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to express their place in Australian society by effectively saying
“We are real, we are here, and
today we welcome you to our
land.” In this way it achieves
a similar purpose to a Māori
pōwhiri.
Uncle Bill further reminded the
audience that “if you consider this
place your home, it is your cultural responsibility to care for it”.
In observing that half of the
land in Aboriginal Victoria is
under ownership dispute of some
kind, he argued that boundaries should not divide, but bring
people together; boundaries
are formed through stories and
cultural recognition. This is
also a potentially respectful and
productive approach between
Indigenous and non-Indigenous
cultures, as well as within Indigenous Victoria, (and akin to our
own concept of Mana Whenua).
Traditionally, such a Welcome
to Country features the use of
vegetation, water and smoke, but
unfortunately drought-breaking
inclement weather forced the
curtailing of parts of the ceremony. Nevertheless, the Welcome
was a fitting and effective way
to establish the protocol for the
day’s events. Incidentally, it was
interesting to note the observance of Welcome to Country at
the recent England and Australian rugby tests - this seems to
be a protocol whose moment has
arrived.
In introducing the programme
and goals for the day, AILA Victoria President Emma Appleton
emphasised the importance of
embedding the “learnings” of the
day in the way those attending
the symposium work and practise their respective crafts. This
was, she said, ‘a time for deep
listening’, and was the start of
a process that spans more than
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE AOTEAROA
landscape architecture.
A full slate of Indigenous speakers proceeded to inform, challenge
and encourage participants with
their various takes on Connection
to Country. I was reminded of
our E Rua Nga Iwi, Kotahi Ano Te
Whenua (Two Cultures, One Landscape) conference which was held
at Te Aute College back in 1987 at
which the NZILA first explored
the connections between indigenous culture and landscape in this
country.
“...there is room
for stronger
incorporation of
Indigenous
beliefs, values
and narratives
in the teaching
of the design
disciplines
themselves...”
First, Uncle Bill returned to the
podium to provide some further
insights into the beliefs and
colonisation experiences of the
Wurundjeri. Most of us have some
knowledge of the ruthlessness and
savagery with which the Indigenous people of Australia were
“moved” from their traditional
lands and the experience of the
Wurundjeri was representative
of that tragic time in Australia’s
history. Uncle Bill’s own clan was
reduced to about 17 or 18 members, forcing them to join ranks
with an adjoining “mob”, in order
to survive.
The richness and depth of the
culture and the relationship with
place and the elements that make
it up were exemplified by the succession of Aboriginal speakers who
followed.
Reuben Berg, a Gunditjmara
man, Co-founder and Executive
Officer of IADV, and the symposium facilitator, set out some
ground rules for engagement
with Aboriginal communities and
provided an overview of the range
of representative structures that
practitioners need to be aware of
and collaborate with.
Paul Paton, a Gunnai and Monaro tribes man and Executive
Officer of the Victorian Aboriginal Corporation for Languages
enlarged further on the relationship between language and
culture, and stressed the connection between language, narrative
and cultural landscape. He said,
“When we start getting our languages back, we know who we are
and where we come from - and
we know where we want to go.”
The potential for tapping into
Indigenous knowledge in the
design and management of parks
was explored by James Hackel, a
Palawa man whose Aboriginal heritage is from Tasmania. James is a
RMIT University trained landscape
architect and works for Parks
Victoria as a Rec reation Planner/
Cultural Heritage Officer. He said
“Culture is everywhere - whether
in a concrete carpark or in a rural
context. It doesn’t matter what the
built environment has thrown at
the landscape, the connection to
country remains.”
Aboriginal Artists Vicki Couzens, a Keerray Wurrong woman
from the Western Districts of
Victoria, and Mandy Nicholson, a
Wurundjeri woman with connections also to Dja Dja Wurrung and