Date: 2009-07-01 14:38:05
In her very helpful book Spinning the Dream – Assimilation in Australia 1950-1970 Anna Haebich reminds us that the “fog of ignorance surrounding race and cultural difference is never a benign condition: it does things” (p. 103). We need to work out why it is that we do not know certain things, not just how we know what we know.
That sounds like swimming against the tide, a tedious exercise. Yet in Australia there surely has been some construction of ignorance (see the gaps in our school history books, for example), and it is bound to affect all of us in our collective understanding of who we are.
NAIDOC Week is a very good opportunity for those Australians who are not Indigenous to learn more about those Australians who are, in an atmosphere of celebration. It is also a chance for Indigenous Australians to get together and learn more about each other, affirming the incredible diversity of Australia’s first peoples.
We warmly encourage all of you in Brisbane and surrounds to join in with the NAIDOC celebrations next week – the service next Sunday and the family fun day the Friday after, as well as other things during the week.
And thinking about it, Anna Haebich’s observation is worth considering in the light of ecumenical effort: how we view each other in our churches, and the effect that not-knowing has.
May God strengthen our spiritual muscles to help us swim against the tide.
Glenine Hamlyn
All are invited to a special service in Brisbane on Sunday, 5th July, when Indigenous Christians will celebrate faith and culture in a “spiritual gathering”.
By QCT Wednesdaym 01 July 2009
Andrea Law, who lives in Darwin and fellowships at the Uniting Church in Palmerston, is requesting some blankets for her community. If you are able to assist, please contact Andrea on 0416 858 938. This request has come to CTIPP (Churches Together Indigenous People's Partnership) from a very reputable source.
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