My Place

1. My Place Objectives: For students to develop an understanding of “place” within students’ local community area. To identify the physical, spiritual and emotional connection between people, place and country for Aboriginal people, and the close relationship Aboriginal people have between family, traditions, place and “country”. Amanda Sullivan

2. MyPlace • As a class, brainstorm where your favourite place may be. • What makes your home special?

3. MyPlace • Activity: In your journals write a description of your favourite place. • What does it look like? • What does it smell like? • What feelings do you have when you think about your favourite place? • Who lives there or works there? • Is there a name for your place? • Is your place somewhere where other people can go?

4. Where is my Place? • Why do places have names? Discuss . (Note that Australia did not have an Aboriginal name, neither did the States or Territories. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples had names for their language areas or local groups.) Jackadgery

5. Blank Map of Australia • On the Blank map of Australia label the States, Territories and our local place of Grafton.

7. Aboriginal Place names Aboriginal place names are very old. Place names are an important part of Aboriginal culture. After white people came to Australia, many places were named after prospectors, geologists, explorers, royal celebrities, family members etc. Aboriginal place names are very, very old. Place names were an important part of Aboriginal culture. If you knew the place names and how they connected you could walk the country and orientate yourself. After invasion many places were named after prospectors, geologists, explorers, royal celebrities family members. Many Aboriginal place names have been subsequently lost or are in danger of being forgotten. Since the beginning of the 1900’s more place names are being reclaimed and receive back their Aboriginal name, or a dual name, where the Aboriginal name is added to the European name. One such place is Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock. It became known again as Uluru in 1993. Aboriginal place names reclaimed. Ayers Rock was renamed to Uluru in late 1993 and has become the dominant name for this place since. Since the 2000s more and more place names are being reclaimed and receive back their original Aboriginal name or a dual name, where the Aboriginal name is added to the European name. The most prominent example is Uluru. Previously known as Ayers Rock its Aboriginal name Uluru was re-introduced on 15 December 1993 with the dual name ‘Ayers Rock/Uluru’, reversed to ‘Uluru/Ayers Rock’ on 6 November 2002. Read more: http://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/language/aboriginal-place- names#ixzz2pm04E8g2 <http://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/language/aboriginal-place-names>

8. Map of Indigenous Australia. Can you see what area you live in? What is the indigenous name?

9. Our Local Place Activities Invite a representative from the local Aboriginal community to speak about the local 
area, to develop an awareness of the sites important to the community. Label our maps with Aboriginal language area, as well as the English name. Groups and communities are identified by practices, symbols, celebrations and 
families that reflect their values, beliefs and sense of belonging. In Australia there are around 300 Aboriginal Countries. These Countries have their own Language.

10. What is Place? All Aboriginal people belong to a place they call Country. The area of land, river and sea is the traditional land of each Aboriginal Language group or community. An aboriginal person is "on country" when they 
are in "their country or area". When they are "off country" they live in another 
area but still have a connection with their place! Activity: Read Connie Ah See's "What is Place?" Discuss country and how we can care for country. How is country important for Aboriginal people? Moleville Rocks. Grafton. NSW. Traditional area.

11. What is Place? by Connie Ah See 1.We look after our Country in special ways. Sometimes, ‘looking after Country’ means just going back there to clean the bush and the river. It means looking after my people too. Looking after Country 
means, most importantly, to keep the special connection with my Country - my special Place and my people. 2. Sometimes when I am sitting alone, I start to think of my Country ... I think of my family, about the kids playing by the river and 
going fishing. I think about Mum talking to us about the old 
times, about our people, and the stories they used to tell. 3. But there won’t be any fishing or playing by the river if we 
don’t look after our Country. There won’t be any stories to tell. 4. Often I visit other places. While in these places I can still see things that remind me of my country: the landscape, the rivers, the trees. Mountains and hills surround my Country; it has lush bushland all around. 5. Talking to other Kooris in the city makes me think of my family back in our Country, our Place. 6. As a small girl, I was shown special places in my Country. My Nan used to tell me stories about those places in our Wiradjuri Country. She would tell all of us about the importance of the old people, 
our Elders, and the Dreaming. 7. The Dreaming to us is all about who we are, how we began 
and how we have survived. 8. One day I might tell you about some of these Dreaming 
stories and then you can help look after my special Place as well as your own special place.

12. Activity: Read book "A is for Aunty" by Elaine Russell. Elaine Russell was born in Tingha, northern New South Wales, in 1941. She spent most of her 
childhood on the Aboriginal mission at Lake Cargelligo, where her father was a handyman. In 1993, 
Elaine enrolled in a visual arts course and was finally able to realise her lifelong ambition to be a 
painter.

13. Activity Look at the following art works (link below for additional works) Ginger Riley Munduwalawala, This is my country – This is my story, 1992, acylic on canvas, 144 x 150 cm, winner of the Alice 
Springs Art Foundation, 1992 http://ab-ed.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/go/aboriginal-art/affirmations-of-identity#gallery

14. Activity: Using the picture samples discuss how the artists have represented their place? Paint your own place, referring back to your journal writing. Ian W Abdulla,. "Bike Riding at night 1994 http://ab-ed.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/go/aboriginal-art/affirmations-of-identity#gallery

15. Celebratingmyplace Activity: Listen to "My island home" by Christine Anu Discuss how she feels about her home, her place. Students show their paintings to the class. Ask them to explain to the class why their place is important to them. My island home by Christine Anu Click here for You tube Link!

16. Optional Activity: This book is an excellent resource if you 
wanted to further study the history of 
Australia using the theme "My Place". Click on the link below for ideas on how to use this resource. http://www.englishliteracyconference.com.au/files/documents/My%20Place%20for%
20Teachers.pdf My place classroom ideas My Place traces the history of one small part of Australia and the people who have lived there, from the Dreaming until the present day. As time folds rhythmically backwards, children describe their homes, their families, their pets, and their special celebrations. The constant sources of 
renewal in the landscape are the big tree and the creek (or canal). Since its first publication, My Place has been a favourite book in many Australian homes and schools. Young people across the country have been 
inspired by the book to write and illustrate their own My Place stories. In print for twenty years, My Place has now been republished by Walker Books in a special 20th Anniversary Edition, with a timeline which brings the history up to 2008.