Making Room at Christmas

(The last few years we've been invited to choose a song for Beer and Carols at the Quiet Man in Flemington.)
 

Why is ‘Joy to the World’ the IHH carol for this year’s Beer and Carols pub singalong in Flemington?

Last year we rewrote the ‘12 days of Christmas’, eulogising the various items that get donated to us:

On the 5th day of Christmas my true love gave to me…
Condensed milk that expired in 1999…
4 cakes of soap,
3 bags of rice,
2 tins of beetroot, 
And a kilogram of kangaroo!

 

This year, we’re singing ‘let every heart prepare him room’.  We spend time preparing for our guests by crawling around on bunkbeds tucking in sheets, plumping pillows, emptying the wastepaper bins, tidying, checking if we need to provide a heater or a fan.  At the same time, we are preparing our hearts to be open to whoever comes through the door, and our heads to learn something of what is going on for people with their hospital business, and in the social and political conversations about health and treaty and land justice.  And every so often, we’ll end up singing along with ‘fields, floods, rocks, hills and plains’ and Nathan’s guitar, to repeat the sounding joy.

- Samara

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Learning circle: What does healing look like?


Pathways to Healing by Jenna Lee

Pathways to Healing by Jenna Lee

The Indigenous Hospitality House is a learning community inviting people on a shared journey of cultural healing and growth in light of stolen land. Learning Circles are an opportunity to reflect on what we have been learning by offering hospitality to Indigenous people.

At our Learning Circle on October 24, Samara will be helping us explore the idea of mutual healing and the role it plays at the Indigenous Hospitality House. Feel free to join us for dinner from 7:00pm. We plan to start our discussion at 8:00pm.

If you are planning to come, please let us know by emailing house@ihh.org.au

Term 4 Dinner and Discussion

Fall into Ruin of the House of God, Cathédral d'Amiens, 1220-1240.

Fall into Ruin of the House of God, Cathédral d'Amiens, 1220-1240.

Throughout the year we've opened up unit 2 on Thursday nights for low key dinner and discussion of the previous Sunday's gospel reading.

Feel free to bring some food to share and we can discuss the weekly gospel readings as we eat together. We've been bringing the Bible stories into dialogue with what is going on in our current affairs, our national story and local communities like the IHH. A key thing has been talking about how the stories relate (or don't relate) to the practical things we are doing from day to day, and how what we're reading might be helpful (or unhelpful) for our work.

Our friend Mark Pierson says, 'Questioning allowed. Questioning aloud allowed.' What this means is it is okay to bring doubts and suspicions as well as faith and belief to the table. It's also okay to talk about how the Bible might be helpful or unhelpful.

7pm Thursday 13 October
7pm Thursday 20 October
7pm Thursday 27 October
7pm Thursday 3 November
7pm Thursday 10 November
7pm Thursday 17 November
7pm Thursday 24 November

If you think you'll come along let us know by emailing us at house@ihh.org.au

 

In Advent (beginning last November) we're also planning to do some Monday night studies on radicals discipleship. We'll have more details about that as we get closer.

Quaker Spirituality

Our most recent learning circle was about Quaker spirituality. The early residents at IHH were strongly influenced by Quaker spirituality and practices when the house was set up. In particular, we looked at how these practices can help us to be a prophetic voice within our own culture.

Jane Hope started our learning circle on Quaker spirituality with silence. On a table in the centre there was a vase of daffodils, a Bible and the book Quaker Faith and Practice. It is at the heart of Quaker spirituality that those of the Religious Society of Friends (known derogatorily as Quakers because they often 'quaked' when they rose to speak at a meeting) try to respond to all things out of a deep silence. This is because a core belief is that every person can have direct access to God through silence. This is part of the testimony of truth.

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There are four key testimonies that Quakers hold to for personal and public life: the testimonies of peace, equality, simplicity and truth. At the IHH, we have been conscious of the 'peace of the house' which reminds us to be aware of what we are bringing into a space, and how we respond to situations of tension or conflict. In sharing living spaces with guests, we are seeking to relate as people equal in worth and dignity, while recognising that our circumstances are unequal due to the ongoing impacts of colonisation. We have tried to keep our household simple with many items donated - and the fact of living communally means we don't need (and can't fit!) duplicates of items such as ironing boards and fridges and bicycle pumps. And we seek to be open to truth from whatever source it may come, so our residents and volunteers have come from all sorts of backgrounds and faith traditions.

Quakers are also formed by a regular practice of reflecting on queries and advices. Thus, they are likely to ask questions more often than leaping to criticise or make a judgement. It is easy for us to loudly criticise and judge the society around when we see injustice and suffering (and we can also judge ourselves). Our learning circles invite us to sit and reflect contemplatively, and ask questions about ourselves, our culture and what the Spirit might be saying to us.
 

