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Resource 1 - Dust Echoes (Mermaid Story)

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Resource 1 - Dust Echoes (Mermaid Story)

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Resource 1: Dust Echoes (Dreamtime Stories)

The dust echoes (also known as dreamtime stories) are a very valuable resource when teaching young children about Indigenous culture. Dreamtime stories are used to express stories and beliefs of the wide variety of Australian Indigenous groups. It is important to remember that different Indigenous groups have different dreamtime stories based on their beliefs. The Mermaid Story (ABC Education 13 August 2021)is from the Wugularr Community in Arnhem Land which is in the Northern Territory (The Education Shop n.d.). The story has a main theme of friendship but there is also the theme of country throughout the story. The theme of country comes through because during the story when he is underwater with the mermaids, the man realises he is loved and needed so he goes back. He goes back because he feels the pull of family and country which is what motivates him to go up to the surface to be with them again (Games ABC 13 August 2021).

This resource fits into the curriculum under grade 5-6 in both history and english, It connects to the curriculum elaborations: history: The diversity and longevity of Australia’s first peoples and the significant ways Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are connected to Country and Place (land, sea, waterways and skies) and the effects on their daily lives (VCHHK078) and english: Recognise that ideas in literary texts can be conveyed from different viewpoints, which can lead to different kinds of interpretations and responses (VCELT315) (VCAA n.d.). Since this resource is about feeling a pull from the land, it shows a part of the connection that indigenous people feel towards the land they live on. In Uncle Bob’s (Global Oneness Project, 2009) video he mentions “living on the land as people of the land,” this conveys that, for Indigenous people, land isn’t just something they live on but also something they nurture. For the English part of the curriculum, this resource is an example of a story being told from a certain viewpoint and if it came from someone or something else then it may be different. This resource was easy to find curriculum elaborations for as it is a text that can be used across multiple different discipline areas in the curriculum.

This resource fits into the AITSL Standard 2.4: Understand and respect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to promote reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians (AITSL 2017). It fits into all four levels of the standard which is useful for teachers as it can be used by many different teachers that are at different stages of their teaching careers. The point of this standard is to develop an understanding of Indigenous history, culture and language and since this resource is an older story and was traditionally written in an Indigenous language, it suits this standard as it can be accessed by students online.

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Subjects: English, History

Years: 5-6

A songman goes wandering one day and later finds himself living with mermaids under a waterfall.

As time passes, he misses his family terribly and must make a choice. Mermaid Story is a Dhuwa story that's told in the Dalabon language.

Things to think about

1. Looking at an Aboriginal language map of Australia, can you find out where the Dalabon language was spoken? What do you think the country might be like there? Would you expect a story about mermaids to come from this area?

2. What is your interpretation of the story told in the animation? What do you think is the message of the story?

3. How is this story similar or different to other stories you have heard about mermaids?

Teachers

For more information, check out the Mermaid study guide by ATOM.

Acknowledgements

With thanks to the Djilpin Aboriginal Arts Corporation.

Date of broadcast: 18 Dec 2007

Copyright
Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia Ltd 2012 (except where otherwise indicated).
Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated).
Video © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). All images copyright their respective owners.
Text © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia is licenced under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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topic_aboriginal and torres strait islander history and culture

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aboriginal and torres strait islander history and culture

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Subjects: English, History Years: 5-6 As time passes, he misses his family terribly and must make a choice. Mermaid Story is a Dhuwa story that's told in the Dalabon language. Things to think about Looking at an Aboriginal language map of Australia, can you find out where the Dalabon language was spoken?

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This resource is a set of three, 3 minute videos titled “They Have Come to Stay” (Australian Screen 2008) that look into the historical events and beliefs of Indigenous cultures across Australia and then how the arrival of the white men affected their lives. It is a good resource that can be used to show the importance of country in Indigenous culture and what happened when the settlers came. I found this video in a lesson plan online from australianstogether.org (australianstogether n.d.) and it was used at the start of the lesson as an introduction to the topic. The first video in this resource connects to the theme of country and discusses what the Indigenous people think about where they came from. It mentions different “beings that came from the sky, came across the sea and emerged from the earth”, then goes on to talk about how, “with their arrival, the dreaming bagan and life was born.” These direct quotes from this resource show that country is something that has always been at the forefront of Indigenous culture. The resource also talks about how the Indigenous people felt when they first saw the white men and continues on to mention how the Indigenous and settlers danced together and then details a romantic relationship between a settler and a first Australian.

