Keynote Speakers

Federation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Languages (FATSIL)

The Federation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Languages is the national body for community based Indigenous language programs in Australia. The organisation was established in 1991 and promotes the maintenance, retrieval and revival of Indigenous languages through the support of community based language programs.

 

FATSIL aims to have Indigenous languages recognised as core elements in the development of all policy and legislation relevant to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia. Its goals are:

• To support the fostering and maintenance of cultural practices and traditions with regard to Indigenous Australian Languages in a form that will be available for future generations
• To provide information and advice to government, non-government agencies and general community relevant to language issues
• To continue with the development of Indigenous Australian Language policies and programs
• To provide a comprehensive consultative mechanism through Regional Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Languages Management Committees, Language Centres and Community groups
• To promote the recognition and understanding of Indigenous language skills, experience and knowledge in language, culture and heritage through educational and employment programs
• To encourage the training and development of Indigenous Language workers and specialist language speakers

Mr. Lester Coyne

Lester Coyne a Noongar man comes from the biggest Aboriginal group in Western Australia whose custodial lands extend from Albany in the Great South to Jurien Bay, 200 km North of Perth, East to Southern Cross and South East to Esperance. Born in Katanning Western Australia in 1947. Lester the eldest of six has held many local, State and Commonwealth positions and given a great deal of time to various committees and for ten consecutive years held the position of national chairperson of FATSIL.

 

Lester with a stolen generation mother removed from Carnarvon in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia in 1927, has access to 3 languages 2 from his mother a Yamaji woman and his fathers language Noongar.

 

With tertiary qualifications in Aboriginal Community Management gained from Curtin University in Western Australia, Lester has extensive experience in Aboriginal Employment Education Training and Health fields.

 

Mr. Bruce Pascoe

Bruce Pascoe graduated as a secondary teacher and taught for many years and was a Curriculum Development officer with the Victorian Education Department. He has also worked as a farmer, fisherman, Aboriginal language researcher and archaeological site worker. His fiction & non-fiction books are concerned with Australia’s understanding of its Indigenous history and future. Convincing Ground is his latest book (Aboriginal Studies Press) and he has completed work on a Wathaurong language dictionary. Bruce is currently a board member of the Victorian Aboriginal Corporation for Languages

Dr Alfred John Bamblett

Dr. Alf Bamblett is an Elder and Leader within the Victorian Aboriginal Community. Currently Alf is the Chief Executive Officer at the Victorian Aboriginal Community Services Association Limited (VACSAL), the President of the Aborigines Advancement League Inc (AAL) and has life membership on various Aboriginal organisations including the Victorian Aboriginal Education Association Inc (VAEAI). 

Alf’s father was a Wiradjeri man and his mother a Yorta Yorta woman and hence he has a biological and kinship relationship with many Victorian Aboriginal families.

 

Alf has a long history of working in and for Aboriginal communities, particularly in the areas of Justice, Family Support (Child Protection & Family Violence), Community Development, Economic Development, Culture & Social Welfare as well as Education. For over twenty years through key policy making and management roles, Alf has been instrumental in shaping many Aboriginal Community Organisations within Victoria.

 

Alf was a founding member of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) and was the Victorian Commissioner between 1991 and 1995.  In this role he chaired two major reviews: the Task Force Review of the Commonwealth Government’s Aboriginal Employment and Development Program (AEDP) and the Task Force to Response of Government’s to the Final Report of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. As Commissioner Alf played a key role in negotiating funding for various programs following the 339 recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.  He was also the first Aboriginal man in Victoria to present at a Federal Cabinet meeting. 

 

Alf is a member of many committees both State and Commonwealth and is respected as a cultural advisor to the Victorian Department of Human Services and various non-Government organisations. For many years Alf has conducted Cultural Awareness programs, particularly on issues of racism, with government Departments, Community Agencies and various mainstream agencies including the Australian Football League as well as Judges / Magistrates and staff in the penal system. Alf is much sought after for his extensive knowledge of Aboriginal affairs both historical and contemporary.

 

Alf is an accomplished speaker and has lectured at schools, universities, colleges and police academies.  Alf is often called upon by both the Aboriginal and wider community to lead and facilitate meetings, forums and gatherings.

