DCA First Nations Solidarity Action Plan DOWNLOAD
Darwin Community Arts First Nations Solidarity Action Plan
Acknowledgment
“Always Was Always Will Be Aboriginal Land – Sovereignty was never ceded”
Darwin Community Arts acknowledge that we live, work and play on the unceeded lands of the Larrakia people, and the Wulna-Limilngan people. We pay respect to their Elders, we celebrate their continuing culture and we acknowledge the memory of their Ancestors. We acknowledge the care that First Nations peoples have taken of this beautiful country and the prevailing strength of spirituality, art and culture. We acknowledge that First Nations people have suffered greatly due to the violence of colonisation. We are committed to correcting the injustices of the past and working towards a more just and equitable future for all Australians.
- We commit to truth telling and authentic dialogue, to be informed, to make reparations, to challenge systemic racism, to grow respect, to walk alongside, and; learn from the wisdom and authority of the oldest surviving culture on this planet
- We honor the continuing Dreaming cycles that guide and inform cultural practice, protocols and interpretations that are relevant and critical to the continued thrival of First Nations culture. We will work in solidarity with First Nations people for a more just future for the planet and the people.
- We are committed to making and sharing art in a fragile world, where that art cherishes the people and the planet, this must hold First Nations perspectives in the forefront. It is necessary to work towards a more just society encouraging diversity, equality and inclusion ensuring there is no discrimination in our association.
- We embrace a democratic and anti-oppressive, anti-capitalist, anti-hierarchical practice wholly; ensuring, access, equality, care and inclusion sits across cultural and linguistic diversity, gender, LGBTIQA+, disability, Elders, people of colour, neuro-diversity, First Nations, and young people. We want our association to be one in which every member has agency and feels respected, autonomous, valued and able to give their best.
- We recognise that multiple forms of racism are present in Australia, and historically citizens have remained ignorant, uneducated and intentionally misled about colonisation and First Nations plights.
- We stand in solidarity, seeking justice for the systemic oppression of the First People in Australia.
We approach solidarity from the position posed by Lilla Watson “If you have come here to help me you are wasting your time, but if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.”
Our plan and our work are, and will continue to be, guided by a range of principles and resources from work previously developed, including, though not limited to: Australia Council Protocols for working with Indigenous Artists, United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, Uluru Statement from the Heart, Original Power, Reconciliation Australia, The Healing Foundation, Decolonising Solidarity.
It is the work of all our Partners (Staff) and Board members to widen the focus and do the work of dismantling the structures of oppression, repression, and autocracy that drives and continues colonisation.
in solidarity, DCA