Category: Indigenous, Colonial & Reconciliation

First Nations. First Fleet. First Contact.

Music, Visual Art, Storytelling Show                                                                                                                                                      Year 4 (First Contact), 5, 6                                                                                                                                                                          Secondary Australian Studies/History 

“The students still talk about the poems, stories that you shared with us, on how the British explorers were received by the Indigenous Australians. It was fantastic to hear the two perspectives through your musical talent. The use of paintings/ visuals aided the students learning by connecting the stories that you told.” (Madeleine Paslis, Toorak PS)

 

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 Brief

A music and story show, with archival images, about first contact and developing relationships between Indigenous Australians and the British colonists, from Captain Cook onwards, including:

*     Indigenous songs before colonisation (with permission).

*     Captain Cook shooting at Aboriginal people at Botany Bay/Kamay, and his makaratta – peace after a dispute – with the     Yimithir people at Reconciliation Rocks, Cooktown (we have the word kangaroo’ from the Yimithir word Gangarruu).

*  Convict songs – a pop song from the day (Botany Bay) and a genuine convict song (Jim Jones), about how they came here because of thieving (with background re gaols in England etc)

* Events of early Sydney: Indigenous and soldiers dancing together; small pox epidemic, war with Pemulwuy, Gov. Phillip speared.

*  How Victoria was different: first failed settlement, and how escaped convict William Buckley was welcomed by Wathaurong people as a spirit (Ngamadjidj) come back from the dead; how land speculator John Batman tried to buy land surrounding Port Phillip Bay.

* Jan’s personal story of his ‘first contact’ with Aboriginal people, as a boy in Gippsland.

* The 1984/6 story of the last Indigenous people to make contact with white Australians (Pintupi and Martu people in the NT and WA).

* A song to finish, Thank You for the Welcome, which sums it up in the context of continuing peace between black and white Australians.

Practical Details

Cost                 $5 per student. $500 minimum per show.  Plus travel in some locations.
Duration          60 minuets plus questions
Set up time      60 minutes

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Wominjika: The Reconciliation Workshop

Singing and Story Workshop

“The workshop sessions were invaluable, providing a context for students to understand the thousands of years of complex story within the song – inspiring dignity, awareness, understanding and appreciation as well as lots of laughs!” (Thias Sanson, Castlemine PS)

Aboriginal,Torres Strait Islands and Australian flag

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Brief   

Wominjika’ means Welcome in languages of the Kulin nations of Indigenous people from around Port Phillip Bay, Victoria.

In this 75 minute workshop Jan teaches students to sing a song of respect for Indigenous people and in appreciation of Indigenous Welcome to Country.

The song contains many stories of black-white history, told by Jan with archival images and maps.

There is significant discussion and the song is recorded so students and choirs can sing it again at concerts, assemblies and Indigenous Welcome to Country. (More details below.)

Primary Curriculum

Year 4 (First Contact), also for 5-6 studying Indigenous-Settler history.  Also  can be for be for the entire school, with a shortened workshop for P-3.

            Secondary Curriculum

Australian Studies/History; Colonisation, impact on Indigenous communities, Reconciliation, Makarrata, the Voice, contemporary relationship between Indigenous-non Indigenous Australians.

Practical Details

Duration:     75 mins plus questions
Set up:           1 hour
Cost:               $5 per student. $500 minimum, plus travel costs to some locations.

Enquiries & bookings

Detailed Description

Wominjeka means ‘welcome’ in the Wurundjeri and Dja Dja Wurrung languages of Melbourne and central Victoria, and in this workshop I teach a song of respect for Indigenous people (listen & read lyrics below).

Within this musical experience students come to understand many stories of black-white contact, welcoming, conflict and reconciliation, including:

  • How Indigenous ceremonies compare with our customs of welcome and laws of visas and passports
  • Aborigines and First Fleet soldiers dancing together
  • The Woiwurrung welcome for John Batman when he came in 1835 to ‘purchase’ the land that is now Melbourne
  • The story of William Buckley, the convict who lived with Wathauring people for 32 years
  • The Stolen Generations story
  • Jan’s personal experiences with Aboriginal people, their hospitality and welcoming

As well as historical sources I also draws on the many book, radio, film, CD and music projects I’ve worked on with Indigenous Australians.

