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This article was first published on Thursday, June 22, 2023
Introduction by Croakey: If you had FOMO from all the tweetage that arose from the Lowitja Institute’s conference on the lands of the Gimuy Walubara, Yidinji and Yirrganydi peoples in beautiful Cairns, strap yourself in.
The best conferences are the ones that not only inspire you, but leave you thinking and build on your thoughts and actions in some way.
In the report below for the Croakey Conference News Service, Danielle Manton, a Barunggam women, grown up on Dharug Country and Senior Lecturer in Indigenous Teaching and Learning at the University of Technology Sydney, reflects on, and responds to some of the conference highlights, around its themes of Truth, Rights and Response.
Danielle Manton writes:
The Lowitja Institute’s Third International Indigenous Health and Wellbeing Conference started with force. In keeping with the theme for day one of TRUTH, the Welcome to Country set the tone with the truth of the Country we were gathered on, the unceded land of the Gimuy Walubara, Yidinji and Yirrganydi peoples.
Gudju Gudju Fourmile welcomed us to his Country, speaking of the truth of the land, and sharing the truth of the dispossession of land, separation from family and Country, the violence of colonial authorities and domination and control over the Gimuy Walubara, Yidinji and Yirrganydi peoples.
Gudju Gudju Fourmile spoke of the ongoing impact of intergenerational trauma and poor health outcomes, sharing story of his family, his experiences and his own health challenges. He left the delegates with a clear call to action: “The truth telling has to start…our health is in your hands.”
An audio-visual presentation featuring conference Patron Aunty Dr Lowitja O’Donoghue ignited the passion and motivation in the delegates with an inspirational directive, “I believe we have the solutions at hand, don’t be afraid to take a risk.”
Australian Minister for Health and Aged Care Mark Butler acknowledged in a pre-recorded message that the conference was a “showcase of the strengths of Indigenous knowledge and culture from all over the world”.
Power of Indigenous Truth
Truth incorporates our truth as Indigenous peoples and knowledge holders. Australia has a lot to learn from Indigenous peoples: “We have over 120,000 years of knowledges, it is absurd not to be acknowledged and respected,” Aunty Professor Pat Anderson told the conference in a keynote address.
A truth that emerged from this presentation is that we have done it their way for long enough. It is definitely not working for our peoples, but as well as that, it doesn’t seem to be working well for any people!
Later in the conference, Professor Lester-Irabinna Rigney reiterated how ignoring Indigenous knowledges has failed all Australians, identifying the gap between rich and poor as increasing as we make an authoritarian shift.
Truth about the constitution
Distinguished Professor Marcia Langton AO presented an authentic yarn with the audience, sharing her learnings and insights regarding the Voice process and the Australian constitution. Her presentation was personal and inspiring, she had no script or notes, speaking from her heart rather than as a professor of anthropology or geography, but as an Aunty. It felt as though we could’ve been sitting around the kitchen table.
The truth is the constitution was written in 1901 at a time when all government policies and documents were designed to oppress Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. In another session, Aunty Professor Pat Dudgeon put it this way: “Colonisation is a takeover of what is considered truth and knowledge”.
Langton went on to say that the social constructs of Australia have changed dramatically, and as a country we need a document that reflects the society we live in. Additionally, the Government has a responsibility to our peoples and the Voice to Parliament “is the most minimal of rights, it is a constitutional pathway to overcome racism,” she stated.
International perspective on truth
Karen Diver followed Distinguished Professor Marcia Langton with practical and powerful insights from her experience in the United States. Diver served as Chairwoman of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa from 2007 -2015 and was also appointed by the Obama Administration as the Special Assistant to the President for Native American Affairs among other influential roles advocating for her peoples.
Diver reminded us that social change is a process of slow and steady growth, and our best offensive is to work from the inside, have representation in every agency, and have a voice at as many tables as possible.
“It makes you wonder why being in a conversation about our own future is scary for some people,” she said.
It should be simple: #nothingaboutuswithoutus.
Healing power of truth
The message from these keynote speakers was clear and consistent: we must look backwards to move forward.
As a nation all people must know the truth, learn from the truth and heal with the truth. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples know the true history of this Country, over 65,000 years of knowledge, with colonial atrocities the more recent 250 years. We need change and recognition. Isn’t the definition of insanity to continue to do the same thing and expect a different outcome?
In the words of Aunty Professor Gracelyn Smallwood AO, we need to ask ourselves and those within our sphere of influence: “What did you do to leave a legacy for our children? We need to start with something.”
The plenary for Day two, with the theme of RIGHTS consisted of three formidable First Nations global leaders and changemakers: Munanjahli and South Sea Islander woman Professor Chelsea Watego, Professor Janet Smylie, a Métis Physician and health researcher from Canada, and Professor Papaarangi Reid, a distinguished public health practitioner who belongs to Te Rarawa iwi.
Rights and equity
Professor Chelsea Watgeo made many thought-provoking points; one that stuck with me was “equity is of service to white supremacy”. In unpacking this I realised the truth of it. Although often well-intentioned, equity alone cannot meet the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Our worldviews are opposing, and aspiring to “equity” can be a form of subtle assimilation, which all too often ends in failure, with the blame attributed to First Nations peoples’ non-compliance or perceived inadequacies.
In reality, programs, approaches, structures and funding models are designed in a way that can never truly know and understand Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, our systems, structures, processes and governance. Indeed, part of advocating for equity involves demonstrating a problem or a solution in order to access resources.
Another of the keynote speakers, Professor Papaarangi Reid, identified this, stating “a lot of the work is in documenting the issues and the findings so that they will have uptake by non-Indigenous peoples – but it is what community already knows too well”.
