Worawa College’s support for the Voice to Parliament
Worawa Aboriginal College in Healesville is probably the only school in Victoria where Yothu Yindi’s iconic 80s anthem Treaty signals the end of a class.
Worawa Elder-in-Residence, Dr Lois Peeler AM (pictured), who teaches Aboriginal culture and history at the College, says the school chooses not to use a bell to signal the beginning and end of class as the sound of the bell has negative connotations in Aboriginal history of Missions and Aboriginal Reserves.
Worawa, the only Aboriginal school in the state and an Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation (ACCO), is celebrating its 40th birthday in 2023. Lois and the school are right behind the Voice to Parliament.
Lois says she supports the Voice because ‘historically, decisions were made for Aboriginal people that continues to affect the social and emotional wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples today’.
‘A Voice would be the first part of a process leading to a Treaty between Australia and its First Nations peoples. It will provide Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples a voice in matters that affect their lives and provide the opportunity for parliamentarians to hear the voice of communities in regard to place-based initiatives.
‘The new body would help the broader Australian community to understand why First Nations people must be more involved in political decisions that affect their lives.’
Education has been the mission of Lois and her family for generations at the site of Worawa, which occupies 55 idyllic hectares of eucalyptus bushland in the shadows of the Great Dividing Range. The college is situated on the site of the former Corranderrk Reserve, on traditional lands of the Wurundjeri Woiwurrung of the Kulin Nation.
Lois’ ancestral connections are to Yorta Yorta and Wiradjuri through her mother and Yorta Yorta and Wurundjeri through her father. Her paternal grandfather was a Yarra Yarra (Wurundjeri) man born on Coranderrk, who grew up in the Coranderrk Children’s Dormitory.
As early as 1863, Aboriginal leaders petitioned colonial authorities for this land to be set aside for them. However, it subsequently became a government controlled Aboriginal Reserve where every aspect of the life of a resident was ‘managed’. Daily life on the Reserve was controlled by the tolling of the bell for work allocations, the handing out of rations, the call to prayers, and the call to church.
At that time the Manager of Missions and Reserves from the Aboriginal Protection Board had the power to determine who could enter or leave the mission or reserve. Children were educated to grade three before being sent into servitude: the girls as domestic servants and the boys as farmhands. The Mission Manager even implemented policies that separated families and communities, causing enduring trauma.
Lois acknowledges the important leadership of Simon Wonga, then Ngurungaeta or Head Man of the Wurundjeri who had the vision of an Aboriginal Village. The Coranderrk State School No 3048 opened 15th July 1890.
Worawa Aboriginal College was founded by Lois’ sister Hyllus Maris and opened in 1983 as a co-ed school on leased premises in Frankston.
At Worawa’s opening, Pastor Sir Douglas Nicholls said, ‘Aboriginal children must be educated in the way of our people. They must learn their history, about their great ancestors, the language, and the lore. It’s time for them to know and understand themselves. They must also be educated in the ways of the society in which they live, in the very best of what it has to offer, so they can truly be part, not only of Australia’s past, but also its present and future’.
Those words sum up Worawa’s vital educational mission. It offers students from around Australia a unique opportunity to learn their own traditions and history as well as the mainstream curriculum. Worawa’s philosophy of ‘Walking together to make a difference’, brings Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people together with a shared vision.
Worawa purchased the Healesville site in 1985, and in 2008 the College decided to become a single sex school catering specifically for Aboriginal girls. Lois’ mother Geraldine Briggs AO was the Elder-in Residence. On Lois’ retirement as Principal/Executive Director, she handed the baton to her daughter Tanya Peeler, who has held executive positions at the University of Melbourne and La Trobe University.
Since its establishment, Worawa has delivered programs to create knowledge and understanding of Aboriginal history and culture in the broader community. The College collaborated with the Parliament of Victoria to develop Aboriginal Change Makers, a ground-breaking educational resource for Victorian schools based on Worawa’s History Walk.
Aboriginal Change Makers profiles Aboriginal heroes and role models – like Pastor Sir Douglas Nicholls – who fought for justice for their people. It is a vital resource for every school and teacher in Victoria. Aboriginal heroes featured on the History Walk – and detailed in Aboriginal Change Makers – helped create pioneering indigenous bodies such as the Victorian Aboriginal Health Service, Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service, Aboriginal Funeral Service, and the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency that continue to service Aboriginal communities today.
Aboriginal Change Makers is just part of Worawa’s educational mission. The College grounds also contain a Professional Learning Institute housed in a multi-purpose venue adorned with Indigenous artworks and artefacts. It hosts workshops and seminars that foster understanding of Aboriginal history, culture, and contemporary perspectives. Participants undertaking cultural awareness training have the privileged opportunity to take a guided tour of a cultural space called The Dreaming Trail.
‘The Dreaming Trail concept was developed at the wish of Aboriginal Elders as an educational tool to record and celebrate aspects of traditional culture and lifestyle of Victorian Aboriginal tribes and clans,’ says Lois. ‘It introduces the general public to a special understanding of the natural world and Aboriginal cultural heritage through the promotion of Aboriginal culture, history, and environment, including plants used traditionally for food, medicine, and craft.’
On the Trail, you see, hear, touch, and smell the way Aboriginal people interact with the land, learning about the area and its history as you walk in it. Recordings of Lois’ forebears are heard speaking, as if from the landscape itself, a tiny inkling of the connection to the land she feels.
Lois says her people’s intimate connection to the land has been forged over 80,000 years.
‘Our people are imbued with an ancient relationship to land that gives them their sense of being. It is the basis of our belief system, our moiety system, our lore, our kinship system, our cultural ceremony, our spiritual nourishment, and the resting place of our ancestors.
‘Nurturing the land continues to be a very large part of our responsibility. The land is our greatest legacy and the essence of our understanding of our ‘spirituality’. In one sense we must look back to look forward. We can learn from the ancient teachings of relationship, responsibility, and respect as it relates to the land.’
Whilst Lois is no longer principal and executive director at Worawa, she’s as committed as ever to pushing for justice for young Indigenous people. Her continuing role as a highly respected Elder-in-Residence, and her passion for the College’s projects, means she remains a visible, influential presence. And she’s busy!
As well as the Dreaming Trail, Change Makers, and her College responsibilities, Lois is also leading a pilot program on Restorative Justice which aims to divert young people from the criminal justice system.
Then there’s Worawa’s already mutually enriching cultural exchange program with The Academy of Mary Immaculate in Fitzroy. In Term 1, this saw Mary Immaculate students participate in Culture Day celebrations, which included students from both schools sharing cultural song and dance.
Lois is a generous and inspiring leader and Worawa is one of the most remarkable schools in Australia.