in their schools,
which includes at-home access for families.