The content description: The significance of Country and Place to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who belong to a local area (VCHHK072) (VCAA n.d.) under the history section of the curriculum suits this resource as both the resource and the content descriptor focus on country and it significance to Indigenous people to belong to that area. This content descriptor sits under the grade 4 section of the curriculum, which is the year level listed on the lesson plan where I found the videos. Even though this resource matches the content descriptor, some of the images displayed in the videos may be a little bit confronting for the year level chosen as they show Indigenous people before colonisation before they had clothes, this is something that may cause a disruption in the classroom as students would be amused by seeing someone with no clothes.

This fits into AITSL standard 2.4 (AITSL 2017) on all four levels as it covers the history and culture of Indigenous people. Using this video provides a way to provide important information and allow the development of an understanding of some of the most important parts of Indigenous culture.

Overall, this resource is good to use in the classroom but some parts may need to be skipped as they contain images that would cause a very disruptive distraction.

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Original classification rating: PG. This clip chosen to be PG

Clip description

Narrator Rachel Perkins re-tells stories from the Dreamtime and historian Professor Marcia Langton of the Yiman-Bidjara Nation, historian Professor Janet McCalman and writer Bruce Pascoe of Boonwurrung Heritage weigh in on the unique prehistory experience of Australian Indigenous peoples.

Curator's notes

The images of the Australian landscape are breathtaking as Perkins recounts the Dreamtime stories. She states that 'in everything they (the giant beings of the Dreaming) touched they left their essence', and you can almost feel it as each story is accompanied by art and images of the land or 'country' they originate from.

Without the luxury of images of life before contact, this period of history is presented through shots of the aforementioned landscape, maps of Aboriginal Nations, and archival photographs of 'traditional' life which were taken over 100 years after contact. Despite such limited resources the filmmakers have made an impressive introduction to the series.

Thanks to the generosity of the rights holders, we are able to offer Life before contact from the documentary First Australians - Episode 1, They Have Come to Stay as a high quality video download.

To play the downloadable video, you need QuickTime 7.0, VLC, or similar.

You must read and agree to the following terms and conditions before downloading the clip:

australianscreen is produced by the National Film and Sound Archive. By using the website you agree to comply with the terms and conditions described elsewhere on this site. The NFSA may amend the 'Conditions of Use' from time to time without notice.

All materials on the site, including but not limited to text, video clips, audio clips, designs, logos, illustrations and still images, are protected by the Copyright Laws of Australia and international conventions.

When you access australianscreen you agree that:

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australianscreen is produced by the National Film and Sound Archive. By using the website you agree to comply with the terms and conditions described elsewhere on this site. The NFSA may amend the 'Conditions of Use' from time to time without notice.

All materials on the site, including but not limited to text, video clips, audio clips, designs, logos, illustrations and still images, are protected by the Copyright Laws of Australia and international conventions.

When you access australianscreen you agree that:

You may retrieve materials for information only.

You may download materials for your personal use or for non-commercial educational purposes, but you must not publish them elsewhere or redistribute clips in any way.

You may embed the clip for non-commercial educational purposes including for use on a school intranet site or a school resource catalogue.

The National Film and Sound Archive's permission must be sought to amend any information in the materials, unless otherwise stated in notices throughout the Site.

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Copy and paste the following code into your own web page to embed this clip:

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First Australians - Episode 1, They Have Come to Stay

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Original classification rating: PG. This clip chosen to be PG Narrator Rachel Perkins re-tells stories from the Dreamtime and historian Professor Marcia Langton of the Yiman-Bidjara Nation, historian Professor Janet McCalman and writer Bruce Pascoe of Boonwurrung Heritage weigh in on the unique prehistory experience of Australian Indigenous peoples.

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This resource is a piece of Indigenous art, while it doesn’t look like an original piece, it still uses the symbols that were used in real Indigenous art. I found this piece at artyfactory.com (Arty Factory n.d.) and the symbols and their meanings are listed under it on the website. Indigenous art shows the connection to country by using symbols and designs from their country (Australian Centre for Contemporary Art n.d.). This resource is an example of how Indigenous people made art and expressed themselves, and their connections to different things (such as country, identity and many more important things) through it. This resource shows the link between not only the different people of the Indigenous community but also between the people and the land.

The art curriculum for grade 3 - 4 mentions Indigenous art in the content descriptor: Identify and discuss how ideas are expressed in artworks from a range of places, times and cultures, including artworks by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples (VCAVAR028) (VCAA n.d.). This piece reflects this content descriptor as it is an example of older, Indigenous art that used symbols and dots to express ideas. It can also be linked into the history section of the curriculum in the content descriptor: Describe perspectives of people from the past (VCHHC068). This art connects to this resource because it is about the different ways that people see things, and while the Indigenous are a group of people, this curriculum point can still connect to this resource.

