Australian South Sea Islanders
If you live in Queensland it is likely that you will also work with Australian South Sea Islander communities. You can learn more about their culture at www.health.qld.gov.au/assi/ or search for Australian South Sea Islander Precinct to follow their history in the sugar industry. Their communities are well networked and strong.
The Outrigger Project
The Outrigger Project aimed to engage a range of young people in TAFE-based learning programs. The programs had been customised to enable the teaching to be undertaken by elders from specific cultural groups. This was in order to support the construction of three outrigger canoes which reflected the cultural traditions of three of the groups in the community.
It sought to engage young people and elders from the Aboriginal, Torres Strait and Pacific Island communities with service providers. The project participants were also interested in addressing community concerns around substance abuse, particularly chroming.
www.getinvolved.qld.gov.au/share_your_knowledge/keyinitiatives/showcase_ce/goodna/
Some considerations:
- Respect – connect with the appropriate person in the community (the traditional custodian), leaving enough time for them to get back to you, i.e. don’t expect everything to happen quickly or in your timeframe. If and when activities happen, the custodian should be invited to conduct a ‘welcome to country’. You should find out if payment for travel and time is required for this service.
- Indigenous control – Indigenous people have the right to own and control their heritage and any artwork that is based on it. Indigenous people cannot be asked to paint other styles of Indigenous works that are not part of their language group.
- Communication, consultation and consent – do your research about communication protocols - locate the appropriate person in the community, such as the custodian.
- Interpretation, Integrity and authenticity - be aware of how the Indigenous community is represented and the implications, i.e. not reinforcing negative stereotypes. Any representation should be approved by the relevant community leader/s.
- Secrecy and confidentiality – before using any Indigenous research or workshop content, make sure it has been approved by the relevant community leader/s in case it highlights secret information that is not permissible outside the community.
- Attribution and payment – proper attribution should be made at all times, and reasonable payment made for products and services. Modified from Propelarts www.propelarts.org.au/resources/indigenous.php