00:00:05:06 - 00:00:06:05 Growing up as a young Aboriginal person and going to school and having a busy life you kind of get isolated from being around other young Aboriginal people your own age. I had first heard about KYPAG through the counsellor at my school. He said that it was quite an opportunity, like an experience. The Koorie Young Person Advisory Group was formed to make sure that our reforms are really keeping the voice of young people at the center of the work. I guess the start of the process was just making sure that they felt really comfortable to be able to share what they're experiencing right now at school. It's empowering, being able to teach the next generation about their culture and also provide some clarity around who they are because a lot of them are still finding their way and unsure of who they're going to be or even just knowing where they belong. It's important for young people to be involved in conversations regarding self-determination because they're inheriting a future that was supposed to be built for them. I learnt that self-determination is very important and like with the possum skins, it just helps. We learn so many things and you can be a part of something that can help change education for Indigenous students. I really like what the young people came up with in developing the possum skin cloak and the statements. Yeah, my reflections on some of the things that they've said. I guess the pressures that they have on being able to hold a strong identity, develop a strong identity. But also, I mean, I had the privilege of seeing the KYPAG meet the way that they really look out for each other and care and support each other. It's important that schools know about the possum skin statement because there are two main purposes of the possum skin. It's to share the stories and to protect young people. So when they wear those cloaks, it's protecting them and strengthening them and culture. And the important part about the cloaks was the stories that were told, often having the designs and patterns of the area of the mob that they’re from and the significance was obviously the stories were based on the individuals who wore it. So they're all different and all unique. The statements were really, what do we want our schools to know? What's going to make our lives better? And if we didn't have to explain the same thing again and again and again, that takes the pressure off our young people so they can just focus on learning rather than having to be a teacher and to educate others. Yeah, so I think the statement that sticks out to me, the most is we don't have to be experts on our culture. I think that's really important for non-Indigenous people to know. And everyone kind of looks to you to know the answers and to inform them on their questions and it's really important for them to know that we're still learning as well. This group has helped me learn that I get to decide who I want to be. I'm not alone on my journey, that I have a community to fall back on. It helps me be on the path that I want. What we're trying to change in the system is all about making their experiences better so our ancestors and our elders didn't receive the full benefits of the education system. And we want to make sure that what our students and young people are experiencing isn’t the same as what as our parents and grandparents and great-grandparents went through.
Updated