Aunty Dot
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Writer Ananda Braxton- Smith spent "Survival Day" with our local indigenous community and spoke with a much loved elder who shares her love of our beautiful country. |
Celebrating Survival Day
There are many reasons to celebrate Australia Day, and one of the most compelling is the survival ofthis country's indigenous people into the 21st century.
For over 40,000 years the Kulin people of the Melbourne area survived, among other challenges, serious volcanic activity, donkeysized wombats and the flooding of Port Phillip Bay.
However, their biggest challenge came with white settlement.
Through detribalisation, oppressive burocracy and racism, both insidious and blatant, people suffered terribly with loss of meaning, ill health and despair cutting deep into their lives, both individual and communal.
Yet the people have survived, and on a steamy Belgrave Australia Day representatives of the tribal group and an eclectic mix of ‘others' gathered to celebrate at the Cameo Outdoor Cinema
"Survival day is for me and these boys here a chance to say something about what happened to my people," Nigel, a didge player for the attending dancers from Healesville, told us.
The meeting was honoured to host much-loved Wurrunjeri elder, Aunty Dot, who spoke of the pressing issue of our times, which she sees as building understanding of other's cultures.
Recently Aunty Dot attended a mixed Faith gathering and met people of diverse religions, ending the day in singing Australian Christmas carols.
To begin her address she acknowledged both indigenous visitors, and settlers who went on to become "a loving and supportive part of this beautiful country."
"Skin's not important," she told me. "
"The heart is what's important."
She then welcomed us all on behalf of her "Aboriginal brothers and sisters."
On the issue of Australia Day Aunty Dot is upbeat. "The 26th of January doesn't mean much," she said.
"Every day is Australia Day."
"Today and every day we need to be all working together, with each other, with people of different cultures, toward understanding.
"And today, every day, this is going on."
"I'm excited and enthusiastic to be here."
Aunty Dot's mother was born in the Aboriginal settlement at Healesville called Corranderrk but she, herself, was born at the Royal Women's Hospital.
Her father fought with the 2nd Pioneer Battalion during WWII, but was captured and died on the Burma railroad.
"I was thinking about Dad a couple of years ago, and all the others, who went to fight and came back to discrimination," she recalled.
"I thought to myself something has to be done. In 2006 I approached my local RSL, in Healesville, and asked them to become involved in reconciliation."
"At the Anzac day service that year they had Didgeridoo playing in the background to the service."
That same year the Aboriginal flag was raised at the city Shrine of Remembrance services. Then in 2007 it went nationwide with the flag being flown in every capital city.
‘It's amazing," Aunty Dot smiles, "just sitting there one night thinking about Dad led to all this.
"It was meant to happen...mean to happen!"
The young dancers performed to a receptive crowd, with didge-player Nigel telling us "all you have to do is say I wanna be part of this and we'll teach you."
He celebrated the slow but clear change in white attitudes, telling us: "No more crossing the road when a black man comes, those redneck days are gone!"
In fact many of us came palefaces and went home rednecks but, the Great Spirit be praised, it was all due
to the Australian sun under which we all, white, black, café latte and ecru, live and love.
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He celebrated the slow but clear change in white attitudes, telling us: "No more crossing the road when a black man comes, those redneck days are gone!" In fact many of us came palefaces and went home rednecks but, the Great Spirit be praised, it was all due to the Australian sun under which we all, white, black, café latte and ecru, live and love.
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