By Minh-Tam Nguyen-Trinh
In November, at the Armagh centre in Melbourne where nearly four years ago First Nations spokesman Thomas Mayo launched IofC’s Trust-building Program in Australia, a traditional smoking ceremony was led by Stevie Thorpe, a Gunnai-Gundjitmara-Yorta Yorta-Palawan man, inviting a large circle of participants to cover themselves in the smoke from eucalyptus leaves.
The ceremony, accompanied by a hand pan drum played by Abe Sharman, marked the 89th event in the program which has facilitated ‘Turruk truth-telling for trust-building’ forums with over 3800 participants and 36 First Nations speakers.
This particular program, on 21 November, was advertised as ‘Regather Turruk’, an ‘intimate yarning circle’ to focus on Regenerative Sustainability using ‘critical and creative reflection’ from Indigenous knowledge to form sustainable ways of maintaining and preserving the environment. (The Indigenous term turruk means ‘swampy river reed’, the Boon Wurrung name for Toorak). In response to the acknowledgement of country, Kawika Foster, a 51st generation cultural teacher hailing from the Molokai people in Hawaii, thanked all participants, beginning with Stevie Thorpe, Abe Sharman and Regather Turruk organiser, Sarah Naarden, with a ceremonial blowing of the conch shell and coming forehead to forehead, presenting each with ’hookupu’ (gift).
Then everyone made their way inside to the ballroom, walking through an arts exhibition from artists such as Jai Allen Wright, and Boon Wurrung Aboriginal women Bianca and Amber Easton. The large bark and native flower mandala had been created by Chrissie Theodore in the centre of the room.
After a brief introduction of IofCA and the Turruk programs by Sarah Naarden, Lan Diep, an IofCA Board member, shared her vision for decolonising our relationships to each other and the environment through the lens of Inner Development Goals. The Inner Development Goals have been developed in Sweden by Tomas Bjorkman to foster lifelong learning, civic responsibility balanced with individual wellbeing, as ‘skillsets’ to support the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Following Lan, Caroline Sanz Veitch introduced her work on global circular economy measures at Regen Melbourne. Caroline began sharing a personal story about her Brazilian great grandfather, who enabled her and her family to thrive through adversity by learning important Indigenous wisdom and new forms of leadership. Caroline recently collaborated in her creation of an ‘Indigenous Donut’, an infinity sign look-alike which represents the city as well as the country, inviting viewers to see what present day society offers as well as what country comprises of.
Stevie Thorpe and Abe Sharman were up next, sharing their Indigenous Regenerative Sustainability model presented in a way that anyone is able to contribute to a healthier environment. Both men talked about how the model at its core is Indigenous wisdom through stories, practices and tools. They also discussed how valuing the mind was a Western construct, and the Aboriginal culture believes in gathering the mind, body and spirit in order to affectively connect with Country. By caring for community through retaining experiences, the next generation is provided with inner experiences for self-motivation, and will be able to continue to nurture nature.
Finally, Kawika Foster provided the audience with his own perspective of his ideals in relation to the living world. Kawika outlined how his native people, the Molokai, believed that, although they are very private in their beliefs, the sacredness of nature is uniquely universal and there should be no separation between people and nature. This relationship is, indescribable in English because the language is ‘too concrete’. And since Molokai language could not be translated, Kawika then provided an interpretive dance to ‘convey which cannot be conveyed.’
The night ended with an ancient Irish song from Kat Farrell, followed by dinner.
To say the least, the program was informative and deepened my understanding of nature, and how I could contribute towards sustaining it.
