With touching and powerful words, our esteemed Elders and Community leaders shared their thoughts on the upcoming Voice Referendum with the Flinders community on Thursday 21 September.
Hosted by our Elders on Campus, and held on Larrakia Land in Darwin, each of the four distinguished speakers on the panel shared their own personal observances, anecdotes, opinions and stories, shaped by their unique lives and experiences.
Despite very personal, individual stories, several common themes shone through each of the passionate addresses. The themes included strength held within communities, legacy of the stewardship and wisdom of the ancestors, the knowledge held and shared by our old people, and the insistence that the best people to guide policies, services and programs and to speak for Aboriginal people are other Aboriginal people.
All speakers acknowledged that important steps have been made by the ‘Sorry’ statement and the ‘Uluru Statement from the Heart’, but that it is now time for Aboriginal people to be invited to join everyone else at the table for respectful discussion and a genuine will to hear the voice of First Nations people as they share their wishes for the betterment of their communities.
As a final, post-event summary, Uncle Richie Fejo provided the following statement:
“In the build-up toward this referendum, we asked for more information and more information was given, we asked for more consultation and more consultation was given. With the right information in front of us and the time to consider, we are now ready to vote! The Elders from “around the campfire” discussions will vote “Yes”!
This does not reflect Flinders University’s stance, nor any staff or students – however, an Elder’s role is to provide guidance and influence (not tell) people what to think. During the presentation, I explained that we invite you to sit around the campfire with us. We don’t tell people to sit with us at the campfire because everyone has free will and we respect this. We will always respect free will and wait for you to sit with us at the campfire when you are ready to, at any time, for any subject. We are proud to be your Elders.”
If you were unable to attend or watch online on the day and wish to share in the wisdom of this impactful event, you are invited to access the recording here.