EDUC5429 - Perspectives in Aboriginal Education

Mark Thomas 18608112

Assessment 2

Welcome to and Acknowledgement of Country

This paper will describe a Welcome to Country and an Acknowledgement of

Country ceremony (the Ceremonies). It will analyse the importance of these
ceremonies and why their use communicates respect, relationships and
reconciliation to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. In addition, the paper
will discuss controversies surrounding the use of Welcome to Country in Australian
society.

Welcome to Country

Welcome to Country is a tradition as old as our people, carried out by a traditional

custodian or elder from the land on which we meet. A Welcome occurs as a
response to seeking permission to come onto anothers land. Due to this cultural
tradition of seeking permission to enter the territory, we remove the chances of
misunderstandings between groups, by respecting each other and each others
spaces. Through Welcome, our people are asking of you to respect our land as we
do. Chenoa Masters. (Masters et al., 2017, p. 146)

Welcome to Country occurs at the beginning of a formal event and can take many
forms including singing, dancing, smoking ceremonies or a speech in traditional
language or English (Reconciliation Australia, n.d.). A Welcome should only be
delivered by On-country people such as an Elder. That is, Aboriginal people who
belong to the local Country area. Off-country people, Aboriginal people from different
Country or non-Aboriginal people, should use an Acknowledgement of Country
ceremony (Tranter, 2013).

There are no set words when conducting Welcome to Country however an example
may be worded as follows:

Hello my name is [insert name of speaker] a representative/Elder of the [insert

organisation or local Indigenous group]. I would like to begin by paying my respect to
the local Indigenous people [or insert name of Indigenous people], the traditional
custodians of this land where we are meeting upon today. On behalf of the traditional
custodians [insert local Indigenous group's name] I welcome you all. (University of
the Sunshine Coast, n.d.)

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Aboriginal peoples are the original peoples of Australia and lived across the whole
land. This can be seen in Diagram 1 which shows the many locations of individual
Aboriginal groups or First Nations peoples (Bodkin-Andrews, Bodkin, Andrews, &
Whittaker, 2016, p. 481).

Diagram 1

Source: (Horton, 1996)

Before European colonisation, or perhaps more accurately described as invasion, in

1788, there were clear boundaries between groups. Individuals within groups were
very aware of when they were On-Country (their Country) or Off-Country (another
groups Country). When crossing onto another groups Country permission to do so
was required. This permission, or Welcome, conveyed to the visitors safe passage
and protection of their spiritual being during the journey. While visitors were provided
with a safe passage, they also had to respect the protocols and rules of the land
owner group while on their Country (Reconciliation Australia, n.d.).

Research has shown that many Aboriginal peoples had very structured procedures
for dealing with other groups when two groups encountered each other after a
sustained period of time. Travellers or visitors to a camp (singly, or typically in small

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Mark Thomas 18608112

numbers) made smoke signals by lighting fires so that their intention to approach
was made clear; they then placed themselves within sight of the camp (Merlan,
2014, p. 300).

Today, the Welcome to Country is an acknowledgment and recognition of the rights

of Noongar peopleis respect for people, respect for rights and a respect for
country is an acknowledgement of the past and provide a safe passage for visitors
and a mark of respect (South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council, n.d., p. 5).

Source: (South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council, n.d., p. 10)

Acknowledgement of Country

In line with Welcome to Country, Acknowledgement of Country is a way for all

people to show awareness of and respect for Aboriginal cultures and heritage, and
the ongoing relationship the traditional custodians have with their land or waters
(Department of Education (WA), 2016, p. 2). It is also a way for non-Aboriginal
people to admit, recognise and declare the ownership of Country by Aboriginal
peoples.

Again, there is no set wording but an example may read as follows:

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I would like to acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which this event is
taking place, the [name of clan or group] people and pay my respect to their Elders,
past and present (Federation University Australia, n.d.).

Kowal argues that an Acknowledgement ceremony should also include references to

non-Aboriginal people an inclusive Acknowledgment that includes settlers and
migrants in its ambit, deliberately shifting the ritual from an anti-racist speech act to a
device for encouraging reflection and belonging (Kowal, 2015, p. 193) thereby
encouraging the reconciliation process.

