ARTWORK - Gloria Petyarre - Bush Medicine Leaves
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY
An acknowledgement of country is something that I believe is important to incorporate into teaching practice it may only occur before formal events or it may be something that I engage in everyday, either way I believe that it is important that my future students should understand and respect its significance. It may also be a priority to have an Aboriginal Elder to come to selected events to complete a welcome to country.
'An acknowledgement of the traditional owners and ownership of an area where we have the privilege of residing or visiting costs us nothing but strengthens our integrity' (Smith, 2010, p.29). There are many reasons that the acknowledgement of country is important; the first is that 'Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have a genuinely spiritual association with the land' (Smith, 2010, p.29). Secondly over the years non-Indigenous Australians have struggled with finding appropriate ways of acknowledging the forced acquisition of land and the separation of Aboriginal people and their traditional lands, however we are able to do this through a respectful and genuine acknowledgment of country (Smith, 2010). Lastly through the acknowledgement of country we are prompting individuals to think about current Indigenous issues (Smith, 2010).
'An acknowledgement of the traditional owners and ownership of an area where we have the privilege of residing or visiting costs us nothing but strengthens our integrity' (Smith, 2010, p.29). There are many reasons that the acknowledgement of country is important; the first is that 'Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have a genuinely spiritual association with the land' (Smith, 2010, p.29). Secondly over the years non-Indigenous Australians have struggled with finding appropriate ways of acknowledging the forced acquisition of land and the separation of Aboriginal people and their traditional lands, however we are able to do this through a respectful and genuine acknowledgment of country (Smith, 2010). Lastly through the acknowledgement of country we are prompting individuals to think about current Indigenous issues (Smith, 2010).