NAIDOC is ‘Blak Christmas’ and there’s a lot to celebrate

In a year when their very existence has become a political flashpoint because of the Voice referendum, four First Nations women are shifting their focus.

By Emily Brooks

Culture

In a year when their very existence has become a political flashpoint because of the Voice referendum, four First Nations women are shifting their focus.

By Emily Brooks

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On Wednesday morning, six months out from the country’s first referendum since 1999, four First Nations women sat on stage in a room of 250 people celebrating NAIDOC Week, and not one panellist wanted to talk about the Voice to Parliament.

In a sprawling, hour-long conversation, only 10 minutes was given to the Voice. This was not because the panellists were against the Voice – although none revealed their vote – but because this referendum has become a negative, divisive political football. Mundanara Bayles, the founder and managing director of BlackCard also reminded the audience that this is a vote they, ultimately, won’t decide.

N’Arwee’t Professor Carolyn Briggs AM, Mundanara Bayles, Jacqui Wandin and Laura Thompson spoke about the importance of NAIDOC week. Image: James Henry.

“We are part of the three percent of the population. Fifty percent of our population are under the age of 25, and 40 percent of those under the age of 15,” said the Wonnarua, Bunjalung, Birri-Gubba and Gungalu woman. “We make up 30 percent of the prison population, and we’re still dying before our fiftieth birthday. So when you think about who is left to vote, it’s a very small proportion in the Indigenous community. So that 97% of the population, which most of you identify with, have got the power. And I just hope that you make the right decision.”

Co-founder and CEO of Clothing the Gaps, Laura Thompson, agreed with Bayles and told Austalians not to expect them to absorb the mental load as it has already taken a huge emotional toll on their communities.

“Nothing we say up here is really going to make a difference, yet everyone’s going to ask us what we feel and we’re torn in our own families around that,” said the proud Gunditjamara woman. “For Blackfellas, it’s complex. There’s so many nuances that we’re working out within our own families. I feel like I’ve already checked out of the debate, with six months to go. But I have to keep going because ‘merch with a message’ has to talk about the issues that are currently facing us. Should have sold tissues.”

Boon Wurrung senior Elder N’Arwee’t Professor Carolyn Briggs explained that many Indigenous people will also not feel comfortable expressing their views publicly.

The panellists celebrated their culture at a time when their existences have become a political football. Image: James Henry.

“[The vote is] something that you need to look up. We’re not gonna give you instant answers to the complex issues that we deal with every day,” she said.

Jacqui Wandin, a proud Woiwurrung Wurundjeri Elder and Director and Chairperson of Wandoon Estate Aboriginal Corporation, added: “It’s not that we’re not proud, it’s that the confrontation is constant.”

“We are giving you an education that is based on the tens of thousands of years of accumulated knowledge that comes directly from this land.”

The conversation at the event – held by FW and sponsored by Witchery and BlackCard – featured a wide-ranging discussion about the power of Blak knowledge that is something our country currently misunderstands and takes for granted.

“We are giving you an education that is based on the tens of thousands of years of accumulated knowledge that comes directly from this land,” said Mundanara Bayles.

“Our knowledge comes from nowhere else but this land that we walk on, and we touch every single day. And that’s what keeps me going, is educating people, because then that’s strength-based. The media thrives off the deficit model, that we’re all victims, and we all need help. They don’t see us as owners and runners of Country… And we’re not all Elders, but we’ve got their knowledge, which is pretty deadly.”

More than 250 people attended the event in Naarm/Melbourne. Image: James Henry.

What became crystal clear on this cold Wednesday morning was that they did not want to dwell in the negativity or division surrounding their very existence, but celebrate their lives.

It was NAIDOC week after all. For N’Arwee’t Professor Carolyn Briggs, this means celebrating the people who lived and died before she was here. For Jacqui Wandin, a proud Woiwurrung Wurundjeri Elder and Director and Chairperson of Wandoon Estate Aboriginal Corporation, this means platforming people’s stories. For Mundanara Bayles, she thinks about her proud Aboriginal family and all the rallies she went to as a child. While Laura Thompson believes it’s a chance to reinforce cultural connections and relationships.

“For NAIDOC, it’s sort of our Blak Christmas,” she told the audience. “And I think, as I’m getting older, I’m realising the importance of that ritual and that tradition of having this space.”