In this workshop students learn about respect for other cultures and to take responsibility, without guilt, for our history. I do not speak on behalf of Indigenous people

How It works

*   I teach students to sing the song &tell them the stories embedded in the lyrics
*   Students offer their ways of welcome and compare with Indigenous customs
*   Discussion of issues raised by the song and stories
*   Song is recorded to CD, which the school keeps

Schools may use the song later in concerts and other occasions, and as a dignified response to Indigenous Welcome to Country.

LINKS

See choir singing song in 0pening Ceremony of the 2009 Castlemaine State Festival

Thank You for the Welcome
Words & music: Jan ‘Yarn’ Wositzky © 2009

School rendition of the song

Verse 1

Thank you for the welcome to your country
Thank you for the welcome to your land
Can we two walk as one underneath this sun
Thank you for the welcome to your land.

Verse 2

Thank you for the welcome to your country
Thank you for the welcome to your land
Can we two walk in peace by your shining creeks
Thank you for the welcome to your land.

Middle 8

Some of us came in chains, some with a Bible or a gun
Some to make our fortune some came for the sun
Some of us sought refuge to start our lives anew
In this in this old land
In this in this old land.

Chorus

Wominjeka, wominjeka, wominjeka (Wurundjeri & Jarra version)
Bin barre barne, Bin barre barne, Bin barre barne (Wathaurong version)

Middle 8

Some of you shed your blood when the whale boats hit the sand
Some of you danced with us, dancing hand in hand
Some of you were stolen from your home when you were young
In this in this old land
In this in this old land.

Verse 3

Thank you for the welcome to your country
Thank you for the welcome to your land
Can we two walk with love under the stars above
Thank you for the welcome …

Chorus

Wominjeka, wominjeka, wominjeka
Bin barre barne, Bin barre barne, Bin barre barne
Thank you for the welcome to your land.

Notes
Wominjeka means welcome in the language of the Wurundjeri people of the Melbourne area and the Dja Dja Wurrung people of central Victoria. Bin barre barne means welcome in the Wathaurong language of the Geelong area.

When sung in the country of other Aboriginal languages, the local word for welcome can be included. Please consult with local Indigenous people.

The dancing referred to in stanza three took place three days after the First Fleet arrived at Port Jackson in 1788. The white colonists were mapping the harbour, and a group of black Australians cheerfully called them ashore. A painting by Luit. Bradley records what then happened: under the trees by the beach, they all – black and white – held hands and danced.

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Recommendations

Dear Jan,

The whole school community was moved by the students singing your ‘Thank You For The Welcome’ song in Reconciliation Week.

Parents commented on how the 3-6 students were so focused on the singing, really enjoying it, with such integrity, as they sang it for the Jarra elders.

The two workshop sessions were invaluable, providing a context for students to understand the thousands of years of complex story within the song. On behalf of the teachers who had the privilege to sit in on your workshops, we thank you for engaging the students in such rich sessions of storytelling – inspiring dignity, awareness, understanding and appreciation as well as lots of laughs!

 Thais Sansom

Performing Arts Teacher, Castlemaine South Primary School

Dear Jan,

I want to express my thanks for your role in the 2009 Castlemaine State Festival. Your idea to dedicate a work of thanks in response to the Jarra Welcome to Country was thoughtful and progressive. The occasion was moving and profound. As the Minister for Arts Lynne Kosky announced, it was the best Welcome to Country she has ever experienced.

Again my thanks to all involved.

Martin Paten
Festival Director, Castlemaine State Festival

Dear Jan,

I am happy to provide a recommendation to Jan Wositzky’s ‘Wominjika: The Thank You Workshop’.

I’m a Wamba Wamba man (Swan Hill, Victoria) living near Castlemaine in central Victoria, on Jarra Country. Acknowledging Country is part of my protocol as an Aboriginal person, when I am performing on another person’s land.

The Castlemaine State Festival opening incorporated a Welcome to Country by Jarra traditional owner, Uncle Brien Nelson; myself giving an Indigenous acknowledgment of Uncle’s Welcome; and Jan’s song ‘Thank You for the Welcome’ – a non Indigenous thank you and acknowledgment of Country.

