Yesterday, I began promoting a new website that I have launched with two colleagues, Professor Marion Kickett and Perth filmmmaker Michael Liu. Here is what we have said on the home page of the website:
‘What is Sharing Culture?
Sharing Culture is a unique initiative to empower Aboriginal people to heal and develop resilience to historical trauma and its consequences. These consequences include poor physical health, mental health problems, drug and alcohol addiction, violence, abuse and suicide.
Sharing Culture is based on the core values of authenticity, connection, courage, creativity, empathy and forgiveness.
Sharing Culture is being developed in Perth, Western Australia, by David Clark (Emeritus Professor of Psychology), in collaboration with Professor Marion Kickett and filmmaker Michael Liu. Marion is a Noongar leader and the new Director of the Centre for Aboriginal Studies at Curtin University.
Sharing Culture will involve development of:
- an online education, healing and advocacy resource,
- a library of Personal Stories,
- an Aboriginal Film & Storytelling Unit,
- and a community education programme.
In the first stage of development of the Sharing Culture website, we are utilising the voices of people involved with key issues affecting the health and well-being of Aboriginal people.
Our Aims:
- Help Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people understand the nature of historical trauma (and its consequences) and how it can be overcome, in order for Aboriginal people to self-heal and develop resilience.
- Empower Aboriginal people to take control of, and improve, their own health and wellbeing using an holistic approach.
- Help ensure the growth of community centres and networks that provide culturally safe environments for Aboriginal people to heal and build resilience.
- To enable Aboriginal people to connect to their culture, land, spirituality, community and family, and have pride in Aboriginal culture and people.
- To help Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people worldwide better understand and accept other cultures, enabling use of the strengths of different cultures to improve society.’
I would like to emphasise how excited I am about this project and how honoured I feel in being able to work with Indigenous peoples and with my two new collaborators. I’ll talk more about our future work – and my unfolding journey – in my next blog on this topic.
For now, I will say that you will be seeing much more about the healing of historical trauma and its consequences on Recovery Stories in the coming months.
Please LIKE and SHARE our new Sharing Culture facebook page.