Power and Vulnerability

I’ve been thinking a bit lately, about power and vulnerability. Sometimes, at the house I forget how much power we residents have. Power to choose who can stay with us, for how long and when. I forget and feel disempowered, squeezed out, pushed to the edges of my own home. My natural tendency is to give preference to our guests. To try and accommodate them as much as possible. I usually find I can do things this way in the short-term, but in the long-term it means I end up feeling resentful. If I am not able to take back some of the power I have given to guests, this resentment can build and impact negatively on my ability to host. It can then cause me to resent myself because I am not hosting well, which means I feel further disempowered in my situation.

Some of our most recent guests were grandparents of a premature baby boy. They stayed with us for just under a month while the baby was in hospital and then, while a maternal health nurse from VAHS came to see how the baby was doing. Like most grandparents, they doted on their grandson. Showing him off and tending to him so naturally. They had quite a bit going on, including housing pressures, and so DHS was also involved. While this family showed so much resilience and strength in dealing with their circumstances, it was revealing to see their whole attitude and confidence level drop when both DHS and VAHS were visiting. They seemed to become unsure of themselves and their abilities.

A friend came to visit last week. He lives just outside of Brisbane, and often hitchhikes in order to travel long distances. I was asking him about his choice to travel this way and mentioned that while I thought it was a great way to get around, I wouldn’t — as a short, young-looking woman —  feel confident hitchhiking on my own. He told me that he had not had any negative experiences, and knew of some women who traveled in pairs, and some older women who traveled independently this way.

Sometimes, at the house it can feel like we’re not doing enough. We justify our time off by maintaining that we are volunteers, and that we need our home to ourselves some of the time. This argument can fall down though when confronted with continuing unmet need. It seems selfish to be looking forward to having a break, when our guest’s hospital business continues and they have to find alternative accommodation. However without these short-term breaks, the long-term work could not continue.

My friend who hitchhikes has had trouble finding work. So, maybe what I see as an act of adventurous independence is — for him — a practical solution to the real problem of not having enough money to get around. Or maybe he sees not just the risks but also the benefits of catching a ride with others; providing company for people who are often traveling long distances alone, creating safer communities by encouraging generosity and finding new friends, all while getting where he needs to go. Maybe strangers aren’t so very dangerous after all?

Surprisingly at the end of last week the grandma who had been staying with us made a choice. She made the choice to leave our house of hospitality and put herself and her family in a more precarious living situation. She told me, 'I’m going to do it my way now.' She had understood that while she and her family were staying with us they were not perceived as vulnerable enough to need immediate attention. She understood that in order to get what she and her family needed in the long-term she had to act counter-intuitively in the short-term. She had to put her family at greater risk in order to become more secure. 

Perhaps it is our broader systems of power that need some work…

- Mehrin

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Songlines Tour

On August 1, the IHH Learning Community did a Melbourne Songlines walk with Nick Wight and Uncle Roy on a very wet and cold night!  Uncle Roy brought along a possum skin cloak, but we had to make do with umbrellas and huddling.  (Possums are still protected in Australia, so in recent times possum skins have been sourced from across the ditch.  I wonder where we will get possum skins from now that New Zealand/Aotearoa are planning to eradicate destructive introduced predators, including possums?)

One site we stopped at was the statue commemorating John Batman at the Queen Victoria markets.  We heard all sorts of stories about Batman and his role in ‘founding’ the village of Melbourne, but what struck me at the statue was that he was younger than my earliest ancestor to arrive in Australia, William Maum.  Batman was born in Parramatta in NSW in 1800, and died in Melbourne in 1839.  My convict forebear was born in Ireland in 1780 and arrived on Eora country in Sydney in 1800.  By 1835 when Batman made his treaty with the ngurangaeta on the banks of the Merri Creek, William was living in Clarence Plains in Tasmania (Moomairemener country) and his fifth child Mary was 1 year old.

Increasingly I realise that my history in this country is very, very recent.  Our paths back to the time when land was first stolen is not a long journey. 

- Samara

Talking on Tuesdays: 'Change the Record'

We've been partnering with North Carlton Railway Neighbourhood House, ANTaR Victoria and Yarra Libraries to host Talking on Tuesdays - education sessions about Indigenous culture, knowledge and history.

April marks 25 years since a royal commission presented a formula to prevent Aboriginal deaths in police custody. But how much has changed?

On Tuesday 26 April, ANTaR Victoria will facilitate a discussion related to the high incarceration rates of indigenous people and 'Change the Record’ Campaign. This session will provide us with an opportunity for self-education in relation to the disproportionate rates of incarceration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and the high levels of violence experienced, particularly by women and children.

Date: Tuesday 26 April
Time: 7.00 – 8.30 pm
Location: ANTaR: Father Tucker Room, Brotherhood of St. Laurence, 67 Brunswick St, Fitzroy (enter via 128 Fitzroy Street)

Background Information
Justice Reinvestment – Change The Record ANTaR is a founding member of the Change the Record Campaign launched April 2015. Friday 15th April marks the 25th anniversary of the Report of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (RCIADIC) and sadly, a generation after the Report, incarceration statistics are not improving. As will be demonstrated during the presentation, being placed in prison is all too common for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with ongoing implications for individuals, families and the whole community. With your support, we can change the record.

