Indigenous Elders can survive extreme weather with minimal material resources available. There are countless examples, including five Pitjantjatjara women who endured five days in the desert using the stories of the land to guide them to water. Can the cultural knowledge, skills and resources used by Indigenous communities lead the way and help everybody else to survive the coming apocalyptic crisis?

Featuring
Uncle Dave Wandin, Wurundjeri Woi wurrung Elder / Corporation’s Manager of Cultural Practices (Fire & Water)
Claire G. Coleman, Wirlomin Noongar Writer
Muhubo Suleiman, Somali Master Weaver

Wurundjeri Woi wurrung Elder Uncle Dave Wandin is the Corporation’s Manager of Cultural Practices (Fire & Water). Prior to this role, Uncle Dave was instrumental in the establishment of the Corporation’s Narrap Team, a team of cultural land managers. Uncle Dave is a recognised leader in both the promotion and execution of cultural burns in Victoria. Currently Uncle Dave, along with the Water Unit, is working  on the development of the Yarra Strategic Plan to ensure good outcomes for Wurundjeri Woi wurrung culture and people alongside representatives from Responsible Public Entities identified in the Wilip-gin Birrarung Murron Act (2017).

Claire G. Coleman is a Wirlomin Noongar woman whose ancestral country is in the South Coast of Western Australia.  Her debut novel Terra Nullius, published in Australia and the USA, written on a second-hand iPad in a caravan, has won the Norma K. Hemming Award and a black&write fellowship and was Shortlisted for the Stella Prize and an Aurealis Award. She has written essay, short fiction, reportage, opinion, criticism and poetry for publication on multiple national and international platforms and is a popular speaker and storyteller.  The Old Lie is her second novel.

Muhubo Sulieman is from a small country town near Galkayo in Somalia and arrived in Australia in 2003. Her passion for craft making and preserving her cultural heritage continues to inspire her work, through the creation of brightly coloured hand woven rugs, bags and wall sculptures incorporating traditional Somali craft techniques and Henna Art. Muhubo is currently living in Melbourne.

A billycan, a crowbar and an axe: Indigenous survival techniques for the apocalypse is a session of the North Melbourne School of Displacement

Other sessions

Sat 31 Aug
10.30am Over our heads: Housing and homelessness
1.30pm Lost for words: Displacement through enforced and prioritised language

Sun 1 Sep
10.30am In a strange land: How does culture survive when you can’t go home

Mon 2 Sep
6pm The future is Indigenous: Cultural change to survive a climate change world

Tue 3 Sep
6pm Not a drop to drink: Aqua nullius and global warming, securing First Nations water rights