.

Zart Extra Term 4 2009

Indigenous Studies

Knox Garden Pre-School

This year, as I was trialling the new national framework in relation to Indigenous and multicultural issues, I started using the Zart Art Indigenous Art Pack images at the beginning of the year.

In the past I have used them later in the year. However using them at the beginning of the year has been so successful that I will continue to do this in the future.

These images are a fantastic way to impart knowledge about Koori art and culture to both parents and children.

Initially I put up a poster in the foyer with signage for the parents to read so that they too would be able to learn about Koori art and culture. The image was in the foyer for a week and then brought into the room, with simpler signage for the children and the children were told the story at relaxation time accompanied by didgeridoo music.

This is an example of the signage I put up for parents: (This was taken straight from the Teachers Notes)
‘Barnumbirr Manikay 1’ tells the story of how the Murrungun/Djinang world was made.
The creator Djangkawu released the world from one of two eggs. The first world was bad, so he cracked the second egg and the world was made, in flood. Today, raw eggs are symbolic of the new flooded world, and cooked eggs are symbolic of when the floods had receded and the land came into being. The yolk became solid and became land, and the white flowed away and became the sea.

Djangkawu and his son, Mambu and his two daughters the Djangkawa sisters sent a messenger, Malawurrwurr (Mukarr) to observe the new world and to report back to them. Mukarr was unaware that the reason he was sent was to sing all the living things in the new world, to name them and give them dance. Watched closely by Djangkawu and his children, Mukarr was being tested to see whether or not he could obey himself the laws he was teaching and be considered worthy of being accepted into the spiritual world. ‘Barnumbirr Manikay 1’ shows Mukarr arriving in the new world surrounded by all the living things.

Below is an example of the signage I put up for the children it is, of course, simplified for them:
The Creator Djangkawu made the world from an egg. He cracked the egg and the yolk became the land and the white flowed away and became the sea. Djangkawu and his son, Mambu and his two daughters, the Djangkawu sisters sent a messenger, Mukarr, to look at the world they had made. This is Mukarr in the painting and it is his job to name all the living things and teach them their own dances.

People who come from Arnhem Land call themselves Yolngu.
We added a new image every week until all the images had been displayed on the wall of the playroom. They will remain on the wall for the rest of the year. The children were fascinated and every time a new image was put on the wall they noticed it immediately and ask for the new story.

One of the final images I introduced to the children mentioned red ochre. We were fortunate to have some red ochre which a child had brought back from the Northern Territory. We ground the ochre with the children and they made their own paint. They then painted images in the red ochre on small pieces of card. Without being told to do so the children gained inspiration from the images on the wall and we had some really creative art works about ‘Mukarr’, Michael Nelson Jagamara’s Yam designs and the design of the Koori flag seen in Lin Onus’ work ‘We Have Survived’.

Recently we have introduced more detailed learning about Aboriginal culture and the children already knew a great deal and were very eager to learn more because of their experiences with the images in the Indigenous Art Pack.

I have found the pack to be of invaluable assistance as a starting point in teaching the children and parents about Aboriginal culture. I feel this is something that is extremely important as it is only with education of all Australians that we can hope to begin to overcome the negative perceptions that are still present in our society.

Jo Onus
Knox Gardens Pre School

Download a PDF version of this article

 

© Copyright Zart Art 2009

Key words: Zart Extra, newsletter, article, school projects, teacher resource,