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https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-i-claimed-our-data-confronting-the-colonial-archive-is-intense-aboriginal-love-in-action-240338>
This is my data. And this is my sovereign right.
No more whitewashing. Let Truth be told.
— Data Sovereignty Words
"I am a Wajarri, Badimaya and Wilunyu woman from the Yamaji Nation who has
grown up on country with family in the small rural inland community of Mullewa,
in Western Australia. In this story, I weave together some of my journey
through the space of colonial archive violence, silences, and the creation of
family stories where there was once a void, filling it with family love.
Love is often defined as an intense feeling of deep affection and a great
interest in something and/or someone. We love our Old People, our Ancestors,
and we want to know more about them so they can be part of our story and life
journeys – this is wrapped in an intense Aboriginal love that is not often
recognised. It is an Aboriginal love that takes love even further and is shown
when we speak about our love for country, culture, family and Old People.
The Aboriginal love I speak of is when we march, write, sing, weave a basket,
create art, return to country often and slowly work through colonial archives,
even when it breaks our hearts to do so.
Here, I step into parts of my country that other cultural members might avoid,
consider taboo and/or may find somewhat difficult to navigate. This is not easy
storytelling, and it rarely is when we speak about trauma, family, violence and
colonial archives. But one of the ways we can find family love is by sifting
through the colonial archive of violence and trauma."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
