A new discovery tool is being used to showcase Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander resources in Library collections as part of a project to increase access and visibility of these important materials. This activity supports the 2021 NAIDOC Week theme, Heal Country!
The collections will be launched as part of UQ's NAIDOC Festival, 2-6 August.
First Nations cultural knowledge
NAIDOC 2021 offers all people the opportunity to embrace First Nations cultural knowledge and understanding of Country as part of Australia's national heritage, and to respect the culture and values of Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islanders equally with the cultures and values of all Australians.
This year’s NAIDOC Week theme, Heal Country!, resonates strongly with this project:
- Healing Country cannot occur without embracing, uplifting, and embedding First Nations cultural knowledge and understanding of Country
- More than a place, Country is inherent to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander identity
- In a sense, Country offers sustenance in every aspect: spiritually, physically, emotionally, socially, and culturally
- Healing Country means resolving many of the outstanding injustices that impact upon the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and to move forward with truth-telling
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander collections
The Library has embarked on a project to increase access and visibility of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander resources in general and special collections. Increasing the discovery of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander materials with varying perspectives has the potential to contribute to the educational experience of all UQ students.
UQ students and staff will be able to search a range of curated collections that contribute to truth-telling. Embedding and increasing access to these perspectives will help students to have a more accurate and richer understanding of Australia’s history and culture, supporting a more reconciled Australia.
The collections we have chosen to showcase include:
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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages – this collection includes more than 250 Indigenous languages, also known as AUSTLANG, including 800 dialects that connect people to Country, culture, and ancestors
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Activism and resistance – this collection shows how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have been fighting injustice and misconceptions since European arrival, and how activism and resistance led by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island grassroots campaigns have brought about change
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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander authors – this collection celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander authors, who are a part of the oldest living culture and original storytellers
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Images – this collection includes photographs celebrating the memories, people, places, events, and objects of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures
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Yarns and spoken memories – whether it be written, spoken, performed, or produced, exchanging stories is the oldest form of sharing culture and knowledge and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have been sharing their stories and yarning for 65,000 years or more; this collection amplifies their voices
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Non-Indigenous representations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures – this collection will raise awareness of how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are some of the most researched communities from a point of view not necessarily their own
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Torres Strait Islands – this collection showcases the unique culture, linguistic, and geographic qualities of the Torres Strait Islands, which are distinct and different from Aboriginal Australia
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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander library guides – these guides have been developed out of respect, to assist with the inclusion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledges and perspectives in curriculum and teaching practices
Participate in this project
This project is likely to grow with the additions of new collections as work progresses.
We invite you to provide feedback or suggest specific material to add to these curated collections by contacting the Library's Reconciliation Action Manager, Mia Strasek-Barker, E: m.strasekbarker@uq.edu.au