Art is an important pillar in the lives of the Aboriginal people - Photo:pixabay
Dr Miriam-Rose Ungunmerr Baumann AM, Senior Australian of the Year for 2021, is a Nauiyu Elder, educator, activist and artist. In 1998 the Miriam-Rose Foundation was set up to help create brighter futures for Aboriginal children and youth in the Daly River area of the Northern Territory. At the 2021 Australia Day Awards Ceremony, Professor Judy Atkinson AM, Bundjalung and Jiman Elder, introduced the work of the Miriam-Rose Foundation which is based on the pillars of art, culture, education and opportunity. Professor Atkinson said that listening is a very important part of Aboriginal people’s lives and the work of the Foundation. “Living on this continent, we’ve learnt to listen since our earliest times, listening to our Elders, listening to our youth.” In her acceptance speech, Dr Miriam-Rose said Dadirri, the practice of deep listening in the Ngan’gikurunggurr and Ngen’giwumirri languages is “our Aboriginal spirituality.” Dr Miriam-Rose implored Australians with these words, “Healing, it’s part of Dadirri, you’ve got to slow down, and listen. You’ve got to feel it, and you’ll have a better understanding and open heart. The Spirit, Dadirri gives us the opportunity to be able to walk together in peace.”
As we move further into 2022, the invitation of Dr Miriam-Rose to deep listening, and journeying together towards justice and peace for all, continues to offer great wisdom, direction and hope in the ongoing work that is before us.
Professor Atkinson said that Dr Miriam-Rose has put out the invitation to deep listening to all Australians, about “who we are, who we have been, what we are now and what we can become.” She also stated, “I don’t think Australians have heard fully the pain and distress that Aboriginal people have suffered in this country. Non-Aboriginal people in Australia also carry their own pain, their own trauma.” Professor Atkinson explained “Dadirri doesn’t just happen out in the bush, it happens everywhere, anywhere, on the beach, out on the street, sitting listening and talking to each other… as we do that across this country, healing starts to happen because every person wants to be heard, wants to be listened too.”
The Uluru Statement from the Heart written in 2017, is a message to the Australian people from Indigenous Australians. Its underlying themes are voice, treaty and truth. The Statement calls for the establishment of a “First Nations Voice enshrined in the Constitution” and a “Makarrata Commission to supervise a process of agreement-making between governments and First Nations and truth-telling about our history.” Archbishop Mark Coleridge publicly endorsed the Uluru Statement from the Heart following a Mass at the Santa Teresa Spirituality Centre in Ormiston Queensland, in 2021. Cathnews, a service of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, reported the Archbishop said, “I call on all people of goodwill and good intention to support the journey of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, by endorsing the Uluru Statement from the Heart and putting it into action in every way possible.” St Columbans Mission Society supports this call and the Churches endorsement of the Statement.
As we move further into 2022, the invitation of Dr Miriam-Rose to deep listening, and journeying together towards justice and peace for all, continues to offer great wisdom, direction and hope in the ongoing work that is before us.
Sr Caroline Vaitkunas RSM, Peace, Ecology and Justice Team member, Columban Mission Centre, Essendon.
