ABSTRACT

In Australia, some non-Aboriginal social workers and academics have difficulty working in partnership with Aboriginal children, families, and communities because they do not know how to build authentic relationships and are fearful of doing so. This is particularly the case in Child Protection where children continue to be removed from Aboriginal families. Reciprocal and genuine relationships involve holding Aboriginal worldviews as equally valid as Euro-western ones. For non-Aboriginal social workers and academics, this means moving beyond a “helping” stance, and towards genuine openness to learn and understand the world, and their place in it, in new ways. This paper shows how two social work academics undertook building relationships with Traditional Custodians in our local area to establish a resource for students that foregrounds Aboriginal ways of knowing and learning by using the Tree of Life concept to embody Aboriginal experiences. The Aboriginal author focused on coming together respectfully to create a better-shared understanding on connecting to Country. For the non-Aboriginal author, a transformation occurred, gaining embodied understanding of her own belonging and connection to Country. The paper concludes with reflections useful to others embarking on this journey.

IMPLICATIONS

• Cultivating an academic environment that prioritises forming authentic relationships with Traditional Custodians on Country is essential in order to be culturally responsive.

• A decolonising embodied concept, Tree of Life, invites social workers to take a journey of personal self-discovery, of belongingness, and cultural heritage.

• A simulation resource developed with Traditional Custodians can disrupt daily instances of colonisation and work toward social workers reflecting on practice to minimise further harm in working with Aboriginal communities.

摘要

在澳大利亚，一些非原住民社会工作者和学者很难与原住民儿童，家庭和社区合作，因为他们不知道如何建立真诚的关系，并且害怕这样做。在儿童保护中尤其如此，儿童继续从原住民家庭中被带走。互惠和真诚的关系涉及保持原住民世界观与欧洲西方世界观同样有效。对于非原住民社会工作者和学者来说，这意味着要超越“帮助”的立场，走向真正开放的学习和了解世界及其在世界中所处位置的新方式。本文显示了两位社会工作学者如何与我们当地的传统保管人建立关系，以利用生命之树的概念来体现原住民经历，为学生提供一种以原住民知识和学习方式为重点的资源。原住民作者专注于相互尊重，以建立更好的共识，以建立与国家的联系。对于非原住民作家，发生了转变，对她自己的归属和与国家的联系有了具体的了解。本文以对其他踏上此旅程的人有用的思考作为结尾。对于非原住民作家，发生了转变，对她自己的国家和与国家的联系有了具体的了解。本文以对其他踏上此旅程的人有用的思考作为结尾。对于非原住民作家，发生了转变，对她自己的国家和与国家的联系有了具体的了解。本文以对其他踏上此旅程的人有用的思考作为结尾。

含意

• 为了在文化上具有响应性，培养优先与国家的传统保管人建立真实关系的学术环境至关重要。

• 一种非殖民化的体现概念，即生命之树，邀请社会工作者踏上个人自我发现，归属感和文化遗产的旅程。

• 与传统保管人一起开发的模拟资源可以打乱日常的殖民活动，并向社会工作者努力思考实践，以最大程度地减少与原住民社区合作的伤害。