AITSL standard 1.4 can connect to this resource as this standard focuses on strategies for teaching Indigenous students (AITSL 2017). This art is a direct view into part of their history that shows them their connection to so many important parts of their culture. This resource could be used for any of the four levels under the standards which means that teachers at any stage of their career could use it in different ways in their classrooms.

Overall, this resource would be a good one to use to teach Indigenous history, art and culture in the classroom. It came from a lesson plan which shows how it can be used and what the students can learn from it.

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The aim of this lesson is to create a dot art painting using a stencil of your hand as the main image. It should be inspired by what you have learned about indigenous symbols and styles of Aboriginal art.

Hand stencils are the earliest and most personal symbols that we see in Aboriginal rock art sites. They are a primal way of marking territory and their individuality is often emphasized by framing them within a circle.

Our exemplar is an image that links the individual (the hand) with the group (the camp) in a gesture that acknowledges the value of both.

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Aboriginal Art Lesson - Hand Stencil Painting

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The aim of this lesson is to create a dot art painting using a stencil of your hand as the main image. It should be inspired by what you have learned about indigenous symbols and styles of Aboriginal art. Hand stencils are the earliest and most personal symbols that we see in Aboriginal rock art sites.

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This resource is an example of physical activity from Indigenous culture, it is a game called Boogalah (Australian Sports Commission n.d.) and only needs a ball to be played. The resource can be modified to suit any year level which means that it is a suitable resource to use when teaching about Indigenous culture in P.E. This game was played by the Juwalarai people in NSW and can be linked to the theme of identity. Identity in Indigenous culture is important as it provides people with a sense of social support and belonging (BioMedCentral 2017). This can be connected to the resource because team members need to work together to win just like Indigenous people all work together to keep their community running successfully.

This resource can be applied to many year levels but the content descriptor I found in the curriculum that relates to it well was: Apply basic rules and scoring systems, and demonstrate fair play when participating (VCHPEM104) (VCAA n.d.) which is in the grade four section under the discipline area ‘Health and Physical Education.’ This content descriptor works for this resource as it is a game that relies on teamwork and scoring to play effectively (Australian Sports Commission n.d.). While the content descriptor doesn’t specifically mention the word ‘Indigenous,’ it still applies to the basics rules of the game and can be connected to the social support that comes from the feeling of identity in Indigenous culture.

AITSL Standard 1.4 (AITSL 2017) relates to this resource because this resource focuses on an activity from Indigenous culture that can be used to teach both Indigenous and non-Indigenous students about Indigenous togetherness in a more simplified way. Since this resource requires teamwork, and in the past the Indigenous would work together to hunt, raise their children and protect each other, it could be used as a way to introduce students to the theme of identity in Indigenous culture.

Overall, this resource would be good to use in the classroom when teaching about Indigenous identity and togetherness.

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ABC Education (13 August 2021) Dust Echoes, Ep 2: Mermaid Story. ABC, accessed 6 October 2022.

AITSL (2017) We’re here for teaching. AITSL, accessed 6 October 2022.

Arty Factory (n.d.) Aboriginal Art Lesson - Hand Stencil Painting. artyfactory, accessed 6 October 2022.

Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (n.d.) Contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art. ACCA, accessed 6 October 2022.

Australian Sports Commission (n.d.) Boogalah. sportaus, accessed 6 October 2022.

Australian Sports Commission (n.d.) Yulunga Traditional Indigenous Games. sportaus, accessed 6 October 2022.

Australian Screen (2008) First Australians - Episode 1, They Have Come to Stay. aso, accessed 6 October 2022.

australianstogether (n.d.) Curriculum Resources. australianstogether, accessed 6 October 2022

australianstogether (n.d.) First Contact. australianstogether, accessed 6 October 2022.

BioMedCentral (24 July 2017) The impact of indigenous cultural identity and cultural engagement on violent offending. BMC, accessed 6 October 2022

Games ABC (13 August 2021) Dust Echoes Mermaid Story. ABC, accessed 6 October 2022.

Global Oneness Project (27 February 2009) The Land Owns Us [video]. Youtube, accessed 6 October 2022.

The Education Shop (n.d.) Dust Echoes: Mermaid Song (ATOM Study Guide). theeducationshop, accessed 6 October 2022.

VCAA (n.d.) The Victorian Curriculum F-10. Victorian Curriculum, accessed 6 October 2022.