 

In 2004 Alf was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Deakin University in recognition of dedication, time and assistance provided in the establishment and operation of a very successful higher education program for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Students attending the University. In 2007 he was awarded the Victorian Law Foundation Certificate in recognition of distinguished and long–standing commitment to pro bono service.

 

Alf is a strong advocate for Aboriginal people within Victoria.  He is called a leader not only because he demonstrates and emulates leadership but because he is a visionary with a proven ability to direct the course of Aboriginal affairs. The Aboriginal community looks to him for this leadership.

 

Whilst there are many people who are leaders within their particular fields of expertise be it education, employment, housing etc, Alf has the ability to work across all the broader policy areas and the capacity to provide advice on the impact of policies on services, practices and community as a whole.

Professor Octaviana Valenzuela Trujillo

Octaviana has worked over the past three decades in the area of community-based, educational program development for minority and multicultural populations, particularly Indigenous Peoples. She served as Director of Native American Studies at both Tempe Elementary and Tucson Unified School Districts before going to the University of Arizona as the first Director of the American Indian Graduate Center. Two years later, upon receiving a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction from Arizona State University, she became Assistant Professor of Education in the department of Language, Reading and Culture at the University of Arizona. In 1995, Dr. Trujillo joined the faculty at the College of Education at Arizona State University and later served as director of the Center for Indian Education and editor of the Journal of American Indian Education. Currently, Professor Trujillo is Northern Arizona University’s chair of the Department of Applied Indigenous Studies.

 

Her studies have been augmented during summers through such activities as a Fulbright Fellowship in India, attending the Instituto Cultural de Guanajuato in Mexico, and participating in the 17th study session of the International Institute of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France. She has since traveled extensively internationally. She has been the recipient of a number of academic distinctions including a Newberry Library Scholarship for research at the D'Arcy McNickle Center for the History of the American Indian in 1988, a Rockefeller Foundation fellowship in 1990, a research grant from the Arizona Humanities Council, a Smithsonian Community Scholar Fellowship in 1991 and a Kellogg Leadership Fellowship in 1993.

 

In 1992, Octaviana was elected as the first woman Vice Chair of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona and was awarded “Woman on the Move” by the Tucson YWCA. Subsequently, she became the Chairwoman during her tenure on the tribal council, establishing the first Department of Education and shepherded state and national legislation. A primary focus of her work as a tribal leader has been “Nation Building” that takes advantage of her academic and professional experience with women, children and families. Local and international work has included Indigenous leadership development and the urbanization of Indigenous communities. These include projects addressing the need for more linguistically and culturally appropriate curriculum and instruction, and other strategies for family literacy. Octaviana also serves as an active member of the American Friends Service Committee. Her committee work focuses on Indigenous Peoples issues, community relations, and international affairs. Other national board service includes, Native American Public Telecommunication and the Kellogg Fellows Leadership Alliance. Her interest in peace and human rights advocacy has included work in the Middle East, Mexico, Northern Ireland, Colombia, Ecuador and Bolivia.

Professor Graham Hingangaroa SMITH

Professor Smith a prominent Maori educationalist and advocate who has been at the forefront of the alternative Maori initiatives in the education field and beyond.  His recent academic work has centred on developing theoretically informed transformative strategies related to intervening in Maori cultural, political, social, educational and economic crises.  He is involved in the development of Tribal Universities and was the foundation Chairperson of Te Whare Wananga O Awanuiarangi in Whakatane.  He is the former Pro Vice Chancellor (Maori) at the University of Auckland and under his leadership the Maori University structure (Te Wananga o Waipapa) was established within the University of Auckland.

 

Professor Smith’s earlier training is in Social Anthropology and he completed a MA (Hons) dissertation on ‘Maori Rituals of Encounter’.  He was the first teacher of a Kura Kaupapa Maori school, (Maori philosophy and principles based School), which has grown from a single school in 1988 to over eighty publicly funded schools in 2007.  His theoretical leadership has informed the emergence of Maori Education Studies as a distinct entity within the Tertiary Sector in particular New Zealand Universities. This work has developed a wide-ranging academic discussion centred on Kaupapa Maori Theory, Critical Theory and Transformative Praxis.

