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How We Walked Together: A Story of Complementarity-Highlighting Doing, Being, Belonging and Becoming

Journal: Journal of Interdisciplinary Sciences (Vol.8, No. 1)

Publication Date:

Authors : ; ;

Page : 43-61

Keywords : Cross-cultural connections; aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people; settlers; complementarity; storytelling; trust; respect;

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Abstract

Publication of the Uluru Statement from the Heart by Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in 2017, issued an invitation to non-Indigenous Australians to ‘walk with us in a movement of the Australian people for a better future'. This invitation spurred us to document what we believe is an example of such ‘walking together', so that others may be encouraged to follow suit. Our story records this experience from two different Australian perspectives – Aboriginal and settler - and encompasses a working and personal relationship. We have used storytelling as our conceptual framework because this is a common and powerful Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander process of passing on all manner of knowledge, practice and philosophy. These three components interact in our story, conveying ways in which people from different cultures can learn and change through sharing each other's history, cultural and life experiences. We use our occupational collaboration to detail seminal aspects of how this relationship ripened – through a willingness to learn, through mutual respect and trust. The article embraces a model of complementarity and assigns aspects of doing, being, becoming and belonging to the progress of our walk together. The conclusion outlines the value, particularly for settler Australians who may never have had contact with Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people, of attempting to instigate connections with individual people through shared humanity and dignity. We believe such partnerships, between everyday people as well as at a national level, will enhance many aspects of our daily lives and the future of our nation.

Last modified: 2024-05-15 17:13:04