International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples Symposium

Every day, until 10 Aug 2022
10:30am - 3pm
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Woodward Conference Room, Melbourne Law Building (106), 10th Floor, 185 Pelham Street, Carlton, VIC 3053

Map

More Information

indigenous-knowledge@unimelb.edu.au

The recordings of the 2022 International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples Symposium can now be watched online.

Please join the Indigenous Knowledge Institute to celebrate the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples on August 9 and 10.

The International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples marks the day of the first meeting, in 1982, of the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations of the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights.

To recognise this day, the Indigenous Knowledge Institute is hosting a two-day symposium to showcase and celebrate a variety of Indigenous knowledges from across the University of Melbourne and the community. We will discuss ways to draw Indigenous knowledges into different areas including policy, health, justice, and education.

The event will be delivered both in-person and online and will be Auslan interpreted.

Schedule

Further information about the schedule and speakers will be added as it is confirmed. All times below are in Australian Eastern Standard Time.

Tuesday 9 August - convert to your timezone

10:30 AM    -    Introduction and housekeeping
10:45 AM    -    Keynote: "Journey to the opening of the Gumbaynggirr Giingana Freedom School" — Clark Webb
Clark will talk about the journey to opening the Gumbaynggirr Giingana Freedom School, the first bilingual Aboriginal school in New South Wales, and aspirations for the future.
11:30 AM    -    "Treating infections though First Nations healing and medicine" — Professor Diane Kerr OAM
This presentation will discuss approaches to infection management and antibiotics in First Nations medicine and healing in Victoria. It will consider the possible benefits for First Nations people of antimicrobial stewardship, and the potential accessibility of First Nations antimicrobial treatments in Victoria’s current health services. Professor Kerr is a senior Kulin leader and works an Indigenous Knowledge Institute Fellow at the University of Melbourne.
11:50 AM    -    Panel discussion: "Employing Indigenous Knowledges to Understand the Intersection Between Health and Justice" — Warwick Padgham, Eddie Cubillo, Jaynaya Dwyer
This panel examines the intersection of the health and justice systems to show how Indigenous knowledge can challenge siloed deficit-based health and justice models and champion innovative approaches and outcomes. The panel will discuss how Indigenous knowledge can inform the development of strengths-based and future-oriented health justice practice models for the benefit of Indigenous people and the broader Australian community. Health and Justice is a Research Theme program funded by the Indigenous Knowledge Institute at the University of Melbourne. 
12:30 PM    -    Lunch
1:30 PM      -    "Traditional Knowledge in Fiji for Anticipating, Averting and Accommodating Environmental Risk" — Professor Patrick Nunn, Roselyn Kumar, Taniela Bolea
People have lived on islands in the western Pacific Ocean for more than three thousand years, developing robust sets of site-specific protocols for anticipating environmental risk (including weather, earthquake, and eruption prediction) that spawned practices for averting risk (such as structures, rituals, and propitiatory behaviours) and accommodating risk (such as optimal settlement location, food-surplus production, and food preservation).
1:50 PM      -    Panel discussion: "Using Indigenous Knowledge to Manage Healthy Country" — Associate Professor Michael-Shawn Fletcher, Maddison Miller, Dr Jack Pascoe, Matt Shanks
This panel asks what constitutes 'Healthy Country' and discusses the design and efficacy of Healthy Country management plans. The panel will consider how Healthy Country management plans can empower Indigenous communities and the broader Australian community. Healthy Country is a Research Theme program funded by the Indigenous Knowledge Institute at the University of Melbourne.
2:30 PM      -    Closing statements and afternoon tea
3:00 PM      -    End

Wednesday 10 August - convert to your timezone

10:30 AM    -    Introduction and housekeeping
10:45 AM    -    Keynote: "Journey to treaty with the First Peoples' Assembly of Victoria" — Troy McDonald
11:30 AM    -    "Ngapangimarri ngini waliwalinga ngirramini: How Ants can Inform Land Use and Management on the Tiwi Islands" — Kinjia Munkara-Murray
This talk will present a case study from the Tiwi Islands where Indigenous knowledge is being applied to research ant biodiversity. It will discuss the research project and where it sits within the Tiwi knowledge framework, and describe the benefits of this study to local decision-making bodies.
11:50 AM    -    Panel discussion: "Prompting Indigenous Culture, Land & Heritage with Indigenous Knowledge" — Associate Professor Lisa Palmer, Professor Barry Judd, Dr Kirsty Sword Gusmao, Professor Rachel Nordlinger
This panel considers how Indigenous knowledge practices can be better supported and applied in contemporary contexts to strengthen and sustain the overall diversity of Indigenous cultures and languages. The panel will investigate how Indigenous knowledge can be adapted with the guidance of senior Indigenous knowledge holders to meet social, environmental and economic challenges of global significance. Culture and Heritage is a Research Theme program funded by the Indigenous Knowledge Institute at the University of Melbourne.
12:30 PM    -    Lunch
1:30 PM      -   "Cooking the kangaroo: Shaping mutual responsibility through songlines" — Professor Wanta Pawu

This presentation will examine Aboriginal songlines as a way of exploring connections between diverse people and places across Australia, utilising traditional Indigenous methods of inquiry. It will reflect critically on songlines as a strategy for shaping shared identities and mutual responsibility between diverse peoples in Australia. Professor Pawu is an experienced Warlpiri leader and works an Indigenous Knowledge Institute Fellow at the University of Melbourne.
1:50 PM      -    "The Meaning of Decoloniality in the Repatriation of Naga Ancestral Remains" — Dr Dolly Kikon
This talk will dwell on the ongoing dialogues and reflective journey between the Naga Research Team and the Pitt Rivers Museum at Oxford University. It will address issues of repatriation of approximately 213 Naga ancestral human remains currently housed in the Pitt Rivers Museum and illustrate how Indigenous collections across museums informs us about ongoing colonial violence and trauma among Indigenous communities.
2:10 PM      -    "How Yolŋu knowledge informs creative innovation" — Professor Brian Djangirrawuy Gumbula
This presentation will discuss the Yolŋu Manikay tradition of song and dance, and its centrality to maintaining and understanding Yolŋu culture in North-east Arnhem Land. It shows how contemporary Yolŋu  creative practices build on knowledge held and transmitted through the Manikay tradition in a range of innovative ways. Professor Gumbula is a senior Yolŋu leader and works an Indigenous Knowledge Institute Fellow at the University of Melbourne.
2:30 PM      -    Closing statements and afternoon tea
3:00 PM      -    End of event

COVID-19

Complete a symptom self-assessment prior to leaving home. Do not come to the event if you are unwell, even with very mild symptoms.

Do not come to the event if you are required to isolate or quarantine for any reason and/or awaiting results of a COVID-19 test. You are also encouraged to reconsider your need to attend this event if you are a household contact / close contact.

While face masks are not currently required (except for household contacts / close contacts, who must wear one on campus), we strongly encourage you to wear one. You should also respect other people’s decisions to wear a mask in settings where it is not mandatory.

Physically distance from others where possible.

Let the organiser know immediately if you become unwell during the event/meeting.

If you test positive to COVID-19 in the 48 hours following this event, please notify the University’s Public Health Network and the event organiser as soon as possible.

If someone who attends the event subsequently tests positive, it will be listed on the COVID-19 cases on campus webpage. Attendees are encouraged to monitor this site following the event for information related to any potential exposures to COVID-19 at this event.