Watego told the conference, “It’s time we blackfellas break up with equity, it’s a toxic relationship we‘ve got to get out of. We have options, we have sovereignty!”
Sovereignty is also reflected in the Uluru Statement from the Heart as our connection to the land; a spiritual connection to Country, to our ancestors and our future generations.
Taking hold of Sovereignty
The panel discussion later in the day on the economic determinants of health supported the concept of sovereignty, with Yorta Yorta man and chair of the Kaiela Institute in Shepperton, Paul Briggs OAM, outlining in practical terms “we have rights to an economy, we need resources at our disposal to allocate to our own priorities”.
Fellow panellist Karen Diver stated, “we cannot be passive and complacent and drive an economy off poverty”. Diver went on to recognise “the ever-present need of our communities to have the opportunity for a safer, happier future”.
Briggs said the Kaiela Institute was building this future by “establishing a rights-based platform that repositions the value of Indigenous peoples in the economy”.
Sovereignty includes governance structures. Australia’s inaugural Ambassador for First Nations People, Justin Mohamed, spoke to Indigenous accountability – listening to Elders with the patience and humility to accept when you are not doing it right.
Ambassador Mohamed added another layer into the conversation regarding First Nations foreign policy: to “have conversations with Indigenous peoples across the waters”.
Rights through sovereignty was also a common focus in the concurrent sessions.
Aunty Dr Carmen Parter, a proud decendent of the Darumbal and Juru clans of the Birra Gubba Nation of Queensland, from the Djurali Centre, Macquarie University, presented on “Rightfully reclaiming our sovereignty in research data analysis: an Indigenous data analysis framework of practice through story telling,” articulating, “My ancestral knowledges are critical in my research process.”
Parter went on to say that “maintaining our sovereignty in data analysis is our inherent right”.
Day three, with the theme RESPONSE, was a call to action. Lowitja lifetime award winner and first keynote speaker for the day three plenary was Professor Lester-Irabinna Rigney.
Rigney spoke with purpose, abandoning his pre-prepared presentation to gift both the Higher Degree and Early Career researchers with his insight gained through multiple decades in research and advocacy for our peoples, our communities and our children.
The need to change practice
Rigney was concise in stating what needs to change, to improve healthcare: “The basic move is about practice, what is the health workforce practice and who does it serve?” He went on to remind us, “Practice is the problem. Our people do not get their needs met if they go to the dominant healthcare service.”
Rigny’s comments interwove the themes from the previous days. Our people do not get their needs meet in colonial systems because the true history of the systems is not addressed. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples experience racism, exclusion, and dismissal at alarming rates to the detriment of their own health and wellbeing.
Current practice does not uphold our human rights to access healthcare free from racism or value our sovereignty to have control over our healthcare.
Rigney left the delegates with the reflective challenge: “What is the purpose of your practice and who benefits?”
Culturally underpinned practice
The second speaker in the Day three plenary was Métis Registered Nurse leader, Dr Lisa Bearskin, from the University of Victoria in Canada. Dr Bearskin embraced the theme of response, recognising the response already occurring in our communities globally.
Bearskin acknowledged “the huge responsibilities we carry forward, protecting our culture, our knowledge and claiming our sovereignty”.
In a similar vein to Professor Lester-Irabinna Rigney’s focus on practice, Dr Bearskin said: “We are moving away from evidence-based practice and moving towards wise practices for education, standards, partnership and research.”
In community we see our people thriving and that is evidence.
This was supported by the final speaker, Distinguished Professor Linda Tuhiwai Smith from the Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Porou and Tuhourangi tribes in Aotearoa New Zealand, who said: “We know the answer but have to bring our stories together as evidence to convince the powerful – here is the evidence.”
Smith also told the conference, “research can lift the burden in service delivery”. To work alongside community strengthens community and strengthens us as members of the community.
Smith used the opportunity to encourage, inspire and motivate the delegates to keep up the work to which she and her colleagues across the globe have dedicated their lives. She encouraged us to, “elevate Indigenous knowledges to change the world – provide a different imagery of what the world could be”.
Future focus
The final presentation of the conference, titled ‘Honouring the future’, was a panel presentation from three deadly innovators – disruptors refusing to accept the status quo of society.
All three panellist have taken the lead in amazing organisations, changing the lives of Indigenous young people and paving the way for a better future. Their work demonstrates what can be achieved when practice is done right!
Tarneen Onus-Williams, Australian Progress Fellow, told the conference that: “Revolution has always been in the hands of young people…make as much of an impact as you can.”
Speaking on the panel about her work as CEO and founder of the National Indigenous Youth Education Coalition, proud Darumbal and South Sea Islander woman Hayley Maguire added: “If you do it our way you can actually heal.”
Another panellist, Merrissa Nona, “Chief of Good” (CEO) of Deadly Inspiring Youth Doing Good, was equally optimistic, stating: “It is fully engrained in the next generation: anything is possible!”
The Third Lowitja conference was refreshing, inspiring and motivating, it set the tone for a year of change, a year where anything is possible.
The conference reminded us through its themes of truth, rights and response, that we have the knowledge, the expertise and the solutions. It is time for us to lead the way for our peoples and all peoples to flourish in the future.
*Further reading: Indigenous Nation Building and the Political Determinants of Health and Wellbeing Discussion Paper
Author details
A Barunggam women, grown up on Dharug Country, Danielle Manton is a Senior Lecturer in Indigenous Teaching & Learning at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). Danielle is a PhD candidate at UTS in the School of Public Health. Her PhD research explores privileging Indigenous perspectives and voices into the allied health curriculum.
An earlier article from the 3rd International Health and Wellbeing Conference can be found here. To track coverage of the conference, bookmark this link – and see tweets from the conference at #Lowitja2023.
