Gawura (St. Andrew's Catholic School) and Ceremony

Gawura (St. Andrew’s Catholic School) and Ceremony
It was a real treat being able to go into a real school in Sydney that had a focus on the aboriginal children. Walking into the school I felt very much under dressed because all the students are wearing uniforms and the faculty members around the school were all wearing suits or dress attire. I also felt as though I did not know how to use the public transportation as well as some of the students walking into the school. Students in Australia are taught at a very young age how to use the public transportation system to get to and from school and other activities. While going up the lift (elevator) it was interesting to see all the information that was presented on televisions in the lift (elevator) showing school events and information. I thought this was a unique and interesting way to have students become more informed and involved in school activities. As we walked out onto the upper level play ground area, it was great to see all the vibrant colors and murals that were painted in the areas that would normally be a dull dark colour. Once we walked into the actual classroom it was great to see all the colours and piece of information that were on the walls and around the room. The classroom was very inviting and welcoming, even though the lights we not working at their full level. Looking around the room I noticed a lot of similarities and differences from schools in the United States that I have been in and that I have observed in. The pictures of landmarks (Sydney Harbour Bridge) and word walls were items I have noticed in a lot of younger age level classrooms to being to show information about the town or area the students are from and familiarize them with different artifacts. It was wonderful to here the aboriginal students welcome us (the visitors) in their native language and talk to us in a way that was warm and welcoming. It was interesting to see each student who talked move to the front of the classroom and stand up. I have never seen this in the United States, but believe it could help many students with different tasks, for example it could make students more comfortable talking in front of a group of students or it could also make students learn the proper ways to talk and communicate while in a group. Being able to have a student read a book to me was a wonderful experience and it was very rewarding to not only hear the students read but to also see where they were on the spectrum with other students in the classroom. The student that was reading to me was skipping over words and pages, while the student in front of me was reading and explaining in more detail the facts about his book. This was interesting to see because all the students were learning and working together but also at different levels. It was great to see that the students were learning how to spell words that are different from those in the United States; for example colour vs. color, organise vs. organize, and snale vs. snail. It made me feel a lot more welcome when I saw this because the students and teachers were willing to take time to learn more about us and our culture.

The Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islanders Veterans was nothing that I expected. Granted I was not really sure what to expect when I read the schedule, but it was great to see it and experience something else from the aboriginals, since we could not participate in Sorry Day. It was unfortunate that we could not hear everything happening at the very beginning of the ceremony, but what I was able to hear touched my heart in a way I was not expecting. Hundreds of thousands of aboriginals fought for Australia in World War I, even if they were not registered to fight; they were willing to die for the country they called their own. A part of the aboriginal culture that I have picked up on is the importance of the Earth and to thank the area and the people for letting them stay at a location for an extended period of time. There was a smoking ceremony that took place that cleansed everyone in attendance and those around the site so that there was only good energy in the area. I was not expecting to see as many distinguished guests in attendance as I did, I think this is because I feel like some “holidays” are celebrated once and once the day has passed so has the holiday. But this was not the case for the Sorry Day events, because I believe that this event was in many ways related to Sorry Day. I liked how over the Sydney Harbour Bridge there was no longer just the Australian National flag flying over the bridge, but there was also an aboriginal flag flying in the wind. This shows me that some people are involved in the events of aboriginals and that some people are not as interested or involved. The young children who performed original tribal dances did a fabulous job of showing the culture of the aboriginal people and what they valued. Again, each colour that the aboriginal dancers was representative of their tribe and their native people who were at one time taken from them.