NAIDOC Week

Held in the first week of July, NAIDOC Week is a time to celebrate the history, cultures, and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

2022

Science and Culture on Country

This panel was co-presented by the Parliament of Victoria, the Royal Society of Victoria, and the Indigenous Knowledge Institute.

The tradition of Western science is barely 400 years old, but we still call it a tradition. Around the world, a vast number of research institutions maintain learning traditions with this distinctly European cultural legacy. But there are other, valid ways of understanding the world around us.

Join two Wiradjuri scholars — Associate Professor Michael-Shawn Fletcher and Kate Harriden — for a conversation about the exciting opportunities that Aboriginal knowledge offers for urban and regional environmental management.

Across Australia, rich cultural knowledge traditions have been built and adapted over tens of thousands of years by First Peoples. Kate and Michael will discuss how these practices have been disrupted by European principles of land, water, and ecological management, with overwhelmingly poor ecological outcomes observed across the continent.

Western science and Indigenous Knowledge each hold great value and are beginning to find a path to each other. Our two speakers balance the acquisition of specialised Indigenous expertise while observing the disciplinary rigour required from professional research practice.

2021

Healing Country, Healing Futures: Aspirations for Country and Community

The NAIDOC Week yarn was hosted by the Indigenous Knowledge Institute in partnership with the Faculty of Science.

Paris Mordecai is a proud Widjabul woman from the Bundjalung nation in Northern NSW. Paris is the Indigenous Engagement and Outreach Officer for the Faculty of Science where she leads outreach and education programs that aim to engage and inspire young mob with science. She is deeply passionate about Indigenous education and empowerment, working with community, intersectional feminism, and social justice.

Maddison Miller is a Darug woman living on Woi Wurrung Wurundjeri lands. She is a Research Fellow looking at ways of knowing Country in Victoria. She is an audio artist and is currently preparing an installation for “Emu Sky” at Melbourne Uni Old Quad.

Dr Ngaree Blow is a Yorta-Yorta/Noonuccal/Goreng-Goreng woman. Ngaree is the Director of First Nations Health for medical education at the University of Melbourne as well as a Director of the Australian Indigenous Doctors' Association. She has been working with the COVID-19 response team as a Public Health Registrar in the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services.

Professor Barry Judd is the Director of Indigenous Studies at the University of Melbourne. His PhD thesis ‘Australian Game, Australian Identity: (Post)colonial Identity in Football’ explored formations of identity in the sport of Australian (Rules) Football. Barry has previously held positions as Lecturer and Senior Lecturer at the Centre for Indigenous Australian Studies at Monash University from 2001 and 2011.

Jefa Greenaway is a Wailwan/Kamilaroi man. He is a Senior Lecturer at the Melbourne School of Design and is founding Director of Greenaway Architects, as well as a regular design commentator on ABC Radio Melbourne. Jefa has championed Indigenous-led design thinking for over 25 years, including as co-founder of Indigenous Architecture + Design Victoria (with Rueben Berg), and as co-author of the acclaimed ‘International Indigenous Design Charter’, and as a registered architect in NSW and Victoria.

Enterprise Professor Bruce Pascoe is a Yuin, Bunurong, and Tasmanian man. He has published 36 book including Dark Emu which won the NSW Premier's Award for Literature in 2016 and Young Dark Emu which won the both the Booksellers Association Prize and the CBCA Non-fiction award in 2020. He has published numerous essays and journalism both in Australia and overseas. Bruce is also a farmer and grows Australian Aboriginal Grains and tubers. He is a Board Member of First Languages Australia, Black Duck Foods, and Twofold Aboriginal Corporation.