A group of committed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Focus Teachers gathered at Tauondi Aboriginal College recently to spend a memorable day with gifted singer/songwriter Vonda Last.
Vonda is a proud Ngaantjatjara woman, born in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, who lives and works in Adelaide. As a passionate ‘family historian’, Vonda has meticulously researched her family’s past, particularly the lives of her parents and grandparents, and discovered stories of hardship, of removal, of disempowerment, of resilience and survival in the face of the discriminatory and restrictive government policies in place at the time.
It was a privilege to spend the day with Vonda on a journey of discovery. The stories Vonda shared provided powerful insights into an Australia of the early twentieth century, and those present gained a deeper understanding of how the past continues to impact the lives of Indigenous Australians living today.
Music is a powerful medium and Vonda uses her musicality as an expression of her culture and what her family, their stories, her home and country mean to her. As well as guiding the participants through a song-writing process, Vonda performed two of her original compositions, ‘Home’ and ‘This Song, This Story’, the lyrics of which were particularly pertinent to the theme of the day, and the melodies, hauntingly beautiful….
‘This song, this story of our lives began when first sun rose and touched the sky,
and voices joined and sang as one, its rhythm sure and strong…’
During Holy week, every Catholic school remembers the events leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion. This commemoration looks different from school to school. At Emmaus Catholic school, we gathered as a community each morning as classes took turns presenting the Holy week stories. The tea towels and dressing gowns doubled as costumes and parents and grandparents joined us as we prepared to reflect on the way of the cross.