 

Professor Smith has made significant contributions to the political, social, economic and cultural advancement of Indigenous Maori communities.  He has also worked extensively with other Indigenous/ First Nation’s peoples across the world, including Canada, Hawaii, US mainland, Taiwan, Chile, Australia and the Pacific nations.  He is a regular contributor to national forums on Indigenous issues and has also been an authoritative voice to international forums on Indigenous education issues.  Professor Smith has been an active contributor to the critical debate on ‘race’ and ‘ethnicity’ both in New Zealand and abroad.

 

Professor Smith is one the most influential educators in New Zealand today.  He has published widely and is in demand as a commentator on national and international indigenous matters. He is of Ngati Apa, Ngati Kahungunu, Kai Tahu and Ngati Porou tribal descent.

Commissioner Tom Calma

Mr Calma is an Aboriginal elder from the Kungarakan tribal group and the Iwaidja tribal group whose traditional lands are south west of Darwin and on the Coburg Peninsula in the Northern Territory. He has been involved in Indigenous affairs at a local, community, state, national and international level and has worked in the public sector for over 30 years.

 

Until his appointment on 12 July 2004 as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, for an appointment of five years and national Race Discrimination Commissioner by annual appointment, Mr Calma managed the Community Development and Education Branch at Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Services (ATSIS) where he worked with remote Indigenous communities to implement community-based and driven empowerment and participation programs. In 2003, he was Senior Adviser of Indigenous Affairs to the Minister of Immigration, Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs and from 1995 to 2002 he was a senior diplomat in India and Vietnam.

 

Commissioner Calma is also a White Ribbon Day ambassador, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, held on 25 November each year. Mr Calma has been an ambassador since 2005. Commissioner Calma is also a national patron of Wakakirri National Story Festival.

Dr. Marie Battiste

Dr. Marie Battiste, a Mi'kmaq educator from Potlo’tek First Nations of Unama’kik, Nova Scotia, is a full professor in the College of Education, Director of the Aboriginal Education Research Centre (AERC) at the University of Saskatchewan and Co-Director of the Aboriginal Learning Knowledge Centre, a national project of the Canadian Council on Learning. 

 

A graduate of Harvard University (M.Ed) and Stanford University (Ed.D), she has expanded writings in cognitive imperialism, linguistic and cultural integrity, and decolonization of Aboriginal education. Marie has worked actively with First Nations schools and communities as an administrator, teacher, consultant, and curriculum developer, advancing Aboriginal epistemology, languages, pedagogy, and research. Her research interests are in initiating institutional change in the decolonization of education, language and social justice policy and power, and postcolonial educational approaches that recognize and affirm the political and cultural diversity of Canada and the ethical protection and advancement of Indigenous knowledge.  

 

She is a technical expert to the United Nations, an advisor to Canadian Heritage, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Auditor General of Canada, and an Executive Member of Canadian Commission for UNESCO. 

 

She has co-authored Protecting Indigenous Knowledge and Heritage: A Global Challenge with J. Youngblood Henderson (Saskatoon: Purich Press, 2000) which received a Saskatchewan Book Award in 2000; edited Reclaiming Indigenous Voice and Vision (Vancouver: UBC Press, 2000); co-edited a special edition of the Australian Journal of Indigenous Education (May 2005), and senior editor with Jean Barman for First Nations Education in Canada: The Circle Unfolds (Vancouver: UBC Press, 1995). She has published widely, presented internationally, and is an active researcher and contributor to many Indigenous community projects.

 

A recipient of two honorary degrees (St. Mary’s University and University of Maine at Farmington), she also received the Alumni Achievement Award (UMF), the Distinguished Researcher Award from the University of Saskatchewan in 2004, the Saskatchewan Commemorative Medal for the Centennial of Saskatchewan 2006 for significant achievements to the people of Saskatchewan, Eagle feathers from Mi’kmaw Grand Council, Eskasoni First Nations community, and Stanford University Native American community. She is also the 2008 recipient of the National Aboriginal Achievement Award from the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation.