Since 2020 I’ve been working with Culture Across Time as a community member participating in Yarning Circles. My sister Errolyn Strang owns and runs the company and runs cultural training programs, primarily for local organisations, such as Big Fat Smile and BlueScope Steel. The training program includes allyship, cultural safety and Yarning Circles.
Yarning Circles are a traditional protocol for collective problem solving, learning, sharing and guidance in a safe space. Their primary principle is to leave people in a better condition than we found them. In the context of the training package Yarning Circles provide participants the opportunity to learn about individual Aboriginal people’s lives, how we deal with casual racism, how we are connected to Dharawal Country and is an opportunity to challenge deep and dividing stereotypes and myths about Aboriginal people in Australia. Participants are invited to ask questions of Yarning Circle members and to speak openly about their experiences with racism and addressing Australia’s colonisation history and current mechanisms of systemic and personal racism.
One of my roles as a community member and cultural researcher is to invite participants into the ceremony of Yarning by opening the Yarning Circle in both English and Bundjalung with elements of an Acknowledgement to Country contained within. It includes the invitation for participants to put themselves in a position of openness, whilst being within the safety of the protocol or ceremony. It’s important to note that, Yarning is different from just talking or chatting. Yarning is a deliberate mindful conversation with respect, purpose and deep meaning.
Other community members participate in Yarning Circles such as knowledge Keepers, local Elders, Custodians and Aboriginal people who live off Country. Together we represent diversity and aspects of Aboriginal culture often from our traditional perspectives as well as a contemporary context. Yarning Circles within the program generally take up to 2 or 3 hours at each session and include open, equal discussion amongst community members and participants as well as an exercise that demonstrates that we cannot assume anything about any people or the burdens that they may bear through life.
Thanx for stopping by,
Juundaal & The Trees
Juundaal Strang-Yettica 