Analysis of the Ceremonies

Merlan describes the recent emergence in Australia of two small, and now regularly
enacted, rituals: Acknowledgments and Welcomes to Country (Merlan, 2014, p.
296). She describes this as part of a growing theme of reparation and reconciliation
with indigenous and marginalised peoples around the globe. She states that the
advent of these rituals is an indication of change, as well as of its limits in
indigenousnonindigenous relationships (Merlan, 2014, p. 296).

Merlan suggests that some groups in Australia see the Ceremonies as coerced
whitefella business (Merlan, 2014, p. 297). However, other groups see the
Ceremonies as the moving together of societys recognition of the past and
Aboriginal peoples response to the past (Merlan, 2014, p. 297). The use of the word
recognition in this context is to do with amending historical injustices, including
apology, reconciliation, restitution, and reparation (Merlan, 2014, p. 297). Whatever
the view point, this discussion occurs around a context of continuing systemic
inequalities between most indigenous people and their nonindigenous countrymen
(Merlan, 2014, p. 298).

The origins of the recent adoption by many institutions in Australia to use the
Ceremonies as part of official protocol emanated, most likely, from Australian
watershed moments such the 1992 High Court Decision in Mabo (McKenna, 2014, p.
487), the speech by Prime Minister Paul Keating in 1992 and the official apology for
the Stolen Generation by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in 2008. In addition, several
initiatives by government and non-government organisations, such as the Council for
Aboriginal Reconciliation (Kowal, 2015, p. 174), have progressed the adoption the
Ceremonies (Merlan, 2014). The Australian Curriculum, as part of the Cross-
curriculum priorities, incorporates Indigenous education and states it is designed for

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all students to engage in reconciliation, respect and recognition of the worlds oldest
continuous living cultures (Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting
Authority, n.d.).

Controversy
There is some debate as to the authenticity of the Welcome to Country ceremony.
Attention is drawn to a Welcome ceremony performed by Ernie Dingo and Richard
Walley. It has now been revealed that the concept of the welcome-to-country
ceremony was made up in Perth by entertainers Ernie Dingo and Richard Walley in
1976, after pressure from visiting Pacific Islander dancers who refused to perform at
a festival unless they were welcomed with a ceremony, as was traditional in their
own region. Dingo and Walley came up with something acceptable to their Islander
guests .Let's not pretend the welcome ceremony is more than a contrivance
which allows some to play dress-up and others to don black armbands (Akerman,
2010).

However, such a shallow, ill-informed view misses the point. It fails to recognise that
there were many forms of Welcome performed by Aboriginal communities across
Australia. McKenna argues that while these welcome rituals varied, the movement
of Aboriginal people beyond the boundaries of their own country always required the
permission of their neighbours. Visitors were to be welcomed regardless of whether
they were intending to remain for a few days or were merely moving through the
country (McKenna, 2014, p. 480).

The current synthesis of these forms of welcome are an important recognition of

the willingness of both non-Aboriginal and Aboriginal peoples to reconcile in an
appropriate, mutually accepted way. Non-Aboriginal, anti-racist people need the
Welcome ceremony in order to feel invited onto Country (Kowal, 2015, p. 4).

In addition, a Ceremony is a political act of defiance in the face of ordinary and

ongoing dispossession, marginalisation, racism and genocide. It is a sign of solidarity
with Indigenous people and recognition of the theft and violence that founded and
fuels the Australian national project (Kowal, 2015, p. 5).

Conclusion

This paper has described the Welcome to Country and Acknowledgement of Country
ceremonies. A Welcome is performed by an on-country person with recognised

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authority to do so. The Welcome accepts visitors onto Country and conveys a sense
of responsibility onto those visitors to respect the local people, traditions, laws and
Country. An Acknowledgement can be performed by off-Country people, Aboriginal
and non-Aboriginal, and it is a sign of respect for Aboriginal cultures and heritage.

The paper identifies several controversies surrounding the Ceremonies, particularly

their authenticity and purpose. However, it is clear that the Ceremonies are an
important recognition of the willingness of both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal
Australians to reconcile.

Merlan aptly describes Welcomes as important in defining a certain version of social

order. Acknowledgments and Welcomes continue to orient their publics to imagery
of indigenous people as entitled insofar as they belong to places (Merlan, 2014, p.
306). It establishes self-efficacy for Aboriginal peoples, recognition for the non-
indigenous and is a driver for societal change. The Ceremonies help communicate
Respect for Aboriginal peoples and culture, an understanding of Aboriginal peoples
Relationships with each other and Country and the need for Reconciliation for the
benefit of Australian society.

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References

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