“Hello earth” - Kate Bush*

Leanne here again … You know that when Melbourne was settled, our little pocket, nestled in the fertile banks of 3 rivers - the Yarra, Darebin Creek and Merri Creek was the food bowl of Melbourne as it emerged right? Fulham Grange (hello Fulham Road, hello Grange Road) was the farm owned by the Perry family (hello Perry Street) that was a flourishing orchard and became a massive agricultural business - the biggest orchard, tree nursery and cannery in Melbourne. And the flood plains of Darebin Creek were Chinese market gardens … an agricultural paradise …

But obviously the Perry brothers and the Chinese immigrants who arrived with the gold rush weren’t the first people hanging out here right? And so we can presume, assume and see (from the scar trees etc. along the river and creeks for example) that this was also a pretty attractive place to live well for the First Nations people that were here before us, the Wurrundjeri woiwurrung, our pre-invasion predecessors proudly living life on the north side (that’s right, specifically not the south side) of the Yarra.

Reconciliation week is fast approaching and this year we are going to do the spiritual healing trail through Darebin Parklands with our friends at Jika Jika Community Centre as an active process to contemplate National Reconciliation. You can join us at 11am on Tuesday 1 June. We’ll start at ACC, do the walk and come back here to share lunch together.

On the walk I suspect I will be thinking about:

1. This episode of The First Australians series that was shown on SBS quite a few years ago now. I watched it at the time and I often think about it. If you don’t know about what happened to our former landowners, the Wurrundjeri people, post-colonisation, watch it as your crash course. It is so eye-opening, and sad, and then temporarily hopeful and tragically sad again.

2. Lydia Thorpe. She is now one of our Federal senators. And no matter your politics I find it so interesting to see her targeted focus, her passion and the clarity of her voice as a young, unapologetic and uncompromising First Nations advocate. I am sure Fitzroy High would be pretty proud to have participated in her education. I follow her on Twitter.

3. My time in State government. I worked in the environment department, where it was soon clear that ‘the cultural load’ of being a First Nations spokesperson or representative for all the consultation processes and welcomes etc. - for anyone who put their hand up - became quickly overwhelming. But at the same time it’s so important to have First Nations voices right? Oh it’s not simple.

4. My time at University. In particular I took ‘Aboriginal History’ the very first year it ran at Melbourne University. It was an amazing course because a). it seemed every First Nations political activist in Melbourne was there to robustly participate, heckle and correct each lecture, and b). Patrick, the lecturer who conceived of the course had previously taught Irish History, and had himself been the colonised … and it was quite a turn of the tables for him to set up this course and then be lumped in with the other British folk - and be treated as the coloniser.

Hopefully you’ll have your own experiences and thoughts to consider as we wander together through our collective backyard. Or perhaps you’d just like to recognise the importance of doing something (a thoughtful walk is as good a place to start as any) and/or show support. We’d love you to join us. Register here and we’ll see you on Tuesday 1 June at 11am!

*love