Australian Aboriginal children talking culture: what does ‘seeing’ Country and the ‘child spirit’ mean for health educators?

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this paper, is to invite health educators to see children as Country – to listen to, learn from and see the child spirit often not observed in academia. We do this by asking, ‘What can we as academics and adults learn from Australian Aboriginal children’s talk about culture?’ To do this, we examine photos taken by Aboriginal children on what culture means to them. We also draw on interview data of the children speaking about their chosen photos. The data reported on in this paper is drawn from a multi-community (co-created) pre-test/post-test feasibility study (ACTRN12619001224112) of the ‘Strong Culture, Healthy Lifestyles’ afterschool cultural activity programme held on Yuin Country. In focusing on the children’s spirit, perspectives, talk and photos about the place of culture in their lives, we aim to look, listen, and see Country [Harrison, M. D., & McConchie, P. (2009). My People’s Dreaming: An Aboriginal Elder speaks on life, land, spirit and forgiveness. Finch Publishing; McKnight, A. (2017). Singing up Country in academia: Teacher education academics and preservice teachers’ experience with Yuin Country [PhD thesis]., University of Wollongong.]. In observing the photographs, it seems that care and connection are important dimensions to the place of culture in the lives of the children. For some of the children, there is a sense of pride and wonder in what they already know about the importance of family; what they learnt from the programme led by their own community members, the mentors; and the re-triggering of learning through Country. This demonstrates the power of learning/knowing/living/talking about/engaging with culture and Country through cultural programs such as the ‘Strong Culture, Healthy Lifestyle programme’. It also demonstrates the importance of nourishing the curiosity of spirit in/with the children, through their (and your own) cultural journey with culture and Country.

KEYWORDS:

• Country
• culture
• children
• Indigenous knowledges
• methodology of partnership
• participant photography

Acknowledgments

Firstly, the authors would like to thank Yuin Country and the entities who guided us. This study was funded by the Global Challenge Programme at The University of Wollongong and the Illawarra Medical Health and Research Institute. Funding for Dr Rebecca Stanley’s position was provided by the NSW Ministry of Health under the NSW Health Early-Mid Career Fellowships Scheme. The content of this paper is solely the responsibility of the University of Wollongong in partnership with Cullunghutti Aboriginal Child and Family Centre and does not reflect the views of the NSW Health Entity. The authors would like to thank Tara Leslie, Charlie Ashby, and Cullunghutti Aboriginal Child and Family Centre Board, as well as Auntie Grace Crossley, Auntie Lyn Stewart, the late Uncle Fred Carriage, and the late Uncle Max Harrison for their guidance and support in the partnership. We would also like to acknowledge and thank the children and their carers, schoolteachers, programme mentors, and volunteers from the Aboriginal community members of the Shoalhaven region for their support and generosity to the project. Without this, the project would not have been possible. The authors would also like to thank Sarah Ryan who was an Honours student and project manager on the project, as well as Ruth Crowe and Alison Lamburn who contributed to this project through their Honours degrees. Finally, the authors would like to thank all the data collectors and University of Wollongong Dean’s Scholars who contributed to the data collection and data management. In appreciation and recognition to Cullunghutti Aboriginal Child and Family Centre and the local Shoalhaven Aboriginal communities, Cullunghutti Aboriginal Child and Family Centre asks that this material is not reproduced without permission and is treated with dignity and respect.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1 Australia has two similar yet distinct First Nations cultural groups – Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. At the request of the communities involved in the study, when referring to the participants in the study, we use the term Aboriginal peoples and Aboriginal children. The term Indigenous is used to refer to the international First Nations peoples, including Aboriginal Australians.

2 In this instance an Elder and Aunty refers to senior Aboriginal woman who holds traditional Aboriginal cultural knowledge and in a sign of deep respect Aunty is used to denote respect to their knowledge, behaviour, roles and responsibilities in the community.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by NSW Ministry of Health under the NSW Health Early-Mid Career Fellowships Scheme; Global Challenges Seed, UOW; Global Challenges Program, UOW.