Past Events

A Gathering of Allies in South Australia

Friends of Reconciliation – Adelaide Hills hosted a gathering of more than 120 Allies on Sunday 17 November at Woodside. Unley Allies together with Blackwood Reconciliation Group & Aldinga Truth-Telling Book Club supported the event.

Rebecca Wessels, Peramangk and Nagarrindjeri woman and Founder & CEO Ochre Dawn emceed an inspiring morning with leaders of positive change.

A warm and heartfelt welcome from Uncle Wally, Peramangk Elder and Chair of the Peramangk Cooperative opened the event.

Guest Speaker, Kyam Maher MLC, SA Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney General, and Minister for Industrial Relations spoke about South Australia’s historic leadership in social change, and updated everyone on South Australia’s First Nations Voice to Parliament. We look forward to an historic occasion, in early December 2024, when members of South Australia’s Voice to Parliament will address a joint sitting of Parliament.

Guest Speaker Senator Penny Wong, Leader of the Government in the Senate, Minister for Foreign Affairs reflected upon the formative impact that Pat Dodson and Linda Burney had on shaping her perceptions. The history of indigenous Australia is deep and wide. If we (all Australians) allow ourselves to be led and shaped by Australia’s First Nations’ cultures then we will reshape our narrative of what it means to be Australian. Our history will be measured within the ancient land of Australia through eternal song lines, rather than counted by boats.

A panel of four First Nations people: Lou Turner (Pitjantjatjara man living, working, parenting on Peramangk and Kaurna Country) Deanne Hanchant-Nichols (Ngarrindjeri woman – Tanganekald/Ramindjeri and Human Resource Specialist Manager at CSIRO), Elijah Bravington (Arabana man, signatory of the Statement, filmmaker, environmental manager and community development), and Courtney Hunter-Hebberman (Peramangk/Narriindjeri Mamalu woman, News Reporter and Biocultural Ecologist) each spoke about what being an Ally meant to them.

Some key take-aways from this discussion were

• How do we (non-indigenous Australian Allies) lead from beside or behind First Nations people rather than from in-front?
• Don’t be afraid to challenge rules and status quo. The current system is not working for First Nations people.
• Listen to First Nations stories. The truth is often very hard to hear but it must be heard.
• Well done for the growing support from people who are aligning as allies of First Nations. This is very heartening, especially after the referendum rejection.

Close to the Bone

This poignant documentary film featured at History Week Event on Sunday 12 May 2024, hosted by the Unley Uluru Statement from the Heart Support Group.

Can the scars of past atrocities be reconciled and healed through the act of truth-telling?

When Blackwood resident, Mike Brown delved into his family history, he uncovered more than he bargained for! This documentary is confronting in its truth-telling of Mike’s ancestors’ interactions with the Adnyamathanha people of the Flinders Ranges. A link to this video is available to view FREE for a limited time on Ronin Films website. Click on the tab for more information and to view or purchase the video.

Colin Clarke Art Exhibition: Telling Truth

The Unley Uluru Statement from the Heart Support Group proudly hosted an Art Exhibition of Colin Clarke from Sunday 13 August to Sunday 20 August 2023 at the Unley Uniting Church.

Colin describes his work, Telling Truth:

“I started painting in the early 2000s to express the natural wonders, stories, events, and social justice issues that I experienced while travelling Australia. The social justice issues “focused to become the injustices that we the colonisers created in this land.” This journey of awakening has led me to acknowledge the injustices as being true, and to own them as being part of my country’s cultural history. In so doing it allowed my journey to start toward the healing of relationships with the First Nations People, and with the land, fauna, and flora I now call home.”

Below is a video of Colin describing one of his pieces of art: Our Massacres at an exhibition in Western Australia in 2018.

History Festival: The Wonder of the ongoing Presence of First Nations Peoples

21 May 2023. Celebrating the recovery of the living language of the Kaurna First Nations, discovering Kaurna culture, and learning about the historic request for First nations people to have a voice enshrined in the constitution. Guest Speakers included:

Gerhard Ruediger, worked with a team at University of Adelaide (2012-2015) to recover the Kaurna language.

Elijah Bravington: Arabana man, signatory of the Statement, filmmaker, environmental manager and community development.

History is Calling

17 March 2023. More than 400 people attended this vibrant event to learn more about the Uluru Statement from the Heart, what is the Voice and why we need a referendum.

Welcome to Country: Kelli Owen, a Kaurna, Narungga and Ngarrindjeri woman, and Coordinator of the National Indigenous Kidney Transplantation Task force

Special Guest: Teela Reid, a Wiradjuri and Wailwan woman, Harvard graduate, and First Nations Lawyer

Other speakers: Dale Agius, Sally Scales and Elijah Bravington