Given the events of 2024, the theme for National Reconciliation Week (NRW) was Now More Than Ever #NRW2024. The dates for NRW remain the same each year: 27 May to 3 June. These dates commemorate two significant milestones in our National Reconciliation journey – the successful 1967 referendum, and the High Court Mabo decision respectively.
“National Reconciliation Week (NRW) is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia. Now more than ever, the work continues. In treaty making, in truth-telling, in understanding our history, in education, and in tackling racism. We need connection. We need respect. We need action. And we need change. Now more than ever, we need reconciliation”
This year to acknowledge National Reconciliation Week, and to build awareness of the need for action, CLT gathered with our colleagues from Careers and Employability and Scholarly Information Services (ANU Library) to learn of the ANU Library’s journey to produce an Indigenous Resource Guide. Library staff collaborated with Delephene Fraser, a Ngunnawal woman, her people being traditional owners of ACT and surrounding NSW areas. A graduate of the ANU Crawford School of Public Policy, Delephene’s research areas of interest include policies impacting First Nations Australians and representation in Australian parliament. Her passion for policy came from her experiences of observing policy being created on her Country and wanting to be able to influence this process for First Nations Australians.
Through her presentation, Roxanne Missingham, University Librarian and Chief Scholarly Information Officer, shared their journey with Delephene to provide a culturally sensitive and useful guide to the Indigenous teaching and learning resources held by ANU. Roxanne told us about the creation of a ‘culture of discussing’, formation of a Sharing Circle, and professional training undertaken as needed, particularly in the area of Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property (ICIP). The end result is the launch this week of the Indigenous Knowledges Hub on the ANU Website which Tom Foley, Associate Director, Libraries proudly displayed to the room. There is still work to be done especially in the ICIP domain, so a suggestion from the Chief Librarian is to familiarise yourself with the currently available material.
CLT’s interest was in learning from our Library colleagues as we embark on our own journey to integrate the Graduate Attribute: Insight into Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ Knowledges and Indigenous Peoples’ Perspectives into the learning and teaching practices of our programs and workshops. Through the creation of the Indigenous Knowledges Hub the ANU Library has enabled easier access to rich resources to support this integration. We were particularly interested in their journey towards gaining Indigenous knowledges in a culturally sensitive manner.
The highlight of the afternoon was the presentation by Delephene. With clarity, Delephene explained how to bring Indigenous perspectives to the university’s practices while maintaining respect for Aboriginal cultural practices. She shared with us the principles of Aboriginal culture as demonstrated through yarning circles: reciprocity, responsibility, relationship, dignity, equality, integrity and self-determination. These important foundations of ‘ways of being’ guide the interactions of Aboriginal people. At the Library, Roxanne plans to continue in these ways with future plans to include:
- adopting sharing circles throughout the division versus committees
- treating the Indigenous hub as a living resource
- committing to continue developing knowledge
- continuing to understand the library’s collection
- establishing priorities for improving records
- contributing to national developments in access and description
- collaborating with the academic community.
Personally, the highlight for me was listening to and speaking with Delephene. If reconciliation is about building relationships and communities that value Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, histories, cultures and futures, then Delephene is a wonderful ambassador for her people. This amazing woman so warmly and openly offered to collaborate with us, offering a safe space where we can stumble as we work towards understanding and embracing Indigenous perspectives. We do not need to be fearful of making mistakes – a natural consequence of trying something new. As Delephene said, ‘culture isn’t learnt overnight’ especially given that we start with our own world views filtered by our culture and experience. Learning about a different culture with different paradigms and values is challenging but it is not impossible. We can all learn from Delephene whose warmth and humour encouraged us to take the journey to reconciliation with our past, so we can walk together in the future.
Dr Leanne Brereton is a Professional Learning Specialist at CLT.
