Aboriginal Way

You might have heard of the recent Southern Deadly Yarns series by Onkaparinga Libraries and Neporendi Aboriginal Forum, which presented a virtual interviews with a First Nations author each week.

The last of these was a chat with Archie Roach, who has been an important figure in Australian music and culture for more than 30 years, and recently won the ARIA for Best Male Artist, as well as the Double J Australian artist of the year.

This interview celebrates the release of the 30th anniversary edition of his picture book "Took the Children Away", based on his iconic song of the same name. He discusses his days spent sitting with friends in Adelaide's Tarndanyangga or Victoria Square, his connection to his culture and the importance of teaching the next generations about the Stolen Generation.

Thanks to Onkaparinga Libraries and Neporendi for letting us play this great interview.

To watch or listen to more interviews in the series, including ones with Bruce Pascoe and Anita Heiss, go to Onkaparinga Libraries here.

When Rochelle Courtenay first learnt of women experiencing homelessness going without basic sanitary items, she decided the question was not, "why is no one doing anything" but rather, "what's stopping me from doing something?"

In March 2015, Rochelle took matters into her own hands by collecting sanitary items with her local community and distributing to local shelters. As a result, a simple idea of giving dignity to women, Share the Dignity was created and has grown to become a national charity over the last 5 and a half years. It now has more than 5,000 volunteers Australia wide, and most noteworthy, provides multiple initiatives aimed at giving dignity to women.

Share the Dignity is not only for women experiencing homelessness, however; it's also for those without access to personal hygiene products, such as women living in remote Indigenous communities. Hear more about the charity and what you can do to help - even during lockdown!

The recipients of the South Australian NAIDOC awards for 2020 were announced at a ceremony at the Adelaide Town Hall on Monday, 9 November.

Hear who all 13 award winners are, and listen to Adelaide's Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor presenting the second Lord Mayor's NAIDOC Award, to acknowledge an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander community member for their outstanding achievement, service and contribution to reconciliation in Adelaide.

Remember you can still vote for the National NAIDOC Awards, which recognise the outstanding contributions Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people - entries have been extended until 22 March next year. So, if you know someone who has improved the lives of First Nation's people in their communities and beyond; or who has promoted Indigenous issues in the wider community or shown excellence in their chosen field vote for them at naidoc.org.au.

If you want to learn how to say a word in another language, where do you go first to find it? Probably, in this day and age, the internet, right?

What about if you're trying to learn words in Indigenous languages from across Australia? You might know if you've tried, that it can be difficult to find the right resources to do this.

That's why the Research Unit for Indigenous Language at the University of Melbourne came up with the 50 Words Project, an online resource aiming to provide 50 words in as many Indigenous languages in Australia as possible. Seeing as there are between 8-900 Indigenous languages across the country, this no small task!

The words are supplied in written form, alongside an audio recording from a native speaker of that language. Of course, there are plenty of languages that don't have fluent language speakers anymore, and community members are trying to revive them.

Professor Rachel Nordlinger is the Chief Investigator of the project, Aboriginal Way spoke to her from her workplace at the Research Unit for Indigenous language.

Once a fortnight at Lot Fourteen, tools are put down at 10am and construction workers file into the open courtyard or an empty room, where they hear from Aboriginal leaders, educators or anyone with a story to share. The talks are no longer than a smoko break (10-20mins), making them easily digestible; then it's back to work - with plenty to think about.

While the former Royal Adelaide Hospital site is a hub for the wide range of entrepreneurs and the emerging future and creative industries it houses, it's also the workplace of many construction workers and sub-contractors employed on the next big projects there, such as the Australian Space Agency, and soon the Aboriginal Arts and Cultures Centre.

Designed to build a greater understanding between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal cultures, the Toolbox Yarns series was built specifically for this group, after stemming from discussions during Reconciliation Week - "why do we only talk about reconciliation and race during this week?".

The short fortnightly sessions, a partnership between Aboriginal civil and construction company RAWsa, an Aboriginal civil construction company; Lot Fourteen; the SA Government and the Kaurna Nations Cultural Heritage Association, are open to all construction workers and subcontractors onsite, offering the opportunity to learn about Aboriginal culture and history at work.

It's Breast Cancer Awareness Month and one of Cancer Council SA's Aboriginal Ambassadors, Patricia Clarke, is sharing her story to encourage other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women to take part in the free breast cancer screening program.

Tarnanthi, an annual celebration of contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art, features artwork from 87 artists in its 2020 exhibition Tarnanthi: Open Hands.

