BUCKSKIN A FILM ABOUT JACK
© ATOM 2013 A STUDY GUIDE BY FIONA HALL
http://www.metromagazine.com.au
ISBN: 978-1-74295-359-5 http://www.theeducationshop.com.au SYNPOSIS
ack Buckskin grew up on a diet of family and football, before life-changing events led Jack on a new path. His life is now Jdedicated to renewing a once-strong Aboriginal language and culture, and to inspiring the people of Adelaide to connect with Kaurna – the language and culture of his ancestors – and of the country on which the city of Adelaide now sits. 1750–1918 in depth - Making a nation: The extension of settlement, in- cluding the effects of contact (intended and unin- Jack Buckskin is the sole teacher of a once- tended) between European settlers in Australia and extinct language. From the northern Adelaide Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples suburb of Salisbury, Jack’s mission is to teach the Please note: The following curriculum links relate to the Kaurna language, the language of his ancestors, Victorian Certificate of Education. to as many people as he can in his lifetime. But this is not easy; the language was driven to VCE English Unit 3 and 4 near-extinction over a century ago. Now, Jack and fellow language speakers are sculpting a Area of Study 2: Creating and Presenting new Kaurna language and culture and, through • Students draw on ideas and/or arguments suggested that, are bringing a new way of being to the by a chosen Context to create written texts for a speci- youth of suburban Adelaide in the form of a new fied audience and purpose; and to discuss and analyse Aboriginal identity – and with that, hope. in writing their decisions about form, purpose, lan- guage, audience and context.
CURRICULUM LINKS Buckskin could be used as a supplementary text when ex-
ploring context writing in VCE English. Specifically, the con- SCREEN EDUCATION © ATOM 2013 The Australian National Curriculum (History) at Year 9 pro- text of ‘Identity and Belonging’ (Jack’s search for connection vides a study of the history of ‘The Making of the Modern with his heritage), as well as ‘The Imaginative Landscape’ World’ from 1750 to 1918. There are three depth studies for (Jack’s relationship with the landscape and the way the land this historical period; ‘Buckskin’ directly links to: holds spiritual meaning for him and his people).
• Depth Study Two – ‘Australia and Asia’: Buckskin could also be used as a supplementary text for - Students investigate the history of Australia exploring the above ideas in middle school English. 2 The Kaurna language had long been suppressed following the colonisation of South Australia. Historians believe that the Kaurna language of the Adelaide Plains was most prob- ably taken over by English in the mid-nineteenth century. The last known fluent speaker was Ivaritji, also known as Amelia Taylor, and she died in 1931.
PRE-VIEWING Kaurna language has been going through a revival from 1990 to the present time. The revival of the language has ACTIVITIES been possible through partnership of linguists – most nota- bly Dr Rob Amery – and the Kaurna community in Adelaide. • Brainstorm what students know about Indigenous lan- The revival of Kaurna has been assisted by historical guages in Australia. documents, in which German Lutheran missionaries wrote • After gathering ideas, talk to the students about Jack’s a number of words in phrases between 1836 and 1858. mission to teach Kaurna to as many people as he can, These missionaries were Schürmann and Teichelmann. and present the following background information: The Kaurna language can now be studied as a senior high ABORIGINAL LANGUAGES school subject and Jack Buckskin is now one of the main language teachers. Jack has taught at a number of high According to UNESCO, Australia has the highest rate of schools, as well as to adult students through the School of language extinction in the world; of the 250 Aboriginal lan- Languages. guages that existed before colonisation, only 145 were still spoken in 2005, and of these, 110 are critically endangered.
• Have students visit the following website on Aboriginal languages and note down/discuss what statistics and facts they discover about the status of Aboriginal lan- guages in Australia today:
ABOUT KAURNA
Kaurna country (in South Australia) is vast, covering about
7200 square kilometres, ranging from Crystal Brook in the SCREEN EDUCATION © ATOM 2013 north, to St Vincent’s Gulf in the east, Cape Jervis in the south and Mt Lofty Ranges to the west.
