Our RAP Cover
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FEBRUARY 2019 TO FEBRUARY 2021 www.sea.museum Our RAP cover The cover of our RAP re-purposes With the approval of Yolŋu community, an image by Carbon Creative for and at the suggestion of the museum’s the marketing of our national and Indigenous Programs Unit, the creative international award-winning exhibition incorporates a crocodile motif and the Gapu-Monuk Saltwater – Journey to Blue Mud Bay coastline which are central Sea Country. to the story shared in the exhibition. For Yolŋu people their land and sea are marked by sacred places. In 1996 an illegal barramundi fishing camp was discovered at Garraŋali, the sacred home of Bäru the Ancestral Crocodile. Among the rubbish scattered there was the severed head of a crocodile. Disgusted at the repeated invasion of their precious waterways and the sacrilege of beheading Bäru in his own nest, Yolŋu elders decided to use sacred art to explain their lore and law to outsiders. These powerful paintings, each revealing previously secret spiritual knowledge, are the result. Inside cover image: Michael Cook, Undiscovered / #7 (2010). ANMM Collection: 00054256. FEBRUARY 2019 TO FEBRUARY 2021 ISSN 2651-947X ISSN 2651-9461 The Australian National Maritime Museum is a statutory Authority established by the Australian National Maritime Museum Act 1990, responsible to, at the time of this publication, the Minister for Communications and the Arts. This RAP was approved by the Council of the Australian National Maritime Museum, on the Acknowledgement of Country recommendation of the Director, on 12 November Contents 2018. The RAP was developed in consultation with the museum’s Reconciliation Working Group. The principal Introductory messages authors were Beau James and Paul McCarthy. RAP design undertaken by H Riederer. Council of the Australian National Maritime Museum Printed on 100% recycled stock by Indigenous owned Director, Australian National Maritime Museum and operated company Print Junction. Copyright © Commonwealth of Australia 2018 Chief Executive Officer, Reconciliation Australia Our vision for reconciliation Our reconciliation journey Our business What we have already achieved Our RAP Developing this RAP Our partnerships and current activities Relationships Respect Opportunities Governance, tracking, progress and reporting Appendix RAP Contact Officer CULTURAL WARNING Warning: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples should be aware that this document may contain names, images, objects and works of people who are deceased. It may also refer to websites that may use content of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Peoples who are now deceased. The Australian National Maritime Museum acknowledges the Gadigal Acknowledgement people of the Eora nation as the of Country Traditional Custodians of the bamal (earth) and badu (waters) on which we work. We also acknowledge all Traditional Custodians of the land and waters throughout Australia Uncle Chicka Madden offers a Welcome to Country, on behalf of the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation, at the museum’s Sea Rights Flag raising for National and pay our respects to them and Reconciliation Week 2016. their cultures, and to Elders past and present. The words bamal and badu are spoken in the Sydney region’s Eora language. Acknowledgement supplied courtesy of the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council. 10 The connection to sea country is maintained with song, dance and art, which the museum is committed to assisting Message on communities to maintain. Gapu-Monuk Saltwater – Journey to Sea Country, was one of the most important examples of how behalf of the there is no separation between cultural practice and the fight for social justice and political recognition. It is not often that an exhibition of legal documents can receive such critical acclaim Council of the and capture the hearts and minds of the public. museum The museum’s commitment to Indigenous cultural values goes right through the organisation, from the high number ANMM Councillor Alison Page, left, at the opening event for of acquisitions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art and Gapu Monuk. cultural objects, strategic partners, grass roots community development and its procurement from Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander businesses. I am delighted to be the Champion of Reconciliation on the These strong relationships are an important foundation for the … ANMM Council and, on behalf of Council, within the museum work the museum is embarking on in the coming years. The knowledge held by our nation’s and the community. program for Encounters 2020, which marks 250 years since First Peoples enriches the Captain Cook’s first Pacific voyage, is ground breaking and My first engagement with the museum was in 2012 when the will be a watershed moment in the history of reconciliation national identity, particularly first Nawi conference was held, bringing together Aboriginal in Australia. It is a chance to influence the national dialogue Torres Strait Islander communities from all over Australia and bring truth telling to the national stage. This program will in enhancing the human to share important knowledge about the fabrication of be underpinned by the creation of an Indigenous Advisory traditional watercraft. At this event, I saw first-hand, the Committee under this RAP that can assist the Council to connection to saltwater and valuable contribution the museum was making in helping these maximise the opportunity that such a high profile project and communities, on the ground, revive the practice, reinvigorating other projects will offer to advance reconciliation. We will also freshwater and sustaining culture in regional and remote communities invest in enhancing the quality of information about community across multiple generations. This example speaks to a core value and language in our collection records during the 2019 Year of of the museum, which is that the traditional and contemporary Indigenous Languages. knowledge held by our nation’s first peoples enriches the national identity, particularly in enhancing the human This plan will take the past achievements of the museum and connection to saltwater and freshwater. starts to embed them firmly into the museums purpose so that the future will truly celebrate traditional knowledge and I am proud that we fly the Blue Mud Bay flag, which is powerful Indigenous cultural values as a gift for all Australians. recognition that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples have rights over water in the intertidal areas. These rights are important Alison Page for all Australians in that they allow the world’s oldest living (Walbanga Wadi Wadi woman) cultures to continue to be custodians for the land and waters, Member, Council of the Australian National Maritime Museum ensuring that they will be healthy for all people into the future. RAP Champion 12 The museum’s collection has been deeply enriched by many Message from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander works from across the country and from collaborations with artists and communities. These works don’t just celebrate the richness of the maritime environment the Director and the community’s living relationship with it, they also express a deep spiritual connection. They celebrate survival and contribute to ongoing struggles for land and sea rights, for justice and for Australian reconciliation. Perhaps none more so than the museum’s acclaimed Yirrkala Bark Paintings of Sea Country, whose recent exhibition in Gapu-Monuk Saltwater – Journey to Sea Country showcased the National Maritime museum’s renewed commitment to work closely with community, engaging Aboriginal businesses and expertise to curate, build Museum and ultimately share this important story. This exhibition has won numerous awards and will continue to be an example for staff, and indeed the broader museum community, on how to successfully I am delighted to present the Australian National Maritime deliver an exhibition hand-in-hand with community. Museum’s Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP), a two-year strategic I am proud that since 2015, this museum’s Corporate Plan has made …to understand Australia fully, plan which sets out our commitment to recognise, appreciate it a priority to support and promote Aboriginal and Torres Strait and celebrate our country’s rich and unique Aboriginal and you have to understand its Islander maritime heritages. We do this by creating pathways for Torres Strait Islander cultures and cultural heritages across community participation in our programs and events, recognising every facet of the organisation. peoples’ many and varied links and reflecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage and to their waterways and the sea, At the Australian National Maritime Museum we have deep cultural expressions in our exhibitions, programs and activities, and respect for the 70,000 years or more, of continuous culture and by providing support through education training, internships and and none have links that are knowledge of Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment opportunities. peoples. We believe that histories, including the consequences I strongly believe that continued protection and promotion of of dispossession, are fundamental to understanding longer or deeper than those of traditional and contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander contemporary Australia. Australia’s First Peoples cultural expressions are crucial for our First Peoples, and for Since opening in 1991, the Australian National Maritime Museum achieving reconciliation. The