31 March 2014
27 March 2014
What Influenced by Decision to Move to Groote Eylandt and Start a Blog?
Dearest
family, friends and those I am yet to meet,
I am
writing this blog to share, teach and document my time living and working in a
remote location in the Northern Territory, Australia.
Please
check back regularly to see photos and read about my experiences and thoughts
of living a different sort of life within Australia, my homeland; yet largely
unfamiliar to me along with the majority of those inhabiting it.
Many
of you have asked the same questions regarding my big move up north. Below I
have tried to answer them as best I can whilst still having my feet on home
soil (whilst my belongings are travelling somewhere parallel with the tumble
weed in the outback). If you have any more questions, please comment on my post
or email me directly at casey.hawkins@hotmail.com
WHERE IS ALYANGULA?
I am
venturing across the western side of the treacherous Gulf of Carpentaria to
reach a large island called Groote Eylandt. Pronounced ‘Groot Island’. I
however, have told family and friends that I am off to ‘Grooty’ Island, none of
which were able to correct my mispronunciation due to the fact they’d never
heard of it in their lives.
TELL ME MORE ABOUT THIS ‘GROOTY’ ISLAND!
OK
sure. Its population is approximately 1400; one third of which are Indigenous.
The traditional owners of the land are Warnindilyakwa (more commonly referred
to as Anindilyakwa). There are three Indigenous communities living on the
island. They are Angurugu, Umbakumba and Milyakburra.
The
other two thirds of the population are made up of miners and folk like me who
want to experience very remote living. The mining operation is run by a company
called GEMCO, which is owned by BHP Billiton. They are mining for a resource
called manganese. Miners come from all over the world to work here, resulting
in a highly multicultural community.
WHERE ARE YOU TEACHING?
The
school I am teaching at is called Alyangula Area School. Its students range
from kindergarten to Year 12. The school is owned by GEMCO and is predominately
made up of children whose parents work to assist the running of the mines in
some capacity. There is a mix of Indigenous students, permanent Australian
residents as well as Internationals. I will be teaching in a grade 3 classroom
for the remainder of 2014.
WHAT POSSESSED YOU TO DO THIS?
Indigenous
culture is an important part of Australia’s history. During my schooling in the
90s, educating my generation (and earlier) about Indigenous culture was not a
priority within the curriculum. Therefore, I have grown up largely unaware of
the Indigenous peoples’ existence. It seems unheard of now, largely due to the
amount of media attention our Indigenous population acquire (largely
unwelcomed), but I feel as though there is a large gap in my knowledge
regarding my own country’s history and becoming. Children seem so fascinated by
America’s culture, they seem to know more about its history and politics than
they do their own. Perhaps this is due to the fact Australia’s people come from
all over the world, with such diverse backgrounds, making it difficult for some
to know which country’s history they stem from.
Coming
back to why I’ve decided to move to the NT, there are two main reasons. One is
to satisfy my curiosity of what its like to live in a remote location and live
amongst Indigenous people. To learn more about their culture and their way of
life. The second relates to my profession as an educator. Having been required
to teach a term-long unit on Indigenous culture last year, I realised I knew
very little about it. As usual, I headed straight for trusty Google to equip me
with the knowledge I required to teach my students. However, I was shocked to
find so few online resources that represented our Indigenous culture from the
positive perspective I wanted to share with my students. To avoid rambling on
for too long (if I haven’t already), the short answer is that I want my
students to learn everything about Indigenous culture that I did not. I want
them to embrace the creative nature of the Indigenous people and recognise
their many contributions and vast knowledge regarding our land, our home.
Thank-you
for taking the time to read my first blog. I’m very excited to have the
opportunity to share my experiences and hopefully we can learn along side one
another to help educate the future generation.
Knowledge=Recognition
& Ownership=Change.
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