land home place belong - Pamela Croft

In Pamela Croft’s art works within her solo exhibition I hear, see, feel and sense the importance of tradition, recognition of ancestors, respect for uniqueness in spiritual expression, facilitation of an understanding within the contexts of history and culture, a sense of place, connections to family and community, commitment to educational and social transformation that recognizes and empowers the inherent strength of Aboriginal peoples and cultures and the challenges to non-Aboriginal people to truly listen and absorb in order to move to a place of understanding of the Aboriginal world… The ideal purpose of education is to attain knowledge, seek truth, wisdom, completeness and life as seen by self and others. Story is one of the unique ways of Aboriginal education in both teaching and learning. It is in the story that there is made a place for honouring of self, family, community, place, nature and spirituality. In this exhibition Pamela Croft has revealed many things about her own story, her own journeying and the journey of many other Aboriginal peoples. She has then set each idea, concept and event in contexts that are based on history, place, environment and process which intertwine within one larger story of this country and humanity. Aboriginal learning is generally tied to a place environmentally, socially and spiritually. Indigenous teaching and learning are intertwined with the daily lives of the teacher and the learner. Pamela is both her own teacher and her own learner, she learns from the environment, other people, her community and her culture. She has defined history and place in terms to create a place for learning and for the individuals who participate in this solo exhibition of her work. Thus her words as you enter, “Listen, listen with your ears, listen with your eyes, listen with your body, listen with your spirit, listen”

Making Country Come Alive: Artistic Representations of the Rockhampton Region, Rockhampton Women’s Business Network, Chamber of Commerce, Rockhampton, 6th Nov. 2004, 7.00am

This paper provides a short overview of how Pamela Croft depicts aspects of the Rockhampton Region in her visual arts practice

Stolen Generations. After the Apology

In Febraury 2008 the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd delivered the National Apology to the Stolen Generations. Frontline asked NTEU Indigenous women to relate their feelings of the day,and how they feel the nation has progressed since. This is what Bronwyn Fredericks said within the article. Other women who have related their thoughts and feelings include: Maree Graham, Alma Mir, Lynette Riley, Nellie Green, Davina B Woods, Frances Wyld, Jenny Caruso, and Helen Bishop. To read what other Indigenous women said about the National Apology go to: http://www.nteu.org.a

'We got needs too': Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in urban areas (Speaker's notes)

Despite over 70 % of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia now living in urban or regional urban areas (ABS 2008), there is limited research which highlights their issues or the issues that impact on their education outcomes. The statistics demonstrate that living in urban centres is as much part of reality for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as living in a remote discrete community. This paper will explore some of the issues for urban Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples against a backdrop of statistics and some of the current literature. Examples will be highlighted from the South-East Queensland region to expose the need for specific education strategies and programs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in this region and in other urbanised regions in Queensland and Australia

Including us, but under whose terms? The epistemology that maintains white race privilege, power and control over Indigenous studies and Indigenous people's participation in Australian universities

This paper represents my attempt to turn the gaze and demonstrate how Indigenous Studies is controlled in some Australian universities in ways that witness Indigenous peoples being further marginalised, denigrated and exploited. I have attempted to do this through sharing an incident through the presentation of a case study. I have opted to write about it as a way of highlighting the problematic nature of racism, systemic marginalisation, white race privilege and radicalised subjectivity played out within higher education institutions and because I am dissatisfied with the on-going status quo. In sharing my experience and bringing some analysis to this case study, I seek to destabilise the relationships between oppression and white race and institutional privilege and the epistemology that maintains them. In moving from the position of being silent on this topic to speaking about it, I am also able to move from the position of object to subject and to gain a form of liberated voice (hooks 1989:9) and to encourage others to examine their own practices within Australian universities

'Big mobs in the city now' : the increasing number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in urban areas

The locations and settings in which Australian Indigenous people live varies, however over 70 % of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia now live in urban or regional urban areas (ABS 2008). Over half of the total population lives in the two states Queensland and New South Wales. The 2006 Census data indicates that 146, 400 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples or 28.3% lives in Queensland. The number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in schools in the greater Brisbane area is approximately 29% of the Queensland population. There are other sizeable urban Indigenous populations along the Queensland coast and larger rural towns. The statistics demonstrate that living in urban centres is as much part of reality for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as living in a remote discrete Aboriginal community. Historically, discrete rural and remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities have been the focus of most of the research conducted with Indigenous populations. These locations have provided researchers with an easily identifiable study population. However, unlike rural and remote communities, identifying and accessing urban Indigenous communities can be much more difficult despite the growing number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in urban areas. Limited research has been undertaken on the issues that impact on urban Indigenous communities or have explored methods of undertaking research with urban Indigenous communities. This paper will explore the some of the issues and needs of urban Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in South East Queensland and highlight some of the emerging policy, program and research responses