reconnet: reconciliation email network
Dear friends,
I wish to announce that I have just completed a new study about reconciliation in Redfern on 'The Block' and would like it disseminated to as many people as possible. Details are as follows.
Title:
Returning to the heart in Gadigal Land
Reconciliation in Redfern---'The Block'
by Deborah Ruiz WallContents
1. A Vision of reconciliation on 'The Block'
2. Urban land rights: the story of 'The Block'
3. The Politics of identity and the reconciliation process on 'The Block'
4. Redfern Residents for Reconciliation: a journey on 'The Block'
5. The storytelling of ali Golding: a pedagogy for reconciliation
6. Analysis and Conclusion: signposts for the reconcilation movement in RedfernSome Background
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The Block in Redfern has a strong sense of community seldom found in suburban Sydney. Behind the scene are the quiet achievement and effort being made by Aboriginal people towards self autonomy. Ironically, the image people have of Redfern is that it is the epicentre of crime, drug dealing and safe injecting rooms. It is an image that I had myself before I moved into Hugo Street adjacent to 'The Block'.
I myself was a victim of bag snatching around the area. It is through my experience as 'victim' that gave me the opportunity to get to know members of the Aboriginal community better and helped me understand the real story behind the violence and crime in the area. I have found that this image of Redfern is exaggerated. Not only did I experience on 'The Block' a strong sense of community seldom found in suburban Sydney, I also realized that behind the scene are the quiet achievement and effort being made by Aboriginal people towards self autonomy.
What is special about Redfern? Many regard it as the birthplace of urban land rights. It is an area that traditionally belongs to the Gadigal peoples, a clan of the Dharug. It is an area referred to as Eora lands.
Today Redfern is still a centre of urban land rights struggle.
This study provides an insight into reconciliation process in an urban setting in Sydney. When I wrote this paper, it was being written as our collective and individual stories unfolded and so, it was not just a piece of research, it was also a story of my own journey.
Redfern Residents for Reconciliation (the group I am with) and Newtown Residents for Reconciliation and others play a positive role to facilitate reconciliation on 'The Block'. There are, however, people who seem to be opposed to the assertion of Aboriginal autonomy and they are politically active.
A writer and theologian, Robert Schreiter speaks of reconciliation as a healing, a change of view that cannot be programmed. He says it is more of a spirituality than a strategy. I agree with this and I also think that the healing needed is quite complex: healing within oneself (many having to come to grips with their own identity especially for those who were taken away), healing between Aboriginal individuals and groups (the result of invasion and colonisation resulting in confused loyalties and identity) and between blacks and whites (a result of prejudice and discrimination, lack of cultural understanding and a failure to acknowledge past and sometimes continuing travesty).
I can make available a copy (ring binder, plastic cover and hard backing) for $20.00 (money order or cheque to D. Wall) to anyone interested. Order from: 152 Wilson Street, Newtown, NSW 2042.
Deborah
