personal reflection

Indigenous Event Review: A Trip to the Powerhouse Museum

Introduction

Indigenous Australians are a group of unique people in Australia. Over the years, Indigenous Australians experience discrimination mistreatment and social stereotypes related to their culture, family, education and so on. This article is a review on a local museum in Sydney where Indigenous events are frequently held. It will use the “SEA-change model of reflection” to review on the event. Firstly, it will describe the contextual consideration from varied perspectives. Besides, it will provide evidence of the major arguments of the article through the visit to the Powerhouse museum. At last, it is going to identify possible actions to change the situations.

Situation

First and foremost, as is mentioned in the lectures, people have a lot of misconceptions towards Indigenous culture. For example, a lot of people believe that Indigenous people nowadays do not have culture (Trudgett 2018). However, through my trip to the Powerhouse museum as well as my online research and readings about Indigenous culture, I found out that Indigenous people have a rich a unique culture. The reason why the social stereotype towards Indigenous culture exists could be because this culture is totally different from the main culture of Australia.

Besides, plenty of non-Indigenous Australians also think that Indigenous people have a bad relationship with their family. Family violence is regarded as a serious issue in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities (Our Watch 2014). That is to say, domestic violence frequently occurs in Indigenous families that lead to bad family relationships. However, some Indigenous people could have a close relationship with their family just like non-Indigenous Australians. In fact, a lot of Indigenous people are proud of their family, community and culture (Bayliss 2015).

What’s more, the last issue I would like to address on is the education of Indigenous people. It was mentioned in the lecture that one of the myths about Indigenous people is that ‘Indigenous people are uneducated’ (Trudgett 2018). On the contrary, I found out that Indigenous people are full of wisdom through my trip to the museum. Also, many Indigenous parents place huge importance upon education (Colquhoun & Dockery 2012), which means that education is an essential part of Indigenous people’s life.

Evidence

According to Australian Bureau of Statistics (2016), around 1/3 of Indigenous people aged 4-14 and 38.3% of them aged 15 years or over speak an Australian Indigenous language, which indicates that Indigenous people respects their culture and languages. When I visited the Powerhouse museum, I saw a lot of Indigenous artworks that showcase the rich culture of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander. Some of the artworks are not only enjoyable to watch, but also practical to use in daily life.

Picture 1: Indigenous Artworks (1)

Picture 1 showcases some Indigenous artworks. There are some containers that Indigenous people used in daily basis. And there are some Aboriginal drawings on the containers that represent Indigenous culture. These creations are innovative and artistic at the same time. It showcases Indigenous people’s knowledge in creating daily-used items to provide convenience to their life and also their artistic ability in making beautiful items. The painting above the containers indicates harmony that is addressed by Indigenous culture. Therefore, the issue of people’s misconception towards Indigenous culture and art is a serious social issue that should be handled properly.

In spite of that, Indigenous people honors their family, community and culture. They could have a good relationship with their family as well.

Picture 2: Indigenous People

As is shown in Picture 2, Aboriginal people wear their traditional clothes and accessories, which indicate their respect to their tradition, culture, family and community. According to Colquhoun and Dockery (2012), Aboriginal parents expect their children to learn their own culture and gain great support from the community that they belong, which means that Aboriginal people place importance upon their community and would like to maintain good relationships with family and community members.

Picture 3: Indigenous Artworks (2)

Picture 4: Indigenous Artworks (3)

Furthermore, through observing the artwork and creations of Indigenous Australians, I hold the opinion that Indigenous people are full of wisdom. They understand the importance of remaining a harmonious relationship between human being and the nature and they show great honour to their culture. A lot of people believe that Indigenous people are uneducated, but statistics showed that around 83.2% of Indigenous students attended school in 2017 (Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet 2018), which means that most of the Indigenous students are educated from school. People’s misconception towards Indigenous people’s education could be caused by the “stolen generation” policy. It is well-known that “stolen generation” means Australian government’s policy in removing Indigenous children from their family and require them to be educated in a western culture (Australians Together 2018). However, this policy is disastrous for Indigenous people’s life. Children are not only separated from their own family, but also forced to learn western culture that they are not familiar with. Therefore, the Australian government should recognize Indigenous people’s wisdom and provide the right education that is suitable for this group of people.

Action

Firstly, the government and local communities should organize Indigenous events from time to time in order to spread Indigenous culture. In this way, Indigenous people are able to show their culture to other people while others are able to learn about this unique group of people. Besides, it is also suggested that the government provide free education for Indigenous students. Rather than forcing them to go to western school, the government should establish some Indigenous schools that enable the students to learn about Indigenous culture and languages.

Conclusion

In conclusion, people have misconception towards Indigenous culture, family and education. Through the visit to the Powerhouse museum, the author explored the rich and unique Indigenous culture and tradition. It is found out that Indigenous people respect and honour their culture, tradition, family and community. They also emphasize education and family relationships. This article recommends that Indigenous events to be held frequently and Indigenous schools to be built for students.

References

Australian Bureau of Statistics 2016, national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social survey, 2014-15, viewed 1st Sep 2018, <http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/mf/4714.0>.

Australians Together 2018, The stolen generations, viewed 1st Sep 2018, <https://www.australianstogether.org.au/discover/australian-history/stolen-generations>.

Bayliss, J. 2015, ‘I consider myself lucky to learn about my culture. Too many Aboriginal people missed out’, The Guardian, 23th December, viewed 1st Sep 2018, <https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/dec/23/i-consider-myself-lucky-to-learn-about-my-culture-too-many-aboriginal-people-missed-out>.

Colquhoun, S., & Dockery, A. M. 2012, The link between Indigenous culture and wellbeing: Qualitative evidence for Australian Aboriginal peoples, the Centre for Labour Market Research, viewed 1st Sep 2018, <https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/4a3f/b99d46b7eb6c79498bc2e78f2b779694c32f.pdf>.

Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 2018, Opening up opportunities, viewed 1st Sep 2018, <https://closingthegap.pmc.gov.au/education>.

Our Watch. 2014, Reporting on family violence in Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander communities, viewed 1st Sep 2018, <https://www.ourwatch.org.au/MediaLibraries/OurWatch/Images/ourwatch_reporting_on_a-ts_family_violence_aa_v1.pdf>.

Trudgett, M. 2018, ‘week 1: rebutting the myths’, UTS Online Subject 013992, PowerPoint presentation, UTS, Sydney, viewed 1st Sep 2018.

Appendices

Appendix 1: Indigenous Artworks (1)

Appendix 2: Indigenous People

Appendix 3: Indigenous Artworks (2)

Appendix 4: Indigenous Artworks (3)