This book is a collection of Victorian Indigenous Elders' life stories and oral histories. The Elders share their stories in an attempt to ensure that both sides of Australia's history are finally heard. These stories tell of cultural resistance on missions, of defying assimilation laws, of forever moving around to save children from the welfare. They document the development of both fringe and urban communities and work in the Aboriginal rights movement. They clarify the ways in which these experiences have affected the individual authors along with the indigenous population in general. Also included in the book is a brief history and analysis of the legislation, policies, attitudes and strategies that have affected the lives of the authors and their families since colonisation. This aspect provides an historical perspective, encouraging a deeper understanding of the Elders' stories. Reconciliation can only eventuate with an understanding gained from hearing and including the voices of Indigenous Australians. Contents: The writing team Indigenous elders: keepers of knowledge; custodians of land and culture Aboriginal lands Missions and reserves Growing up running from the welfare /? Aunty Olive Jackson Respecting our Elders /? Aunty Lola James If your mother didn't tell you, then your grandmother did! /? Uncles Les Stewart Don't dwell on trouble /? Aunty Audrey Critch There are my people /? Aunty Gwen Nelson We were all cousins, more or less /? Aunty Iris Lovett-Gardiner Aboriginality is about culture, not colour /? Aunty Dianne Phillips Take up the opportunities we struggled to make /? Aunty Frances Gallagher Home /? Aunty Eileen Alberts We were supposed to forget our Aboriginality /? Aunty Gwen Garoni Not enough heart to say sorry? /? Uncle Brian Kennewell-Taylor Learning from indigenous elders: Keeping the traditions, keeping the culture strong; Since time immemorial; Invasion: the tide ran red; The flood of legislation; Stolen children; Cultural resistance: holding on to children traditions and land; Organised resistance: a movement is born; The 1950s: community resistance to race laws; The price of assimilation; The Aboriginal rights movement; After the flood: self-determination; Turning the tide Bibliography Appendix. Cultural custodianship: developing an indigenous methodology.maps, colour illustrations, b&w photographswiradjuri, victorian indigenous elders, oral histories, yorta yorta, dja dja wurrung, language maps, victorian missions and reserves, lake condah, framlingham, coranderrk, ramahyuck, lake tyers, wahgunyah, cummeragunja, moonahcullah, balranald, ebenezer, maloga, acheron

Yurri needed a warm place to sleep when winter came to the Barmah forest, her friends had no room for her in their homes in the trees, bushes, burrows and caves of the forest. With the help of Uncle Ambrose a Yorta Yorta Elder they make her a home of her own. Yurri?s Manung written by Sue Atkinson (Yorta Yorta) and illustrated by Annette Sax (Taungurung). This is the second book in the YSS series, giving insight into Indigenous Victorian culture. The ?Yarn Strong Sista? series is supported by background notes and ideas for related activities.Illustrations, maps, CDyorta yorta, barmah forest, bark hut, language list, educational activities

"The breeze going through the eel trap gives a feeling of water flowing through the vessel with the feathers softly waiving as the water flows. My grandfather Nicholas Couzens and my uncles made eel traps to fish the Hopkins River - this is how my mother learnt the techniques which she passed on to me."Bronwyn RAZEM Gunditjmara/Kirrae Whurrong Bronwyn Razem is an Indigenous Australian basket weaver and painter. She is a Gunditjmara woman of the Kirrae Whurrong clan of western Warrnambool on the Victorian coastline. Bronwyn’s practice involves an exploration of her Indigenous heritage and identity, and she creates symbolic representations of places and events that are meaningful to her family. She integrates ochres, sand and other materials into her paintings, and her works also draw on the possum skin cloak traditions of her ancestors. In 2008, Bronwyn was chosen by the Australia Council for the Arts to be part of a delegation of Indigenous artists to attend the 10th Pacific Arts Festival in Western Samoa. Bronwyn’s mother, Aunty Zelda Couzens, was a well-respected basket weaver and elder who taught Bronwyn basket-making techniques. Bronwyn now regularly conducts basket weaving workshops with Victorian Indigenous communities in order to facilitate the revival of cultural traditions. She has a Bachelor of Arts with Honours at Deakin University, and in 2008 she was enrolled in a Master by Research degree at Deakin Institute of Koorie Education, Geelong, and was living in Ballarat. (https://www.daao.org.au/bio/bronwyn-razem/biography/, accessed 18 April 2016) This item is part of the Federation University Art Collection. The Art Collection features over 1000 works and was listed as a 'Ballarat Treasure' in 2007.Bronwyn RAZEM (1953- ) Gunditjmara/Kirraw Wurrong A woven New Zealand flax eel trap with emu feathers. This work won the University of Ballarat Acquisitive Award for work reflecting Victoria's Western District. The judges were impressed by Bronwyn Razem's translation of the traditional eel trap into a sculptural form evocative of the flow of water and possible the passage of time. The design and technical knowhow which Razem inherited from her mother, uncles, and grandfather connects this work to the family;s life and traditions. She then enhances the simplicity of this very functional object by the addition of delicate emu feathers, creating a work that creatively and symbolically transcends its original form. art, artwork, bronwyn razem, razem, eel trap, aboriginal, indigenous, available