SUBJECTS: History
YEARS: 9–10
For many years, the true histories of this country have not been told in our schools and educators are not educated on the true and complete history of this country.
"It's important that we tell the whole history of this country and be truthful about it, because it's the only way we can move forward as a country, as a nation." — Uncle Archie Roach
It is important for educators to self-educate.
"We need to listen to the stories of the old people to give us a better understanding about the struggle that we had as First Nations people just to live day by day." — Uncle Archie Roach
In this video we further explore the Elders' lived experiences and the stories and impact of the Stolen Generations.
Some content may be triggering and we recommend viewing for secondary school students.
We explore the importance of truth telling and learning from our histories with the hope of writing a new, positive story for this country.
Teachers
We recommend reading Key Considerations to Delivering The Archie Roach Stolen Generations Resources before commencing this lesson in your classroom — in particular, the cultural considerations for the safety and wellbeing of the students and staff.
Things to think about
- 1.
Before viewing:
Have your students reflect on learnings from the Cultural Identity and Stolen Generations.
Discuss what questions may have come up for students from the previous theme’s content.
Discuss the title ‘Talking Our Truth’ and what it means to tell the truth and what it means to lie to someone with your class. Why is truth telling important?
Munjana is a song about an Aboriginal woman, Beverley Whyman, whose baby, Russell, was taken from her parents, adopted out and taken to America. It’s also about how unwed young women had their babies taken from them, resulting in another Stolen Generation of children. Munjana, meaning “trouble”, was a nickname given to Beverley when she was young.
Listen to the song Munjana with your class. Ask students what they think the song is about, then read to them the explanation above. Discuss the lyrics and how the song makes them feel.
Explore with your students the concept of truth telling. Why is it important to tell and understand the truth behind situations, particularly those affecting them.
Reflect on moments that you have been lied to or someone has lied about your involvement in a situation — i.e. something that has happened in the school yard. How did this experience make you feel? - 2.As you view:
Pause 3:37
Take a moment to debrief with your class after hearing Aunty Lorraine’s experience arriving at Cootamundra Girls Home.
Explain to students that these practices were a severe violation of human rights and stripped children of their dignity, self worth and respect.
Discuss the students' understanding of human rights.
What basic rights do you expect to have respected in your life?
How have Aunty Lorraine’s human rights been violated in this experience?
Pause 6mins
Both Uncle Jack and Uncle Syd were separated from their siblings.
What emotions are brought up for you witnessing their stories and imagining this happening to children today?
How has this separation impacted them as children removed from their families?
*Uncle Jack did find his brother. You can explore his story further in his memoir ‘Born Again Black Fella’ and his documentary ‘Bastardy’. - 3.After viewing:
“When I started singing the song Took The Children Away and talking about it, there were adults that came up to me after the show and said: ‘We never knew this. We weren't taught this in school.’ So it's time now that we do remember this and they're taught in schools.” — Uncle Archie Roach
Discuss why these adults may not have been aware of Uncle Archie’s story as a Stolen Generations survivor.
Why is it difficult to teach and learn these stories?
How do you think communities involved would feel in hearing the stories of past policies of the removal of children in their community.
The 1997 Bringing Them Home Report made a recommendation to ensure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history is taught in schools but it was ignored. Teaching of this history was not included in the curriculum until recent years. Discuss.
Explore how the lack of education has impacted adults' understanding of the treatment of First Nations people in this country.
“It's also important that we listen to the stories of the Elders, the old people, and the lived experience and growing up in the time when children were taken away ... when we were put on missions and how hard it was to just survive.”
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were taken to different homes, foster families and Aboriginal missions. It is important to understand that every Stolen Generations survivor had a different experience.
As a class, explore the different institutions and homes that the Elders in the videos were taken to.
Discuss what the Assimilation Policy of forcibly removing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children was trying to achieve. Reflect on how this makes you feel knowing that this happened so recently in this country? - 4.
Next steps:
Understanding your story
“There's nothing like telling one's story and understanding the full extent of that, which had been denied me as a young person, my heritage, my lost heritage, and still to this day I'm still catching up.” — Uncle Jack Charles
Encourage students to write about their own ancestral stories — who they are, where they come from, what questions they have and wish to explore.
Have students discuss memoirs or biographies they have read or stories they have been told that have expanded their knowledge and understanding of other people and cultures.
“When I wrote this song ‘Took The Children Away’, I never imagined that people from other countries would relate to this song. I did not realise that other children around the world had been taken away from their families as well.” — Uncle Archie Roach
Discuss the above statement. Imagine the response from Uncle Archie and listeners for the first time hearing ‘Took The Children Away’ and realising that they were not alone in their experiences.
Research how other First Nations peoples have been affected by colonisation and government policies. Uncle Archie, in particular, has heard stories from other Canadian Aboriginal people who were also forcibly removed.
Read The Uluru Statement of the Heart
Discuss what the Uluru Statement of the Heart is about — the significance of voice, treaty, truth. Discuss how the statement was formed and what it is asking for?
The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
As outlined by the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues:
Aside from the basic right to maintain and use their own languages, Indigenous people’s language rights include:
The right to be educated in their mother tongue.
The right to have Indigenous languages recognised in constitutions and laws.
The right to live free from discrimination on the grounds of language.
What languages do we predominantly speak in this country?
Do you know any Indigenous languages?
Have you experienced trying to learn in another language other than your first language? Imagine being denied the right to speak your language.
How are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people still impacted by past policies that made Australia’s First Peoples forbidden to speak their languages? i.e. loss of stories, cultural ways, connections to kinship and community.
Listen to the following songs selected by Uncle Archie and discuss the stories behind them as a class:
Beautiful Child is a song about a young Aboriginal man who died in police custody in country NSW, told through the eyes of his grieving mother who lost her beautiful child.
Louis St John is a song about a young Aboriginal man, originally from Alice Springs, who was adopted into a non-Indigenous family from Perth, Western Australia, and was murdered by a group of white youths when he was returning home after celebrating his 19th birthday with a friend.
Bicentennial Blues is a protest song about the 1988 Bicentennial celebrations in Sydney marking 200 years of the settlement of this country. Many First Nations people travelled to Sydney from all over the country to protest and let people know that we had lived on this land for a lot longer than 200 years. It’s a song about our Bicentennial blues.
Too Many Bridges - We can walk as many bridges as we want and acknowledge Sorry Day in the name of reconciliation, but it’s all just tokenistic unless the government has meaningful consultation with First Nations people and actually addresses the problems that we face today.
Travellin’ Bones is a song about the repatriation of our old people’s bones from museums around the world, bringing them back to country.
For Teachers
https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/cross-curriculum-priorities/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-histories-and-cultures/
Songs
Munjana (from The Songs of Charcoal Lane)
Beautiful Child (from The Songs of Charcoal Lane)
Louis St John (from Looking For Butter Boy)
Bicentennial Blues (from Music Deli presents…)
Too Many Bridges (from Journey)
Travellin Bones (from Journey)
Further resources
Munjana - the story of a mother’s love and devastating impact of Australia’s Stolen Generations
Best Kept Secret - Archie Roach. (Highly recommend, includes Archie Roach’s story)
Archie Roach’s thoughts on Black Deaths in Custody and the Black Lives Matters movement
Community guide to UN Declaration on Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Truth telling
Truth telling - Archie Roach and Jack Charles
Confronting white privilege
Acknowledgements
These discussion notes have been written in consultation with Culture Is Life.
Production Date: 2020
Copyright
Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation 2020 (except where otherwise indicated). Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). Video © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). All images copyright their respective owners.
Text © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Culture is Life.