Kinta
Storyboard Text
- This is the story about a girl born and raised in Wilcannia, NSW, a small rural and mostly Indigenous Aboriginal community.....Before moving to a predominantly white and mainstream community
- She was raised by her Indigenous mother, along with her four siblings.......
- However, many aunties, uncles, cousins and family friends contributed to her personal and cultural upbringing, forever influencing her cultural identity as an Indigenous Barkindji Aboriginal.
- She felt a strong sense of belonging when connecting with the land and learning how to care for it
- Everything made sense and she never truly questioned her cultural identity whilst living in Wilcannia with the Barkindji mob...
- UNTIL...
- Just after her 13th birthday, she moved to Maitland NSW, roughly 10 hours from her home land to live with her dad and two siblings.
- Although she was apprehensive of what her new life would look like, she was excited to see her dad again.
- She could recall doing a class activity where everyone was asked what was done over the school holidays
- She immediatley felt slightly uneasy checking out her new home getting what she thought was strange looks from bypassers..Which she had never really encountered before...Why were they looking?
- And what were they looking at?
- She couldn't understand... But she knew it didn't feel right
- She felt different, excluded, and judged by the kids at school, especially when attempting to join group or class activities
- When she started school, things got tougher
- When it was her turn, she spoke with passion about a smoking ceremony that took place after a two day walkabout full of cultural and spiritual teachings
- Classmates spoke of their holidays overseas or by the coast
- This was met with snickers, giggles and confused faces...
- Her sister came to speak about her own troubles after a little while...
- She realized they didn't have much in common with their new community.
- "A lot of the kids spoke differently to me, and faster than me"
- "We had different interests which made it hard to get along with people or make new friends"
- "My interests were considered boring or weird to most people"
- Leaving her rural town being always surrounded by fellow Barkindji mob, to enter what felt like a whole new reality where she realized her Indigenous norms and way of life were somewhat overlooked and almost always looked down on, causing deep cultural and identity disruption.
- This caused heavy intervention from her father whom had struggled with alcohol addiction for a large part of his life... This is what begun to turn things around for her.
- She went on to develop some unhealthy coping habits including alcohol and drug use until the age of 16.
- She and her father, along with her two siblings, begun reconnecting with the land and previous spiritual practices through storytelling and smaller scale walkabouts.
- This lead them to the Awabakal Indigenous Community.She felt like she had re-found her belonging in place again.
- By reconnecting with her cultural identity as a young indigenous women, she learnt to stand taller and talk louder, and be prouder, with the guidance of her newfound Indigenous community and elders... And in doing so she found few people who she now calls her good friends, some Indigenous and some Australian.
- Her few mainstream Australian friends would exchange culture experiences and knowledge which made her feel included and acknowledged.
- Those friends, and her new environment and community reshaped her cultural identity.
- She now navigates her life through the racial judgment and stereotyping, and has identified as a 21-year-old Barkindji Awabakal Indigenous Australian Women.
- Her reasoning was that although she loved being a Barkindji women doing indigenous practices with her mobs, she also loved doing Australian activities with her friends.
- FIN
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