Over 3,000 delegates, representing hundreds of Indigenous nations, travelled from 23 countries to attend The World Indigenous Peoples’ Conference: 2008. Held in Melbourne, Australia the traditional lands of the Kulin Nation, WIPC:E 2008 was a week-long conference that saw an imperative exchange of Indigenous knowledge, wisdom and spirit.

 

2008 marked the 8th triennial WIPC:E, and the first time a community controlled organisation hosted the prestigious event. The Victorian Aboriginal Education Association Inc (VAEAI) grounded the conference in community knowledge through the theme Indigenous Education in the 21st Century: Respecting Tradition, Shaping the Future. There was over 400 concurrent conference sessions to choose from and key note presentations from world leaders in the field of Indigenous education.

With an academic program of international significance and two huge culture events, WIPC:E 2008 was a conference to remember. The Traditional Welcome to Country Ceremony took place on the largest piece of Aboriginal owned land in urban Melbourne, the Aborigines Advancement League which is often referred to as the mother of all Aboriginal community controlled organisations. This full day of dance, song and ceremony was open to the public, and was an opportunity to share the significance of WIPC:E with the wider Melbourne community.

 

A ceremony took place during the Traditional Welcome to acknowledge the WIPC:E 2008 Patron’s Professor Colin Bourke, Aunty May O’Brien, Patricia Buckskin and Bob Morgan, and a number of respected leaders in Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education. Each of these “Education Warriors” has been involved in policy development on a national level for a significant number of years, playing a vital role in the formation of the National Aboriginal Education Policy (NAEP). It is hoped that future WIPC:E events will take up this challenge, to formally recognise the education leaders within their own communities.

The Closing Ceremony Concert captured both the pride and strength of the growing international Indigenous movement. A 4,000 strong crowd exploded into rapturous applause at the announcement that the Quechua people of Cusco Peru will host WIPC:E 2011, the first WIPC:E to take place in Latin America.

Each working day was governed by a sub-theme, and the Open Mic Area at Rod Laver Arena saw song and story continue throughout the jam packed working days.

Day one’s Respecting Tradition saw a focus on the importance of Indigenous language preservation, and a reminder from local Elder Dr Alfred Bamblett that “with the rights that we push for as Indigenous people, come responsibilities”.

Speaking to Tuesday’s theme of Living With Competing Knowledge Systems Dr Chris Sarra of the Indigenous Education Leadership Institute, Australia said “Embracing a positive sense of cultural identity as part of excellence, and not instead of it, is vital.”

The last working day was aptly themed Beyond the Horizon. Dr Battiste, who in 1984 became the first First Nations woman in Canada to receive a doctorate, spoke of “a critical mass of Indigenous learners who have survived an assimilationist and disempowering agenda in education with determination, their own critical edge, and desire to move the imposed boundaries of Eurocentric education to begin to walk their own path toward empowering and liberating themselves, and their nations as a whole.”

 

The Victorian Aboriginal Education Association Inc. would like to thank the Strategic Committee, the Knowledge Committee, the key note speakers, the concurrent presenters, the performers, the volunteers and the delegates, for making WIPC:E 2008 a conference of vital importance. As we continue to strive for educational systems that value Indigenous knowledge and Indigenous perspectives, we can all look forward to WIPC:E 2011 in Cusco, Peru.

 

Photos by Alison McColl-Bullock & Wayne Quilliam. More photos available at www.vaeai.org.au

Geraldine Atkinson President VAEAI Chair – WIPC:E 2008 Strategic Committee

Dr. Mark Rose General Manager VAEAI Chair – WIPC:E 2008 Knowledge Committee