![]() ![]() This requires a spirit of inclusiveness and a commitment to build strong relationships between First Nations peoples and collecting institutions which promote principles of Indigenous agency and self-determination. Museums and other cultural institutions have the opportunity to be at the centre of this process given they are publicly trusted sources of information and knowledge. Until historic inequities are addressed, the gap between Indigenous peoples and non-Indigenous Australians will only continue to widen. It is time we stop pretending that meaningful change can happen in a system that is grounded in denial. Truth-telling can be confronting, but the process can be powerful: grief can make way for healing, and healing unites people who were once divided. Truth-telling about Australia’s past is an incredibly important process for understanding who we are now and how we came to be as a nation. This term has many connotations and in the context of this exhibition they are everywhere: Australia was not peacefully settled our history is unresolved relationships between First Nations peoples and Australians are uneasy and after 250 years, newcomers still have a turbulent and unbalanced relationship with the natural environment in which they now live. The First Nations staff, in partnership with independent media, consultancy, and training organisation IndigenousX, spent time brainstorming a title that could capture the importance, meaning and content being covered. We had our content set by communities, but we needed to name this important exhibition. The most common specific responses were: truth, truth-telling, invasions, wars, massacres, genocide, assimilation, dispossession, resistance, resilience, and survival. The consultation had three highest-ranking categories for possible exhibition topics: (1) colonisation and its effects (2) Australia’s origins and foundation and (3) addressing the false, constructed history that is pervasively shared in society. Instead, we were asked to take the opportunity for long overdue truth-telling about our shared past. Most significantly, the consultations illustrated that First Nations peoples did not want another show about Cook he was but a small footnote in a more expansive history. To undertake this exhibition in a culturally appropriate way and ensure we accurately represented the views of First Nations peoples on the Cook anniversary, community consultation was undertaken to define what themes and topics would be covered. Curating a show about why these differences exist that meets the needs of both these audiences would not be straightforward, especially in Australia’s oldest museum. But he represents the opposite to First Nations peoples: a symbol of destruction and death, pain and suffering. Cook is often celebrated as the founding father of Australia, with hero-like status to non-Indigenous Australians. Australian military emblems have featured the boomerang, as have gifts and memorabilia associated with visiting royals and other celebrities. Both uses express the wish that the recipient or wearer might return 'like the boomerang'.In 2018, I was approached to curate the Australian Museum’s Indigenous-led exhibition about Captain James Cook, as a response to the 250th anniversary in 2020 of the HMB Endeavour’s East Coast voyage during 1770. The boomerang's ability to return made it a favourite symbol for the tourism and transport industries. The boomerang's popularity as a souvenir helped transform it into a national symbol and it has branded a range of products – from brandy, to butter, cigarette papers and flour – as distinctly Australian. The National Museum's collection includes hundreds of boomerangs from across the continent. European fascination with the boomerang, especially the returning variety, meant that early barter with settlers, and then tourists, led Aboriginal people to create an industry making boomerangs. Trade in boomerangs continued after 1788. ![]() Some are designed to return to the thrower but the vast majority are not.įor many thousands of years, Aboriginal groups exchanged boomerangs across the continent. Boomerangs have many uses for First Nations people, including as a weapon and a tool, for hunting and digging, and in ceremonies. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |