Uncle Mike Williams and his cousin Aunty Ronnie led a day of celebration of First Nations cultures at Maryvale on Australia Day.
A group of local people from Stanthorpe and Warwick areas met on Githabul Country under the trees on Nyalar Mirungan-ah Nature Refuge, to share stories and learn from each other.
Mike has been through traditional Lore and was able to explain how that process has enriched his life and allowed him to understand the rich and valuable ways in which his culture kept families happy.
“In my culture, it is the responsibility of my daughter’s male children to look after me as I age.” he told the gathered group. “And the complex extended family roles such as viewing certain relatives as mother or father, means that children always have good role models to copy.”
One participant remarked that if we all had such a system of family support, there would be no need for counsellors and therapists.
They also talked about how it is a common experience for First Nations people to intentionally gather their strength each day as they leave home, to prepare themselves for the negative assumptions they will often experience. These things happen, as teachers in the group commented, because the history taught to school students is incomplete; it fails to communicate good understanding of First Nations cultures and it downplays the violence First Nations peoples have suffered.
The Voice to Parliament was also discussed with opinions varying.
“We have failed so far to provide justice for Indigenous people” said one attendee. “So we should step up and give The Voice a try.”
Others were more cynical.
“We have not taken the advice of many previous recommendations, like those from the Deaths in Custody report, so how will this be any different?”
Convenors Brenda and David Parsons were pleased with the honest and respectful way these things were discussed. “We hope that our community can find ways like this event to face the injustices experienced by First Nations people and take on the responsibility of correcting them” they said.
