Year 9 Koorie Day – Yawa – Journey.

On Wednesday 10th November we were lucky enough to conduct the Year 9 Koorie Day.

After consulting with the Boonwurrung Tribe we came up with the name Yawa, which means journey.

We thought this was very symbolic because the Year nine’s insight into Aboriginal Culture is a continual Journey.

This name, Yawa is the name of the new Koorie unit which will be part of the Year 9 CONNECT program. We are very excited about the new unit.

There were many reasons to celebrate Koorie Yawa day this year. The first is that we were actually able to run it live for the students and not remotely. Secondly, it was our tenth anniversary of Koorie Day. We are extremely proud of this and we took the opportunity to reflect on the achievements and progress we have made. We believe that our students have a better understanding of Aboriginal culture and the elements such as Family, Country, Traditions, Language, Community, Storytelling, Art, Respect, Lore and of course history. Our students have shown an excellent insight, empathy and willingness to learn about all these aspects.

Before I introduce our guests, I would like to explain why we use the term ‘Aunty’ and ‘Uncle’ in our culture. Elders are usually addressed with "uncle" or "aunty" which in this context is a term of respect and used for people held in high esteem (generally older people who have earned that respect). It is appropriate for the students to address the performers as Aunty and Uncle.

There has been one presenter that has performed at all of our Koorie Days and he has a huge impact on our students; this year was no exception. Uncle Kutcha is an indigenous Australian singer, songwriter and story teller. He is a very proud Mutti Mutti man and is a survivor of the Stolen Generations.

Uncle Kutcha uses music to create connections across cultures, generations, and spaces. With an innate ability to communicate. He uses his unique, diverse talents to nurture understanding and self-knowledge amongst all those with whom he has contact. Kutcha is a song man not simply a songwriter. He draws upon his own life experiences in his stories, his songs, his humour and these touch the souls of his audience and create understanding of true Aboriginal history and cultural understanding.

Uncle is amazing at engaging with his audience and he certainly did that with the Year Nines!

More importantly, he takes our students along his journey/Yawa and it is a very emotional one. This insight into his life allows the students to see the struggles and hardships Aboriginal people have faced in their lifetime.

More recently, Uncle Kutcha created and premiered a successful Screen Australia web series Kutcha’s Carpool Koorioke. These are available on YouTube and are definitely worth looking at.

Our next presenter was Uncle Ron Murray. Uncle is an Indigenous man from the Wamba Wamba tribe. He is a much loved and highly respected Victorian Indigenous educator, storyteller and musician. He is in demand as a speaker, sharing his knowledge of Indigenous culture with passion, honesty and humour.

Uncle Ron is passionate about sharing Indigenous culture, music and stories with all Australians. In his stories he ensures that our Indigenous heroes and role models are honoured and known as part of our Australian story.

He has performed for the Queen, Muhammad Ali, Sir Bob Geldof, has played didgeridoo on top of the MCG Scoreboard for Dreamtime at the G and at the AFL Grand Final, performing Up there Cazaly with Mike Brady. His recent gig was in the amazing new Channel 9 advertisement.

In Uncle Ron’s workshops the students had the chance to experience Aboriginal culture, to enjoy the power of positive stories, and the healing sounds of the didgeridoo. I think the favourite for many was when he played the Grand Prix race on his didgeridoo.

The didgeridoo is also known as the Yidaki – Did you know that females are not permitted to play the didgeridoo?

Our third guest was Aunty Alana Marsh. She is a Meriam woman (Torres Strait Islander), and is now living on Wurundjeri country (Melbourne VIC). Alana directs her energy into System Re-setting and sharing Wayapa Wuurrk. Wayapa is a wellness modality that enables the wellbeing by connecting with our shared Mother, Mother Earth. Wayapa is about what it is to be well with a focus on Indigenous thinking that includes learning how to develop a relationship with our environment through the concept of ancient earth mindfulness.

Alana started her session with a mindfulness and meditation activity. Alana led students in connecting to Earth and Water through an ancient turtle shell (family heirloom passed along the women in her family); students had to have a connection to another student and they took the time to clear their minds in readiness for their Wyapa session. Students then explored their connection with the mind, body, spirit and land. It was a wonderful session for them, the physical movements created a sense of belonging to the earth while creating a holistic wellbeing.

Days like this just don’t happen, they take an enormous amount of organisation. I would like to thank Fiona James who has an enormous input into our Koorie programs. She is an amazing ally and such a pleasure to work with. A big thank you to Michelle Lynch who put an enormous time and energy organising venues, stages, microphones and packs for all staff members. A big thank you to all the Year Nine CONNECT staff who worked with the students and the presenters.

Summer would like to share this with you:

Last Wednesday, myself and my fellow Year Nines got to experience a truly incredible day. For our 2021 Koorie day, legends Aunty Amon, Ms James and Ms Lynch gave us a chance for us to engage with and learn about Aboriginal culture and history. As teenagers in this day and age, we are gaining more education and knowledge about Aboriginal culture, people(s) and country, than the generations before us ever had, but we still don’t nearly know as much as we should, but this day gave us an invaluable opportunity to continue our learning Yawa (journey). Throughout the day, we got to meet 3 inspiring indigenous presenters, each sharing a different part of history, culture and who they are. We were able to move and connect with our bodies through Wayapa with Alana Marsh, sing and laugh with Mutti Mutti man Kutcher Edwards, and listen and learn about music and Australian cultures from Uncle Ron. As a cohort, I can confidently say that this was such a great way to finish year 9 on a high, and can’t wait for Koorie day 2022 to roll around.

Aunty Amon.

Wellbeing

By Jake Phin