Supporting Indigenous Leadership in 2009

2 March 2009

With a focus on fulfilling The Long Walk’s charter to improve Indigenous Wellbeing by supporting the development of Indigenous leadership, the Long Walk is working towards a number of awareness raising events and Indigenous leadership programs in 2009.

The Long Walk believes Indigenous wellbeing can be achieved by supporting Indigenous lead projects that promote culture and improve conditions for Indigenous people.

The Long Walk has identified four key programs to support in 2009:

☻ Indigenous Studies in Schools

☻ Indigenous Students: On the Ball

☻ Indigenous Cultural Exchange

☻ Indigenous Leadership Fellowship

These programs will be profiled in our eNews and more information is available here.

This edition The Long Walk introduces a new program for 2009, the Indigenous Cultural Exchange.

INDIGENOUS CULTURAL EXCHANGE

The Long Walk is developing a program which builds on our existing partnerships to offer cultural exchange between Indigenous communities as a way to

☻ Trade cultural knowledge to strengthen participating Indigenous communities.

☻ Develop self-esteem through cultural practice

☻ Support professional and economic development

In February, Project Manager Kim Kruger visited the Wadaye Palngun Warangat (Women's Association) to propose an exchange with Indigenous weavers from Dandenong in Victoria. Members of the association including senior artists, young women and school students are enthusiastic about the exchange and have already worked out a week long program of collecting and preparing materials for making string dillybags from Sand Palm fronds and baskets from Pandanus.

Building on Essendon Football Club's existing fostership program with the Wadaye community, The Long Walk will co-ordinate an exchange between members of Dandenong and District Aboriginal Co-op's women's and youth groups, and the Wadaye Palngun Warangat (Women's Association). The Long Walk has an existing relationship with Dandenong weavers through activities offered through the 2008 Women's Luncheon. The exchange will be based on the cultural practices of basket weaving and fibre craft.

We see this project as a great opportunity to establish an annual exchange program between Indigenous communities based on any cultural practice.

This particular exchange is of mutual benefit to the communities involved on a number of levels. The exchange will highlight both commonalities and

differences between the two communities. Post school leavers from Dandenong experiencing the challenges faced by a remote community will encourage insight into the opportunities available to them in their own community. Interest in traditional practices from urban Indigenous people may help young people from Wadaye to value their own cultural maintenance. The exchange is also about Wadaye youth learning how to live in two worlds from a community who have a long experience of contact - how to maintain culture while getting the best out of western opportunities on offer.

For the Dandenong group it's an opportunity to extend their cultural knowledge and reconfirm their cultural identity. Another goal of the exchange is to provide the opportunity for female students from the Wadaye community for social inclusion, in the educational reward system and the ensuing benefit of experiencing other school systems, communities and a major city.

The exchange will involve other partners such as Eltham College of Education, Lady of the Sacred Heart School in Wadaye and Chisholm TAFE, extending the exchange to non-Indigenous communities and the larger Indigenous community in Dandenong.

Interested in being involved?

You can show your suppport in lots of ways

Volunteer

Raise Funds

Make a donation

The Long Walk is seeking donations of funds toward our programs. As The Long Walk has DGR status, donations are fully tax deductible.

Sponsorship

The Long Walk is always interested in sponsorship as well as gaining in-kind assistance for each of these projects. If you or your organisation would like to contribute time and experience to assist in making these projects or our events a success, please contact us with details of how you could add value to these projects.

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