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Course Overview
Aboriginal and Intercultural Studies Year 11 - General: Curriculum outline
Understanding and valuing cultural diversity are key skills both for citizenship in contemporary multicultural Australia and for participation in an increasingly global community. The Aboriginal and Intercultural Studies General course is intended to equip students with the knowledge, skills and values to be active citizens at the local, national and global levels.
Unit outline
Unit 1
This unit enables students to develop their understanding of the concept of culture and of Australia’s First Nations Peoples as being the oldest living continuous cultures in the world.
Unit 2
This unit enables students to explore the distinctiveness and diversity of Australian First Nations Peoples’ cultural expressions.
- Indigenous Australian
Australia has two distinct Indigenous peoples: Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islander peoples. - Australia's First PeoplesAustralia is made up of many different and distinct Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups, each with their own culture, language, beliefs and practices.
- Diversity and identityDiversity in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander contexts relates to the very many Language Groups and to the diversity within those groups.
- Aboriginal peoples
Aboriginal people hold a unique place in Australian history and continue to make an essential contribution to our ongoing national development and identity. - South West Aboriginal Land and Sea CouncilThis is the story of the Noongar people's fight to have their native title rights recognised in the south west of WA.
- Torres Strait Islanders
Torres Strait Islander culture has a unique identity and associated territorial claim, although their culture and people are often conflated with Aboriginal people.
Torres Strait Islanders are not mainland Aboriginal people who inhabit the Torres Strait. - Torres Strait Islander peopleThe Torres Strait Islanders are one of two First Nations groups recognised in what is now known as Australia (the other being Aboriginal people).
- Torres Strait IslandsTorres Strait Islanders are proud seafaring peoples with a long history of trade with neighbouring groups in New Guinea, Australia, Asia and the Pacific Islands.
Connection to Country
Click on image to go to website for more information.
Source: Stewart, L. (2019, February 28). People and issues outside our big cities are diverse, but these priorities stand out. https://theconversation.com/people-and-issues-outside-our-big-cities-are-diverse-but-these-priorities-stand-out-110971
Kinship
Source: Share Our Pride. (n.d.). Our culture. http://www.shareourpride.org.au/sections/our-culture/index.html
- Family and kinshipAboriginal kinship and family structures are still cohesive forces which bind Aboriginal people together in all parts of Australia.
- Strengths of Australian Aboriginal cultural practices in family life and child rearingThis paper explores some of the characteristics of traditional Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander1 cultural practices that contribute to effective family functioning, and how these practices can have positive effects on children and communities.
Spiritual Beliefs
- Lessons of Wiradjuri Dreamtime that are written in the stars are being passed downLong before the Babylonians and the Greeks and prior to both the Renaissance and Enlightenment periods, there was Indigenous astronomy.
This makes the First Nations' cultures of Australia the world's oldest astronomers. - Storytelling in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culturesSpeaking is the primary form of communication in Aboriginal cultures and Torres Strait Islander cultures. Concepts and beliefs have been passed on from generation to generation through specific cultural practices, traditions, languages, laws and family relationships. The oral traditions of instruction include storytelling, song, dance, and art- and craft-making.
- First Nation Bedtime Stories15 Videos | First Nations stories from central desert communities shared with the world.
Elders/Leadership
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander concepts and leadership structuresThere are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders—men and women—but their leadership is exercised according to different values and criteria than it is in the wider Australian society.
- 10 Indigenous women blazing a trail in Australia todayWomen’s Agenda: list of ten of the most exciting and critical figures to watch.
- Why we need to foster the female Aboriginal leaders of tomorrowOur Elders and leaders are the foundations of our culture. As such, we hold great respect and admiration towards them for everything they have done for our community.
- Wirlomin Noongar Language and StoriesOnline dictionary of Noongar words
- Language and Terminology GuideGuidelines to terminology used when speaking to First Nation's people.
- Rediscovering Indigenous LanguagesThe site features historic word lists, records and other documents relating to Indigenous Australian languages.
- First Languages AustraliaFirst Languages Australia encourages communication between communities, the government and key partners whose work can impact Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages.
- Gambay - First Languages MapInteractive Map
- 50 Words ProjectHear 50 words in Australian Indigenous languages
Oral and performance traditions
- First Nations Bedtime StoriesFirst Nations Bedtime Stories is an annual week of storytelling. It brings Dreaming stories as old as time into homes and classrooms around Australia.