We need to invest in early intervention, prevention and diversion strategies. These are smarter solutions that increase safety, address the root causes of violence against women, cut reoffending and imprisonment rates, and build stronger and safer communities. We can do this. We need to implement solutions and make it happen in a way that empowers Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, communities and services to drive these solutions.

Together, we can change the record. Together, we can build stronger and safer communities - we need to invest in holistic early intervention, prevention and diversion strategies. These are smarter, evidence-based and more cost-effective solutions that increase safety, address the root causes of violence against women and children, cut reoffending and imprisonment rates, and build stronger communities.

The National Justice Coalition
The Change the Record Campaign is a coalition of leading Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, community and human rights organisations referred to as the National Justice Coalition. Members include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Mick Gooda; Amnesty International Australia; ANTaR; Australian Council of Social Service; Federation of Community Legal Centres (Vic); First Peoples Disability Network; Human Rights Law Centre; Law Council of Australia; National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services; National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations; National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples; National Family Violence Prevention Legal Services Forum; Oxfam Australia; Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care; Sisters Inside; Victorian Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People, Andrew Jackomos.

Psalm 51 and Living on Indigenous Land

I spent this weekend at Budj Bim, a land where Indigenous people were one of the first practitioners of aquaculture in the world. I had a chance to learn from conversations with others, as well as from time spent in reflection; here’s just a bit of it.

On Sunday morning, I decide to go for a walk along one of the hiking paths to find a peaceful place to read my Bible. After a quick stroll, I park myself on a bench dedicated to Reginald Saunders, the first Aboriginal general, who led a team of 150 soldiers during the Korean War. I feel like reading a psalm because I associate psalms with nature, but then I remember that in my reading plan I’m on Psalm 51, which is a psalm of repentance. At first, I don’t want to read it, thinking that land and nature don’t have much to do with repentance. But staring at Saunders’ memorial makes me reflect on the fact that I am on Indigenous land, and I change my mind.

Reg Saunders' memorial.

Reg Saunders' memorial.

The psalm opens with the lines, “Have mercy on me, O God… for I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.” My mind ponders the question, “In relation to my presence on Indigenous land, is there anything I need to repent of?” The first thing I think of is the history of colonization. In 1788, Britain sent convicts on ships to Australia, who largely mistreated Indigenous people and decimated their populations with disease and violence. In over 200 years since then, a formal treaty has never been established between Indigenous people and Australians, and the former have essentially had their land stolen.

A wrestling war in my head begins.

Yeah, but that was bad people, the convicts; good people in the church wouldn’t do that.

Actually, the church has contributed to this injustice by introducing missions that discouraged Aboriginal people from practicing their culture, destroying parts of their heritage that may never be recovered.

A cross at the Lake Condah mission we visited.

A cross at the Lake Condah mission we visited.

Yeah, but at least you’re not part of it; you’re just in Australia for ten months, you never contributed to any of this.

Actually, you’re directly benefiting from the effects of colonization, not only in Australia but also in the U.S.

If Americans never decimated the Native American population, and if Australians never took over Indigenous land, I might have never had the chance to travel from the U.S. to Australia on an exchange scholarship. As a research exchange scholar, I am a direct beneficiary from colonization in two countries, and my previous ignorance of this is something of which I need to repent. Even as just a resident in the US, I have benefitted from the mere fact that I live on stolen land, something I never seriously considered up until now. I need to repent of thinking that I am innocent, of turning a blind eye to all the Native Americans and Indigenous Australians that have been oppressed so that I could be in this position of privilege. My wrongdoing is analogous to watching Person A beating up Person B, then going out with Person A for dinner using Person B’s money, all the while without acknowledging Person B at all.

So what am I, are we supposed to do in light of this dark history?

David pleads to God, “Create in me a clean heart... Restore to me the joy of Your salvation.” The situation indeed is bleak, and with our darkened hearts there’s little that we can offer. Our only hope is for God to transform our hearts and to be reminded of God’s perfect plan of salvation. It’s a salvation that isn’t limited just to the souls of Christians, but a salvation that brings peace for all, including Indigenous Australians, Native Americans, and their stolen land.

It’s easy to want to do a lot, at least for myself, when I realize that I’m also culpable. It’s a way to ease my conscience, to quell my guilt. But David says, “For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” My heart can be calloused, insensitive to injustices that seem removed from me; instead of springing into action immediately, I need to sit in the sadness and allow room for my heart to be changed.

I’ll admit that I don’t know the way going forward. If anything, this weekend I’ve learned that issues surrounding land sovereignty, self-determination, and reconciliation are so complex. Learning from his experience of sin and repentance, David promises, “Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you.” In a sense, we are all collectively transgressors: as Americans, as Australians, as Christians who have wronged Indigenous peoples. At the very least, I hope to open the eyes of other “transgressors,” and I invite you to join me in this journey of confession and repentance. 

- Ben