'Acknowledgement of Country' in the workplace

[MC Bad Genius]

We do an Acknowledgement of Country at the start of every formal meeting we have at work - our work is with refugees, people seeking asylum and other migrants, so it's actually quite a good reminder that the delineation between "Australians" and "new migrants" is rather moot in the grand scheme of things. In my role, there's often people in meetings from all across the country, so it's often encouraged for people to share what traditional lands they're attending the meeting from, which I find genuinely interesting. I was working from my in-laws' place a couple of months ago and the traditional lands there are contested, so it lead me to look a bit deeper into the history of the area. I think it's great!

 

[craigos]

How do people feel about a welcome to country being performed on the high seas (technically in Australian waters it has to be said)?

 

[the_interloper]

How do people feel about a welcome to country being performed on the high seas (technically in Australian waters it has to be said)?

They often refer to “the land” in a Welcome to Country don’t they? Would they change to “water”? Or “H2O” to make sure it’s legit?

 

[the_interloper]

One of my mates had to do a "Welcome to Country" for a work dinner last week. Now this bloke is smart but rarely serious, I'd find it funny enough to witness him in a work setting let alone seeing him acknowledge the traditional owners of the land, I'd kill for a video of it.

 

[dumb]

How do people feel about a welcome to country being performed on the high seas (technically in Australian waters it has to be said)?

The first Australians were here during the ice ages, with the sea levels much lower and therefore land was much further out than we're familiar with today.
From that perspective it makes some sense. I'm not familiar with any history passed down regarding this though, not familiar enough with it.

 

[Caesar]

How do people feel about a welcome to country being performed on the high seas (technically in Australian waters it has to be said)?

makes sense to me… the indigenous concept of land is more akin to ‘ecosystem’ than physical earth anyway

 

[Frank Bunn]

How do people feel about a welcome to country being performed on the high seas (technically in Australian waters it has to be said)?

The common narrative is that a visitor to a particular tribe's land would sit outside it and light a fire to signal their request to enter. A fire lit in response would indicate approval and welcome from the land owning group. It would unfeasible to conduct this at sea and it would be unclear where any tribal boundaries lie.

WtC and AoC performed on the high seas are as valid or as nonsense as those performed on land. They are modern invented, symbolic gestures that have fairly tenuous links to the past.

 

[craigos]

The common narrative is that a visitor to a particular tribe's land would sit outside it and light a fire to signal their request to enter. A fire lit in response would indicate approval and welcome from the land owning group. It would unfeasible to conduct this at sea and it would be unclear where any tribal boundaries lie.

WtC and AoC performed on the high seas are as valid or as nonsense as those performed on land. They are modern invented, symbolic gestures that have fairly tenuous links to the past.

The waring mobs is something that I wish I knew more about or there was more information readily available. The differences in languages alone between those living within hundreds of kilometres is fascinating. Was almost like Australia was Europe pre white man but finding information about the mob on mob killing is something if anyone has any links to I'd love to read about.

 

[rank and file]

The waring mobs is something that I wish I knew more about or there was more information readily available. The differences in languages alone between those living within hundreds of kilometres is fascinating. Was almost like Australia was Europe pre white man but finding information about the mob on mob killing is something if anyone has any links to I'd love to read about.

William Buckley has some reported eyewitness accounts of tribal interactions.

 

[Chief]

invented

Like everything is?

 

[craigos]

William Buckley has some reported eyewitness accounts of tribal interactions.

Roughly a year after he escaped from the convict settlement at Sullivan Bay, William Buckley met two Aboriginal women from the Wathaurung people. The women thought Buckley was the reincarnated spirit of their kinsman – possibly because Buckley was carrying his spear which he had found near the Indigenous man's burial mound.

The women took Buckley back to their camp, where he lived for the next 32 years. He became a respected member of the Wathaurung community, with Aborigines from other areas even recognising him as one of the Wathaurung tribe. He learnt to hunt and gather food, and was a local expert when it came to fishing:

"After a few years residence among the natives I could speak the language quite well – when I had attained this knowledge of their tongue, I was fast losing my own"

After 10 minutes reading about this dude how is there not a movie made about him.