The creativity First Nations' women use to share knowledge across generations is recognised in this year's Tarnanthi, with recognition of the deep connections made to Country and culture through the art making process.

"Open Hands celebrates the ongoing and often unseen work that women in communities do to maintain culture," said artistic director and Barkandji artist Nici Cumpston, who was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to the museums and galleries sector and to Indigenous art in this year's Queen's Birthday Honours.

"Keeping these stories alive and sharing knowledge is deeply embedded within everyday life across Australia."

Like many events this year, Tarnanthi has had to meet the challenges of uncertainty and closed borders head on.

The annual Tarnanthi Art Fair has been specially designed as a "COVID-safe" event this year, meaning there'll be limited opportunities to sift through canvases on tables as over the previous five years. The Fair will still be held from 4-6 December, displaying artwork for sale that has been hand selected by community art centres.

"Creating art is a vital source of income that supports economic empowerment and cultural resilience in remote communities," said Art Gallery of South Australia Director Rhana Devenport ONZM.

"Through Tarnanthi Art Fair, buyers are guaranteed that every dollar from sales goes directly back to artists and their communities."

Tarnanthi is also going international this year, in collaboration with the APY Art Centre Collective; new work from 34 APY Lands artists will be exhibited at the Musee des Beaux-Arts in Renes, in Brittany, France, occupying an entire floor.

A new exhibition has opened at Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute that takes audiences full circle from the first exhibition there in 1989, to its 30th birthday celebrations and reopening after a six-and-a-half-month temporary closure due to COVID-19 this year.

Tandanya first opened its doors to the public in 1989 with an exhibition of batik artwork on silk by women from Utopia community in the NT. This year, the Gallery will be celebrating its 30th birthday (a little late, due to COVID-19) with artwork by some of the same women from the same region again gracing the walls.

'Atnwengerrp - Our Apmere, Our Place' present works by four generations of artists from the small community of Atnwengerrp, 270kms North-East of Alice Springs within the region of Utopia.

The collection of monochromatic artwork is inspired by Country and showcases the entire community of approximately 100 people. It features work from artists such as 97-year-old Emily Pwerle, who featured in that opening exhibition at Tandanya, and her sisters. The siblings began developing expressions of their Dreamings, passed down from generation to generation, through painting, when a painting workshop was organised for them by their niece, artist Barbara Weir, who's work also features in the show.

The exhibition, which is open to the public until December 21, also serves as a celebratory reopening after a forced temporary closure in late March due to COVID-19.

'Atnwengerrp - Our Apmere, Our Place' is presented in collaboration with Pwerle Gallery, a 100% Aboriginal, family owned company, founded in 2015 by Jade Torres, daughter of art dealer Fred Torres and granddaughter of Barbara Weir (Emily Pwerle's niece).

"Atnwengerrp - Our Apmere, Our Place" runs until December 21, 2020

Tandanya open: Mon - Sat from 10am to 5pm except Thurs 12th and Fri 13th Nov.

Innes National Park will be co-managed by the Narungga Nation Aboriginal Corporation (NNAC) and is officially changing its name to Dhilba Guuranda - Innes National Park this year, the 50th anniversary of the Park, with official celebrations taking place during NAIDOC Week.

Originally designed for the land rights movement in 1971, the Aboriginal flag has come to represent Aboriginal People Australia-wide since being adopted as an official "Flag of Australia" in July 1995.

But when the flag's designer and copyright holder since 1997, Luritja artist Harold Thomas granted non-Indigenous company WAM Clothing the exclusive worldwide licence to use on clothing, physical and digital media in November 2018, organisations and companies using the flag on merchandise began being served cease and desist letters for permission to use it. This included the AFL and NRL, with both making the decision not to enter into an agreement with WAM Clothing.

WAM Clothing is owned by Ben Wooster of the now defunct gallery Birubi Art, who was fined $2.3 in 2018 by a Federal Court for selling fake Aboriginal artwork made in Indonesia. He has since admitted in the Senate inquiry that WAM Clothing products are also produced and printed in Bali.

Indigenous Australians Minister Ken Wyatt says the federal Government is in conversations with the copyright owner of the Aboriginal flag and is attempting to broker a deal around its use.

Today on the show we speak with Kullilli and Murruwari man Michael Connelly, owner of Queensland-based Dreamtime Kullilla Art, for some background, including his own experience receiving a legal letter from WAM Clothing