Wakakirri is a national story dance program and in the past two years, Sara Crockford and Tamia Blackwell have worked with Christies Beach students to create performances that teach young people the importance of truth-telling and learning this country's shared history but also highlight current social issues and exploring how we can make change through listening and learning.
This year their performance is called ‘learning from the past, changing for the future’. The story focuses on racism in (but not limited to) sport.
The performance is driven by the 2023 Reconciliation theme to empower thecommunity to ‘Be a voice for generations' and the NAIDOC Week theme which asks us to continue to stand up and be strong ‘For our Elders’. The main character, after facing racism during a football game, draws strength and empowerment from elders, ancestors and pivotal Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who have also faced racism.
As we all know, Australia is on a journey of reconciliation and this performance acknowledges that this is only possible with allies and support of a whole community and there is still a long way to go. During the performance, it was never the intention to ‘solve’ the problem as we are very aware of how prevalent racism still is in local, state and national sport clubs, it exists and needs to stop.
In the lead-up, during and beyond the performance night, students engaged in truth-telling through a combination of yarning sessions with leaders and elders in community, performances at their Reconciliation and NAIDOC community events, State DfE RAP Launch, STEM Aboriginal Congress and continued learning within the curriculum to reiterate the importance of their story and as future leaders.
Christie's Beach Primary School would like to thank the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander elders, leaders and community who have and continue to face these experiences. "Their strength and resilience have allowed us to stand here today on Kaurna land, loud and proud as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and allies together, to learn from the past and influence change for the future."
Watch the full performance here.