The Kaurna people witnessed the destruction of most of their sites of significance and their population through disease and displacement soon after colonisation of the Adelaide Plains. 3 THE IMPORTANCE OF CULTURE
Jack now teaches Kaurna to more than 100 Indigenous and non-Indigenous students, aged five to sixty-two, through high schools and language schools. Jack is also sharing his culture and stories through dance, having organised a tradi- tional family dance group, Kuma Karro (which translates to One Blood). Jack is committed to educating the community and sharing Kaurna culture.
Consider these quotes:
‘My daughter Mahleaha, she will be the first fluent speaker of the language in almost 100 years.’ – Jack.
‘A person without knowledge of his culture and his history is like a tree without roots’ – Uncle Stephen.
• Why do you think Jack’s work is so important? Consider the impact his work is having on him, his family and the people with whom he works (both Indigenous and non- Indigenous Australians). • In 2011, Jack was awarded the Young South Australian of the Year award and was a finalist in the Young Australian of the Year award. Visit the following website: http://www.australianoftheyear.org.au/the-awards/ - Look at the past winners of the Young Australian of the VIEWING Year and select three other recipients who have con- ACTIVITIES tributed to the promotion of culture and inclusion as Jack as done. Complete a biography on each person, highlighting the ways they have done this. Direct students to take down notes about Jack and his: - connection with Kaurna; THE IMPORTANCE OF LANGUAGE - connection with friends and family; - hardships he has faced and the ways he has coped with Read the following article about Aboriginal words that these. have made their way into everyday Australian English: http://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/language/ aboriginal-words-in-australian-english POST-VIEWING • Do you know any of these words? Have you heard them ACTIVITIES used in daily life, and if so, by whom? RESEARCH
Jack’s ancestor, Ivaritji – also known as Amelia Taylor – was the last known fluent speaker of Kaurna. It is thought she was born sometime between 1845–1849 on the Adelaide SCREEN EDUCATION © ATOM 2013 Plains and, at the time of her death, was the last remaining person of full Kaurna ancestry.
• Visit
The landscape Who we are is often a - Jack’s relationship with Adelaide 1 is a determining product of where we live. force in people’s lives. - How he forges a sense of connection with his land in an urban environment
The landscape How we feel sometimes - Jack’s growing sense of belonging to 2 mirrors human affects how we see the his people and land problems. world around us. - His personal struggles and the ways he has dealt with them
One landscape Although landscape - Jack’s interpretation of urban Adelaide 3 may be appears to be the same and his people’s connection to this experienced in many for everyone, it means landscape different ways. something different depending on our - Draw on his response to Charles Hill’s experiences in life. painting ‘The Proclamation of South Australia 1836’.
It is difficult to Finding one’s identity - Jack’s reaction to holding the original 4 possess a sense is vital in developing a translations of Kaurna by Schurmann of belonging when we sense of belonging. and Teichelmann are unsure of our own identity. - His reflections on his growing sense of identity since having a daughter, Mahleaha, and finding purpose in passing on Kaurna to her
Family and Those close to us play - Jack’s mother, his wife Khe Sanh and 5 friends help us vital and varied roles in daughter Mahleaha, Uncle Stephen define our identity. helping us find out who Goldsmith and linguist Dr. Rob Amery’s we are. role in helping Jack discover his identity and sense of belonging - The impact that his sister Mary’s death had on his connection with his culture and sense of identity
‘Holding our tongues’ is a project about the long and Write an expository response exploring the following painful task of reviving Aboriginal languages. You can prompts in relation to Buckskin (See Table this page). find out about the project here:
WRITING TASKS Hill’s painting ‘The Proclamation of South Australia SCREEN EDUCATION © ATOM 2013 1836’. He comments, ‘For our people this was the day • You may use Buckskin as a way of exploring the VCE we lost everything really … a day where we lost our English Contexts ‘The Imaginative Landscape’ and land, our language, our culture’. ‘Identity and Belonging’. • To view the painting, visit:
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