The video ‘Welcome to Shelly Beach, Port Lincoln’ (http://splash.abc.net.au/home#!/media/1999708/welcome-to-shelly-beach-port-lincoln) introduces the viewer to two young boys who refer to themselves as “Barngarla boys”. The video acknowledges the traditional land owners of whom these boys are descendants, a practice which students may or may not be familiar with depending on their school (e.g. if this is done before assembly etc.). It also acknowledges that “spiritual and cultural beliefs are still important” to the descendants of the local people.
Using this video to front-load a text could centre around the meaning which Indigenous people associate with the land. Students could create a list of words that represent how they feel about the land and their local places (e.g. beach, mountains, rivers etc. depending on where they live) and then a list about how they believe Indigenous Australians feel about the land. They should share these ideas, comparing and contrasting the two lists and their own list with other students.
It can then be discussed why the indigenous people feel so differently about the land to us:
- “our people have been coming to this place for as long as we can remember…”
- “we come here with our family to enjoy the sea”
—> Does their longer history on and connection with the land mean they value it more?
The above discussions and activities could be used as front loading for the picture book ‘Why I Love Australia’ by Bronwyn Bancroft (an Indigenous Australian author) pictured above. This text showcases the beauty of Australian landscapes and the depth of understanding and feelings toward the land from an Indigenous perspective (http://bronwynbancroft.com/projects/why-i-love-australia/).
* There could also be discussion based upon the purpose of the two young boys using the traditional language, what impact does this have on the viewer?
* For opening up a perhaps more serious topic, the students could be asked to consider whether they think there’s any significance in the statement “Thanks for sharing our country” ?
- Do students think that we actually ‘share’ the country properly? If yes has this always been the case?
- What aspects of our history could this be referring to?
- investigate history of indigenous and non-indigenous Australians ‘sharing’ the land
—> this could be used as a front loading activity for a history based text or a text addressing land rights etc.
