Opinion Articles

* SOUL MATTERS: Dreaming From the Heart
By Nola Hawken
Nola Hawken of the Awabakal People spoke at the beginning of the journey of the Message Stick through the Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle earlier this month. Used with her permission.
I am Nola, a woman of Awaba. I am a descendant of Margaret and Ned of the Awabakal People.

We would like to honour the memory of our ancestors who once walked upon this Awabakal land and the loved ones who have passed away. We would like to open our arms to our neighboring Nations and invite them to come in peace and hope.

For thousands of years, the Awabakal People have walked and lived within this land, and our culture has endured to this day. This land has had a wealth of knowledge walk over it. The spirit of reflecting and sharing is still alive today.

One of our traditions was to use Message Sticks to relay information to neighbouring clans. Message Sticks were also used to highlight a welcome to those who were entering new territories.

In Aboriginal culture, Message Sticks were used as a device to communicate all sorts of things between neighbouring nations. The Message Stick I have here is one of nine, and their journey started last year in May at St Mary's Cathedral, initiated in response to Pope John Paul II's message of commitment, delivered at Alice Springs in 1986.

The Catholic Church is using the Message Stick symbolically as a gesture to affiliate its spirituality with the Aboriginal Culture, to provide a gesture of reconciliation.

To my mind the process of Reconciliation is an opportunity for all of humanity to utilise. We sometimes fall into the trap of believing that Reconciliation only applies to Australian Indigenous and non-Indigenous People. But of course, we as indigenous people need at times to reconcile our own differences as well.

Today we come together in the spirit of humanity. Pope John Paul II's message, 20 years ago, is still appropriate today. He said:

"Let your minds be strengthened to begin a new life now. Past hurts cannot be healed by violence, nor can present injustices be removed by resentment….this is possible only if reconciliation and forgiveness are part of your lives. Only then will you find happiness. Only then will you make your best contribution to all your brothers and sisters in this great nation."

Everyone here today would know enough about the impact of white settlement on the Indigenous People of this country. However, not everyone here today may appreciate the contemporary issues that face each individual, each family and community.

The daily lives of the Australian Indigenous People are not the same. Each one's experience is unique.

My question to each of you is, if you were to leave a message for Australians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, on our Message Stick, what would it be?

*This article was published in The Newcastle Herald, 19th June 2006.