- Musical InstrumentsDifferent tribes used various instruments including boomerangs, clubs, sticks, hollow logs, drums, seed rattles and of course the didgeridoo. Hand clapping and lap/thigh slapping were common.
- The tradition of Aboriginal musicTraditionally Aboriginal music is primarily vocal. Singers are often accompanied with percussion and several other singers of the same gender.
- The Most Influential Indigenous AustraliansThe Indigenous cultures in Australia have been around for more than 60,000 years, making them among the oldest living cultures on the planet. With such a long history, it’s not surprising that so many influential, inspiring and incredible Australians have Indigenous roots.
- DanceDancing styles varied throughout the hundreds of tribal groups.
Dance competition held at the Sydney Opera house showcasing traditional customs, language and contemporary culture of First Nations dancers from around Australia.
Literature
- First Nations Australia Writers NetworkFirst Nations Australia Writers Network is the peak body for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander writers, poets and storytellers, advocating and lobbying on their behalf, supporting ongoing development opportunities, in order to sustain and enhance First Nations Australia writing and storytelling.
- 7 must-read books by Indigenous authorsIndigenous storytelling offers what Bundjalung/Kullilli/South Sea Islander presenter Daniel Browning describes as an "authentic and unvarnished version of Australia".
- 7 Must-Read Books By Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander AuthorsAustralian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander authors and artists are taking the world by storm, bringing to light their complex history, as well as their culture’s stories and Dreamings, in both fictional and non-fictional worlds.
- Salt MotherPoem by Bruce Pascoe
Visual Arts
- Aboriginal Artists of Western AustraliaA collection of over 1,800 paintings by West Australian Aboriginal artists collated from fourteen different community groups around the State.
- Aboriginal Art Symbols - IconographyIn contemporary Indigenous Australian art, many artists use symbols as their way of telling a story. Varying from region to region, Indigenous symbols (often called iconography) are generally understood and form an important part of Australian Aboriginal art.
- Welcome to Country or Acknowledgement of CountryOutlines the protocols for Welcome to Country or Acknowledgement of Country
Follows the Indigenous people of the Western Australian Pilbara's battle to preserve Australia's 40,000-year-old cultural heritage from the ravages of a booming mining industry. Filmmaker Tyson Mowarin shows the waves of industrialisation and development that threaten sites all over the region, and how he and the people of the Pilbara are fighting back by documenting the rock art, recording sacred sites and battling to get their unique cultural heritage recognised, digitised and celebrated.
Cultural Knowledge
- The Law and the Lore Two laws one landTraditional law refers to the common features of acceptable and unacceptable behaviour in Aboriginal communities.
- Aboriginal traditional loreFor Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, lore was created during the Creation Period by ancestors travelling the land establishing the world and the code of life.
People from the central Australian community of Yuendumu are facing traditional punishment.
- Why Australia won’t recognise Indigenous customary lawWhile the Australian Law Reform Commissions’ 1986 report on the use of customary law for Aboriginal people was a great initiative, it was, in hindsight, a notion well before its time. Although 30 years have elapsed since the report was published, its recommendations have, by and large, been ignore
- StoriesFirst Nations bedtime stories.
... learn from and celebrate First Nations cultures and the profound wisdom they hold.
[Q&A] panel discussed Ken Wyatt changing his mind on supporting The Voice, The Uluru Statement from the Heart, Indigenous suicide prevention, the "walk out" group, the Prime Minister outlining the next steps to take for Indigenous recognition, and “Invasion Day” to refer to Australia Day dividing Australia.
- Assimilation (1940s to the 1960s)In 1937, the Commonwealth Government held a national conference on Aboriginal affairs which agreed that Aboriginal people ‘not of full blood’ should be absorbed or ‘assimilated’ into the wider population. The aim of assimilation was to make the ‘Aboriginal problem’ gradually disappear so that Aboriginal people would lose their identity in the wider community.
- Colonisation 1788 - 1890From 1788, Australia was treated by the British as a colony of settlement, not of conquest. Aboriginal land was taken over by British colonists on the premise that the land belonged to no-one (‘terra nullius’).
When the British invaded the Australian continent in 1788, it ended a way of life that had existed for more than fifty thousand years for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
- Impact of Colonisation on Indigenous AustraliansThis article discusses the effects of colonisation on Indigenous people in Australia.
In 1788 Britain legally claimed Australia to be terra nullius - a law whereby Indigenous Australians could not sell or assign land. The move dispossessed hundreds of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders of their land, culture and spiritual connections. It also sparked a battle that would continue through generations and shape what Australia is today.
