Be brave. There is no script for Acknowledgment of Country, according to Tiriki Onus

Advocate, academic, filmmaker and proud Yorta Yorta man, Tiriki Onus talks Acknowledgment of Country, its future role in reconciliation, and the University of Melbourne's online courses that encourage and inspire meaningful engagement with Indigenous knowledges, histories, and creative practices.

Acknowledgement of Country is a practice many in Australia are familiar with.

Often delivered at conferences, official launches, meetings, and in parliament, its purpose is to show awareness of, and respect for, the Traditional Custodians of the land upon which an event is taking place.

Although the practice of acknowledging your place and agreeing to respect the customs of the Country you have entered has existed for millennia in Indigenous communities, its mainstream appeal is relatively recent, prompted by growing calls in Australia for the government to negotiate a treaty that would formally recognise the legal rights of First Nation’s People.

Tiriki Onus, who is also Head of the Wilin Centre For Indigenous Arts and Cultural Development, can recall a time when Indigenous history and culture were barely even an afterthought in Australian institutions.

“I was the only Indigenous kid in primary school (in the 80s). I think, for about a week in one history class we spoke about Aboriginal culture and history. And then in that space, all I was taught formally was that Aboriginal people in the southeast of Australia were extinct and that we didn't have a language and song and story and culture anymore.”

These same destructive narratives were repeated throughout high school, “imparted as solid facts.” But for Onus, whose weekends “were spent immersed in [his] community and identity," feelings of injustice were matched by a sense of pity – though not for himself.

“All of them [in school], from their many and varied cultural backgrounds knew nothing about the ground underneath them. They knew nothing about the country they were standing on. It seemed a great pity, because the narrative of exclusion of people saying, 'oh, that's not for you, you mustn't ask,' was palpable. But it was not coming from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australia.”

Onus’ experience in education helped shape his advocacy, and his desire to build a more welcoming space that encourages respectful engagement with Indigenous cultures and communities.

His 2021 film, Ablaze, documents the struggles and achievements of Bill Onus, revered Indigenous civil rights activist, Aboriginal filmmaker, and Tiriki Onus’ grandfather.

And whilst his ongoing work at the Wilin Centre has enabled Onus and his colleagues to support Indigenous artists at the University, it has also given them the opportunity to develop courses and learning materials for people of all cultural backgrounds that explore Indigenous knowledge’s, histories, and creative practices.

The genesis for one such project, the Wilin Online Cultural Literacies series of Melbourne MicroCert courses stemmed from a long-term collaboration between Onus and Dr Megan McPherson, who lectures in Art and Intercultural Research.

“A couple of years back we started really thinking about what we wanted to do in terms of how we offer cross-cultural training to colleagues and community members and those on the outside of the Wilin Centre because people were asking us for guidance and direction,” says Onus.

“We both felt that as an Indigenous academic and non-Indigenous academic, navigating these spaces together, this would be a great opportunity to share these stories and these experiences with the world.”

Working with the Melbourne School of Professional and Continuing Education (MSPACE), Onus and Mcpherson have created four micro-credential courses (a form of short course) which make up the Wilin Online Cultural Literacies Melbourne MicroCert series. Each course in the series is delivered online, taking between 6 - 8 weeks to complete.

When approaching the design of these courses, both Onus and McPherson felt it was vitally important to place creative practice at the core of each course to ensure learners benefit from an engaging and immersive experience that helps them to really consider their relationship with Indigenous peoples, places and Country.

Acknowledgement of Country, the first course in the series, provides far more than performative instructions on how to give an Acknowledgement of Country, but instead centres learning around Indigenous knowledge frameworks, Indigenous technologies, and features a practical string-making activity that helps develop cultural literacies.

This grounding in Indigenous cultural protocols empowers learners to write and deliver an Acknowledgement of Country at the end of the course that is meaningful, authentic, and culturally safe.

For Onus, encouraging learners to view their Acknowledgment as “the end product” of a larger process is important in a time when some are wondering if the practice is now simply a “tick-box” activity.

“There is a danger of it becoming less significant when we're hearing it all the time,” Onus confirms.

“One of the biggest questions we get asked from people, other colleagues and students and others is ‘can I have the script for the Acknowledgment of Country?' And we'd say, ‘no.’ ‘Well, why not?' ‘Because there isn't one,’ he laughs.

“That [mindset] comes from us not having a true and meaningful engagement with that Acknowledgment. That’s why we've created these courses. I was frustrated by hearing the same kind of pro forma Acknowledgment at everything I went to."

Onus pauses, recalling the familiar words that introduce many Acknowledgments.

"There's a rhythm to it. ‘We acknowledge the traditional owners of this country and any Elders past, present, and emerging.’ ‘This was kind of a standard Acknowledgment of Country, but I was much more interested in taking the moment to pause and think about what it actually meant.”

The more recent practice of referring to ‘emerging Elders’ is not without controversy, with many in the Indigenous community of the opinion that it undermines the important role Eldership plays.

It’s a point of view Onus shares.

“Yeah, I don't like it when people use it [emerging Elders] to refer to me. And it does happen. One, it makes me feel old. But I think Eldership is something very specific and important,” he adds.

“The contribution that our Elders make is monumental. They had a real stake in the well-being of everyone who was on their country. They saw it as their responsibility, to care for everyone on their country, whether that person is particularly friendly to the idea or not. There's still an obligation. [But] I still consider myself culturally very young.”

Onus feels the contribution Elders make is very much reflected across the Wilin Online Cultural Literacies series.

‘This is certainly something that we try to pass on to people who engage in our Acknowledgement of Country micro-credentials. That it's so much more than simply acknowledging country.”

Looking forward, does he still feel the Acknowledgment of Country has an important role to play?

“This is an intergenerational process that we're in. I remember when my eldest daughter, Linda, was in kindergarten. She mentioned Wurundjeri country, and I said, ‘Oh, do you do Acknowledgments of Country at kindergarten?’ I'd always taught her that stuff, but this is in kindergarten. She responded, ‘No, Gaia’ – Gaia means Dad. ‘We don't do Acknowledgments of Country. We just start every day by thanking the Wurundjeri for letting us be here and for all of their stories and histories.’ "

He laughs, loudly.

“It’s extraordinary to see that shift,” Onus beams.

“I see it amongst colleagues and friends who are more comfortable to get up and say ‘I'm here on Kula nations country. I'm here on Bunurong country.’ But the young ones that are coming through now will potentially, I hope, have a very different sense of understanding and value in this space where they can see themselves as part of that narrative. That's the big goal, anyway.”

Tiriki Onus was in conversation with Kian Northcote from the Melbourne School of Professional and Continuing Education (MSPACE).

Acknowledgment of Country is a 6-week online micro-credential and is just one of over 200 professional development courses offered by the University of Melbourne.