NAIDOC Week is an opportunity for all Australians to be informed on and acknowledge the Indigenous people of this country.
For South Asian Australians, especially those recently migrated, it’s a reminder to unlearn the racist, colonial ideas we’ve been taught about Indigenous people, leftover to us from British Empire-era school curriculums.
This year, more than ever, staying informed is crucial: every Australian will be required to vote in the Referendum for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.
To help, SAARI has compiled a list of resources to help you learn up if you’re new or stay up to date if you’ve been here a while.
Figure out what you know:
South Asians for Voice is holding a survey of South Asian Australians to figure out what you know. You can find it here.
Get informed:
Uluru Statement of the Heart has a timeline of Australia’s colonial history from an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander lens
Unlearn pre-conceived notions of Indigenous Australians with Reconciliation Australia’s Mythbusting Factsheet
Indigenous Australians are not one homogenous cultural or linguistic group. Use the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torrest Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) Map of Indigenous Australia to learn whose country you live on
Learn more about Indigenous languages with the Gambay map
Stay informed:
NAIDOC has resources to help you educate the young people in your life
NITV has ongoing coverage of Indigenous news, issues, sports and entertainment
What does reconciliation actually mean? Reconciliation Australia has answers
Voice to Parliament:
SAARI writer Khushaal Vyas has written a handy explainer on everything you need to know about the upcoming referendum
NITV also has a host of video and print explainers on what the Voice is, why it’s necessary and why there’s debate around it
Read about the statement from the creators themselves, the Uluru Statement From the Heart
Everything you need to know about the Voice to Parliament in a quick and easy handbook, written by Indigenous leader Thomas Mayo and journalist Kerry O’Brien
Get active:
Desis For Yes is helping South Asian Australians get active in campaigning for a ‘Yes’ vote
Once the survey results are in, South Asians for Voice will be doing the same
Books to read:
Welcome to Country: A Travel Guide to Indigenous Australia by Marcia Langton has far more information than anything you’ll learn in an Australian school
Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe deep dives into the relatively unexplored history of Aboriginal agricultural practices, and how we were lied to by British settlers
Ninu Grandmother’s Law by Nura Nungalka Ward is a part biography, part manual, part history of traditional laws and teaching and how one woman empowered herself by connecting to country
Jandamarra and the Bunuba Resistance by Banjo Woorunmurra and Howard Pedersen details the true story of Jandamarra, an Aboriginal resistance fighter in the final stages of Australia’s invasion