- Cultural Dispossession Experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander PeoplesThis chapter discusses the impact of colonialism on First Nations culture, language, land, resources, political and personal autonomy, and religious freedom.
- Bringing Them Home : Chapter 7 Western AustraliaFollowing the founding of the Swan River Colony in 1829 relations between the British settlers and local Indigenous peoples in Western Australia became characterised by conflict.
An overview covering the coming of the Europeans, wars, massacres, disease and dispossession, missions, reserves, racism, population decline, stolen children, political activism, land rights, native title and culture.
How have Indigenous issues been told in Australian media and what is Indigenous content? Stan Grant hosts this forum on Cultural Intelligence, which brings together media practitioners, academics, politicians, community advocates and commentators, and asks who can and should tell Indigenous stories.
- Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual PropertyInformation sheet on Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property : refers to the rights that Indigenous people have, and want to have, to protect their traditional arts and culture.
- What is Indigenous Cultural Intellectual Property and how does it protect traditional knowledge?Indigenous Cultural Intellectual Property (ICIP) is a term used globally to refer to the basic human rights of Indigenous communities to protect and use their traditional knowledge and forms of traditional cultural expression.
- Aboriginal Cultural and Intellectual Property (ACIP) ProtocolIndigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property (ICIP) rights are the rights that Aboriginal peoples have to their cultural heritage, also known as ICIP.
Podcast | Uncle Jack Charles on finding family
Uncle Jack Charles is known as many things – an Indigenous activist, a survivor of the Stolen Generation, a former addict and a brilliant actor. The story of his life has been told many times, through documentary, memoir and theatre. Now, he is going on an incredible journey of self-discovery for the SBS show ‘Who Do You Think You Are’, where he traces his ancestry and reconnects with living family members.
He speaks to Laura Murphy-Oates about his life, career, and the impact of finding family.
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander concepts and leadership structuresThere are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders—men and women—but their leadership is exercised according to different values and criteria than it is in the wider Australian society.
- Meet some of WA's Aboriginal leadersBiographies on notable West Australian Indigenous Leaders.
Key Terms
- ColonisationEstablishment of a colony or colonies in a country or area. Colonisation dispossessed Indigenous people of their traditional lands. In Australia, colonisation began with the First Fleet’s arrival from Britain in 1788, and progressed over time with settlements in different states.
- CountryUsed to describe a specific area of a nation or clan including physical, linguistic and spiritual features. Aboriginal communities’ cultural associations with their Country may include or relate to languages, cultural practices, knowledge, songs, stories, art, paths, landforms, flora, fauna and minerals. These cultural associations may include custodial relationships with particular landscapes such as land, sea, sky, rivers as well as the intangible places associated with the Dreaming/s. Custodial relationships are extremely important in determining who may have the capacity to authentically speak for their Country.
- CultureThe accepted and traditionally patterned ways of behaving and a set of common understandings shared by members of a group or community. Includes land, language, ways of living and working and artistic expression, relationship and identity.
- Deep TimeThe history of Australia's First Nations peoples spans more than 60,000 years.
This "deep time" is defined by the development of cultural practices, innovative technologies and belief systems.
[Read article for in-depth explanation] - EldersElders are custodians of knowledge. They are chosen and accepted by their own communities and are highly respected.
- IdentityA person’s understanding and expression of their own individuality and of belonging to a group; often connected to culture and language.
- KinshipA key aspect of Aboriginal cultures and values. It includes the importance of all relationships, and of being related to and belonging to Country (land).
- PerspectivesA person’s perspective is their point of view; the position from which they see and understand the world and events going on around them. People in the past may have had different points of view about a particular event, depending on their age, gender, social position and their beliefs and values. Historians also have perspectives and this can influence their interpretation of the past.
- SonglinesYouTube video explaining the importance of Songlines in connection with Aboriginal Art and Storytelling.
- SpiritualityIn general, the term ‘spirituality’ refers to personal beliefs and associated practices, while the term ‘religion’ relates to a belief system and practices shared by a group. An individual may identify with both spirituality and religious affiliation.
For the purpose of this course, the terms ‘spirituality’ and ‘spiritualities’ refer to both the individual and collective aspects of Aboriginal Peoples’ interconnectedness with the world. Spirituality is deeply linked to Country, Dreaming/s, kinship and identity, and often incorporates concepts associated with ‘law’ and/or ‘lore’, such as responsibilities and obligations. Spirituality is also related to a person’s intrinsic journey, including learning and reflection.