Tag: First Peoples

In September, UnitingCare West released their innovative Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP).

The RAP recognises the “special and unique spiritual connection to lands, waters and country” of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. UnitingCare West also acknowledges that policies and exclusionary experiences of the past have had negative impacts on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. This plan is a tool for addressing areas to improve and invest in, in order for UnitingCare West to deliver services  in a culturally appropriate way and to ensure that it is a place where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people feel welcome as clients, volunteers and staff.

The current RAP Working Group will continue meeting until the end of 2018. The goal actions in the RAP are diverse,serving different, specific purposes from developing mutually beneficial relationships with  Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to investigating opportunities to improve and increase their employment outcomes within the UnitingCare West workplace.

It is a beautiful piece of our God’s creation.  The Moore River meandering by, tall timbers rising up from the valley floor; Indigenous trees and foreign plants make a bold statement.  This is Mogumber WA, land of the Yuet people – a people who have long cherished this place since.

Buildings, once alive with human endeavour, lie silent.  A testimony to non-Indigenous hopes, with many Indigenous and non-Indigenous dreams, shattered.  Amongst the foundations of wholeness and hope arising from the good news of Jesus, there remains a trail of loss and trial.

Earnest human beings (some voluntarily and many involuntarily) investing years of their lives, looking to share and relate in an enabling Christ-like way.  There are good stories; there is also much grief.

The Mogumber burial site is a sacred place.  Many lives being remembered and honoured.  The Yuet people join with Indigenous people from across Western Australia in being custodians of this site, on behalf of many families.

In 2016 we look forward to a casual beginning, of revisiting this special place called Mogumber.

Perth Theological Hall (PTH) and the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress WA (UAICC) are holding a course on Covenanting and Building Relationships with First Peoples.

While part of a requirement for ministers seeking admission to the Uniting Church, it is open for everyone to attend and will provide a sound introduction to the Uniting Church’s covenantal relationship with the First Peoples of Australia.

Held over two days, from Tuesday 30 to Wednesday 31 August, the course will strengthen and build relationships between members of the wider church and the UAICC. Stories around the campfire will enhance the experience.

The first day will be an immersion experience, engaging with Aboriginal spirituality, laws and customs, as well as sharing experiences of being Aboriginal in today’s Australia.

The second day will focus on history, including Australia’s treatment of Indigenous people, the Stolen Generations and the formation of the UAICC in the Uniting Church.

Rev Emeritus Prof Bill Loader, principal of Perth Theological Hall, said that the course is an opportunity for Uniting Church members to remember our past and look forward along our covenanting journey into the future.

A late winter storm did not deter an enthusiastic crowd from gathering in the St Andrews Presbyterian Hall in Pier St, Perth in August 1910. The occasion was the first anniversary of the Dulhi Gunyah Orphanage and the minister, Rev Adolphus Summer Cloud James, was among the speakers.

The Dulhi Gunyah Orphanage had been established in East Perth in 1909 by the Australian Aborigines’ Mission (AAM), a non-denominational faith mission based in New South Wales.

Mary Fox Angelo was the first secretary of the local committee. Mary was the widow of Colonel Edward Fox Angelo, one of the first trustees of the Presbyterian Church in Western Australia. Perhaps it was her Presbyterian connection that led to the St Andrews Church Hall being the location for every Dulhi Gunyah anniversary service.

The Australian Aborigines’ Mission initially planned to work in the north of Western Australia. The committee altered its plans at the suggestion of Chief Protector Gale and agreed to provide accommodation for Aboriginal children of mixed descent. In 1911, a property of approximately 12 acres, with a weatherboard cottage, was purchased in Victoria Park and Dulhi Gunyah relocated to the more suitable site.