A Decolonial Dreaming
2019, book chapter and tool for Indigenous youth empowerment, AUS/ ITA
Role: Co-lead researcher with Gracie Gibson
The piece “A Decolonial Dreaming” is expected to take form in two contexts: firstly as a chapter in the book Myth and History in Postcolonial Consciousness: The Politics of Theory and Praxis (Eds: Arti Nirmal and Sayan Dey); and secondly as a tool to restore empowerment and confidence in Indigenous Youth by understanding themselves, the (de)colonial impacts on their daily lives, and their connection to the Songlines. It is a collaboratively authored piece that hopes to contribute to the revival of the Australian Indigenous Dreaming and global decolonisation. Since colonial remnants continue to impact the agency of Australian Indigenous lives today – such as the collective low self-esteem and shame of Indigenous People (Louth, 2012) – and in the context of the decolonial movement, we are attempting to create an inclusive space of belonging for Indigenous and non-Indigenous allies to reclaim the Dreaming by collectively singing a new Songline into being. From the piece’s Abstract:
“Here, we bring forth and sing a new Songline that traces our shared becoming in belonging. Together we trace Creation, our ancestors’ stories, the impact of colonisation on them, and the intergenerational impacts on us. We sing this Songline to pave a safe space for inclusion and agency across the Indigenous/ non-Indigenous systemic divide.”
We are two non-conventional Australian scholars: an Indigenous Australian-Fijian high school student and an independent interdisciplinary researcher and consultant, previously based at Concordia University.