Past Programs
Indigenous - Stolen Generations - 2008
Patrick Dodson: peace warrior
08/11/2008
Patrick Dodson is only the second Australian to receive the Sydney Peace Prize, after the former Governor-General Sir William Deane. The inaugural chair of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation believes open and frank dialogue is the only way to repair the fractured relationship Australia has with its Indigenous people.
We join Aunty Noeline Briggs-Smith, historian and archivist, who's found the lost graves of Aboriginal servicemen in the historic Moree cemetery.
Also in this program, the artist Tony Albert talks about his obsession with the uncollectable - Aboriginalia, or mass-produced Aboriginal kitsch.
What comes after Sorry?
11/10/2008
It has now been nine months since Kevin Rudd apologised to the members of the Stolen Generations. While this symbolic event was very important for Indigenous Australians, Professor Larissa Behrendt of UTS maps out what needs to be done next to help communities build strength, good health and education.
In this wide-ranging speech given at a public forum at UTS, she examines the NT Intervention and other government initiatives, to look at what works and what doesn't.
We also hear from David Cole, manager of the Balunu Foundation in Darwin. They work with young at-risk Indigenous people, giving them a sense of purpose and pride.
'The name Balunu comes from the Luritja language of Central Australia. The word Balunu means creation and this is what we are about: the creation of strong youth, strong culture, strong leaders, for a strong future by breaking negative cycles and creating positive ones.'
Walking With Spirits Festival
27/09/2008
People travel from around the world to an ancient place called Malkgulumbu that is surrounded by white sand, ancient paperbark trees, running freshwater, a waterfall and orange coloured cliffs to celebrate culture, alongside the local Aboriginal people from the community of Wugularr. Better known as Beswick it is located on the Central Arnhem Road south of Katherine in the Northern Territory.
Well known Aboriginal Actor Tom E Lewis is the creator and the mind behind the coming together of the modern and ancient music and stories that are told in the surrounding of this sacred site, which is opened only once every year to the public for the festival.
Also, a new theatre production about a girl called Yibiyung. Her moving story of being stolen, sent to work as a domestic and then re-united with her family is told by her grandaughter, playwright Dallas Winmar.
Aunty Sylvia Scott (Ingram)
13/09/2008
Sylvia Scott grew up on the Erambie Mission in Cowra, where the Aboriginal people had a reputation for standing up for their rights as far back as the 1940s. She remembers fondly a childhood with not much money and many mission rules and regulations but one that was full of music and fun. Her father Lochie Ingram was a shearer and good provider for their large family and her mother Louisa Ingram led protests against the mission managers, who at times denied the whole mission population their rations.
Louisa and some of her children are in the iconic photo of the 1938 Aboriginal protest that was held in Sydney while white Australia celebrated its sesquicentenary. Sylvia discusses the fact that they have never been properly identified in the various published versions of this photo. She also talks about the circumstances of her sister Janet going into the Bomaderry Children's home, not being allowed to return for many years. Sylvia tells her colourful life story to her niece Suzy Ingram, who also talks about her own memories of Erambi Mission and the Ingram family.
We also catch up with Development Officer for Indigenous Music in the Northern Territory, Heath Baxter who talks about some exciting new bands and a mentoring system betwen older and younger musicians.
View The Day of Mourning photograph and see information about the people in it. You'll also see photographs of Sylvia Scott and the Erambie Mission in the late 1930s.
The healing power of stories
24/05/2008
William Munget was presumed drowned when the pearling boat Enid sank off the coast of north-western Australia in 1928. Many years later and on the other side of the continent, six of the 12 children of Nugget and Mary Edwards were kidnapped by police acting on the advice of government welfare authorities. These two stories illustrate the power that memory and loss exercise over our lives, the deep love of family across the generations and the need for healing.
Heartsick for Country: Pat Dudgeon
Pat Dudgeon is from the Bardi people of the Kimberley region in north-western Australia. A psychologist who's just completed her doctoral thesis, Pat is one of the contributing writers to a new anthology about country and the spirituality of place. Her story is an evocation of the mysterious death at sea of her great-grandfather, William Munget, a pearler whose boat sank off the north-west coast in 1928. 'The sinking of the Enid' skilfully combines oral history and documentary evidence from the files of the WA Department of Native Affairs. In this program, Pat reads from her story and talks about the role of psychology in healing.
Songlines of a Mutti Mutti Man: Kutcha and Mick Edwards
Kutcha Edwards was 18 months old when he and five of his brothers and sisters were 'kidnapped' by police who were acting on the advice of government welfare authorities. As a family and as individuals, their lives were permanently fractured. Even though they were reunited years later with their mother Mary, the damage had already been done. The production Songlines of a Mutti Mutti Man is literally set around a kitchen table. Kutcha and his older brother Mick talk about the show's return season and their unbroken family songline.
