Essays and Articles

It’s cold and rainy, a sign that the Kaurna season of Kudlilla has arrived. We’re going to put out weekly lists of things to do while you’re huddled inside. Next we’re looking at essays and articles! If you’re not sure where to start here are some of the best things we’ve read to recently.

Yirramboi: Blak Bloggers Series

Here is a selection of blogs written by different blak writers including Kirsty Lee Dickinson and Tuuli Narkle about topics from Family, love, relationships, hardships and of course isolation.

What winter solstice rituals tell us about Indigenous people by Rosalyn R. LaPier

“Although some winter solstice traditions have chang ed over time, they are still a reminder of indigenous peoples understanding of the intricate workings of the solar system.” 

Victoria to establish truth and justice process as part of Aboriginal treaty process by Leonie Thorne

“As challenging as this truth is going to be, it will provide an opportunity for us to heal and unite, but it will create a future Victoria that we all belong to and all connect with.” — Marcus Stewart

Destruction of Juukan Gorge: we need to know the history of artefacts, but it is more important to keep them in place by Jacinta Koolmatrie 

“Aboriginal knowledges of these places, and how this knowledge links to the archaeological record, is what can fully contextualise the meaning of these places for our ancestors – and for us today.” 

My art is a personal antidote for the effects of colonisation by Katie West 

“My work as a tutor felt incredibly meaningful given my personal history. I was in an environment where I was able to educate non-Indigenous people about the ongoing impacts of colonisation. Even so, during my time in this role my own health and wellbeing suffered. I believe I was experiencing vicarious trauma, through the weekly retelling of Australia’s colonial history, and the links between this history and our present.’

Essay for Katie West by Eloise Sweetman

“Katie’s work caused me to stop and contemplate the ways in which I navigate the world, and my worlding, this is what art is supposed to do, and also what an exhibition should do as well. An essential element in a program centered in not knowing is to enter into the discomfort and confrontation of ignorance, to locate and set up a new line of ethical action and thinking.”

They Can Cook And Sing, But Australia Still Isn’t Ready For Diversity On Reality TV by Alicia Vrajlal

“I think systematic racism in this country extends to our TV screens. It’s kind of fucked to think that the majority of audiences are fine watching BIPOC contestants perform for them but not fall in love.”

Ancient Indigenous aquaculture site Budj Bim added to UNESCO World Heritage list by Matt Neal

“Not only does Budj Bim bust the myth that all Indigenous people were nomadic and not agriculturally inclined, it is also considered one of the oldest aquaculture sites in the world.”

Indigenous activist Thomas Mayor’s clear statement by Kate Hennessy

“I saw people who’d been passionately debating each other, embracing, crying with hope. That emotional investment should not be forgotten. And reaching a consensus of 250 of around 270, that’s a very significant majority. It was a solution that went to the root cause of the issue, to structural powerlessness.” — Thomas Mayor

Reconciliation and the promise of an Australian homecoming by Megan Davis

“From the time anthropologists ran Indigenous affairs to the current Hunger Games-esque National Indigenous Australians Agency, the state has sought overt and covert ways to control and assimilate Indigenous peoples.” 

Aboriginal astronomy can teach us about the link between sky and land by Kirsten Banks 

“Aboriginal star stories are not just stories, they are lessons that educate us about the relationship between the sky and the land, as well as how the universe functions around us.” 

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Contributions to this edition of Kudlilla Recommendations by Kristin, Kiah, Natalie and Dearna from the MOD. team.