As I said during that ceremony, “It takes someone special to write a song like this one”, and Jan has done something special here.  I believe Jan’s proposal to run workshops in schools which aim to teach this song and it’s message of thank you and acknowledgment of Country, should be taken up by all schools.  It provides an important way, through music, that we can better understand our place in this land.

Ron Murray – Wamba Wamba
Enquiries & bookings

Wominjeka: The Thank You Workshop – Jan ‘Yarn’ Wositzky at Uluru

The Go-Between: William Murrungurk Buckley

Storytelling Theatre                                                                                                                                                                               Year 5/6 & secondary                                                                                                                                                          Student participation

“Highly useful! Gave children a unique perspective of how Melbourne evolved and of the uneasy relationship between cultures. The children listened intently and Jan had their attention for the full session. We loved the printed images on shirts and signposts to reinforce the information.”  (Adam Watman, Caulfield Grammar)

“A breezy and brilliant piece of troubadour theatre. As with the very best of theatre ‘Buckley’ covers its tracks so well its agenda remains a secret – buried beneath layers of entertainment, comedy, story and song. A show worth tracking.”  (Herald-Sun)

William Buckley when he re-joined white society, 1835

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Brief


This show deals with the oft-hidden story of Indigenous Australia and European colonisation of the Port Phillip area, from 1803 – 1837, including the founding of Melbourne. This history is told through the amazing tale of escaped convict William Buckley (1780 – 1856), including:

  • The first attempted white settlement on Port Phillip (1803)

  • The Wathaurong people of the Geelong with whom Buckley lived for 32 years as ‘Murrungurk’, a spirit returned from the dead.

  • Melbourne’s beginning (1835-7) – where Buckley became the go-between

  • John Batman and his attempts to buy the land off the Wurundjeri people

  • Oher colonists such as John Fawkner.

Drawing on Buckley’s 1852 biography, official documents, contemporary Buckley literature, Wathaurong language and Jan’s research in ‘Buckley country’, The Go-Between: William Murrungurk Buckley is a well-researched ripping yarn, with a quirky visual display of familiar Melbourne street signs and historical images.

See Full Description  below.

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The Practical Stuff

Duration            60 mins + questions                                                                                                                                                     Set up                  60 min
Cost                      $5 per student. $500 minimum per show, plus travel to some locations

Full Description

This show deals with Indigenous Australia and European colonisation of the Port Phillip area, from 1803 – 1837, including the founding of Melbourne.

It does so by tracking the life of convict William Buckley (1780-1856), including:

  • Buckley’s 1803 escape from Victoria’s first attempted settlement at Sorrento.
  • Buckley’s 32 years with Wathaurong Aboriginal people, where he became ‘Murrungurk’.
  • Buckley’s two years as the go-between in Melbourne’s foundation (1835-7), employed as Interpreter between the Port Phillip Aborigines and the colonists – John Batman, John Fawkner and co.

Drawing on Buckley’s 1852 biography, official documents, contemporary Buckley literature, Wathaurong language and Jan’s research in ‘Buckley country’, The Go-Between: William Murrungurk Buckley is a well-researched ripping yarn, with a quirky visual display of familiar Melbourne street signs and historical images.

It’s exciting, wild frontier history, such as we rarely hear about Victoria, and pulls no punches about the characters, ironies and violence of the time, without fear or favour to black or white, including:

*   Batman’s land deal or ‘treaty’ with the Woiwurrung people
*   Fawkner’s rivalry with Batman and his antipathy to Buckley
*   How Derrimut foiled a planned massacre of the colonists
*   The first killings of settlers and subsequent massacre of Aboriginals at Werribee
*   The disappearance of solicitor Gellibrand, who wrote Batman’s deed, and the sabotage of Buckley’s
search for him by black and white interests.

And in telling this oft-hidden history, students are asked to consider many questions about black-white relations that are as pertinent today as in the 1800’s.

And it’s from William Buckley that we have our saying, You’ve got Buckley’s – but its origin will surprise!

More recommendations
Teacher’s Notes
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