 

[rank and file]

After 10 minutes reading about this dude how is there not a movie made about him

Got Buckley's that'll happen.

 

[footyfan1978]

After 10 minutes reading about this dude how is there not a movie made about him.

I'm sure there is Aussie shows or movies with this character in it, even if the actual movie is not about him.
Sure I seen the character at some point but cannot pinpoint when and where, which probably means seen it somewhere as a kid.

 

[footyfan1978]

 

[footyfan1978]

 

[rank and file]

Grew up about 10ks from Buckley's Falls,best cool down spot in summer,never went there in
winter.
Always the word was that nobody had touched the bottom of the swimming hole.

 

[freddy mercury]

Not for me, I don't want to feel like I'm not welcomed in my own country where my ancestors were all born and raised.

It's enough that we get it at sporting events, on tax invoices, on TV, just needs to stop, I know the story behind it, it's a terrible event that happened, it's a tragedy.

 

[Gralin]

Not for me, I don't want to feel like I'm not welcomed in my own country where my ancestors were all born and raised.

It's enough that we get it at sporting events, on tax invoices, on TV, just needs to stop, I know the story behind it, it's a terrible event that happened, it's a tragedy.

Your ancestors were all born here?

 

[Rotayjay]

I think doing it on a regular basis (like in a weekly meeting) is good. I think doing it every day (like in daily meetings or, bizarrely, in one-on-one meetings) does more harm than good because it becomes mere noise and dilutes the meaning.

 

[freddy mercury]

I think doing it on a regular basis (like in a weekly meeting) is good. I think doing it every day (like in daily meetings or, bizarrely, in one-on-one meetings) does more harm than good because it becomes mere noise and dilutes the meaning.

Why? How many times do you need to do it? Do it once, acknowledge, carry on with life.

 

[kickazz]

I think doing it on a regular basis (like in a weekly meeting) is good. I think doing it every day (like in daily meetings or, bizarrely, in one-on-one meetings) does more harm than good because it becomes mere noise and dilutes the meaning.

Too often and it's almost like it's replacing religion as a pervasive ritual that may become perfunctory over time. Compare saying grace before meals, morning prayers, etc.

 

[Xtreme]

I think doing it on a regular basis (like in a weekly meeting) is good. I think doing it every day (like in daily meetings or, bizarrely, in one-on-one meetings) does more harm than good because it becomes mere noise and dilutes the meaning.

Should be just once a year, no need to do it at the drop of a hat.

 

[Brad Goodman]

I actually don’t know whether I’ve heard one in a professional setting (probably have, but any work meeting is pretty much a signal for my brain to shut off for the allotted time).

 

[MC Extra Dollop]

I like it when it's heartfelt. It's pretty standard where I've worked for large gatherings/events and any full team meetings or a meeting where minutes are taken. I think normalising it helps in the grand scheme of moving towards reconciliation and progressing Aboriginal people's rights, we have a lot of catching up to do, in my opinion. When people follow up the standard parts with a bit about their own connection with the land and the history, that's where it really makes it a worthwhile exercise.

I think it certainly helps in the sense that we may not actually know that a work colleague is Aboriginal, because they don't "look Aboriginal". In that sense I see it as similar to publicising your preferred pronouns (which I've recently started doing), even if it's precisely the pronouns that people would use for me anyway. It's about demonstrating that you're inclusive and embraced everyone in the workplace, to encourage them the bring their whole selves to work.

I've just started a secondment for another organisation and they also do the Acknowledgement for their big weekly meeting. I've been pretty blown away by my new manager and everyone who's had a crack so far, not just sticking to the no frills script, but having to ask the person who's sharing their screen with the agenda to scroll over so they can read the script off the screen word-for-word. When it gets to that level, honestly what's the point? Is an Aboriginal person in the meeting going to be touched by that Acknowledgement?

 

[Kram]

I'd prefer companies you know actually do something to help Indigenous Australians, throwing out a few tokenistic words before a meeting is pointless.