Warrior Scholars Warmed Hearts On a Cold Day

At a rally supporting world-wide protest at the forced closure of Aboriginal Communities by the Australian Government, children from Thames South School warmed the hearts of onlookers on a cold day by performing five haka last Friday outside Thames Civic Centre, in what was billed as a world first cultural event, a flashmob fusion haka with didgeridoo.

Assistant Principal at Thames South School, Barbara Hetaraka says, “The forced closure of Aboriginal Communities came to my attention through Facebook, and I'm always seeking learning opportunities that are real and impact on the wellbeing of other indigenous people. This protest rally was an opportunity to show our support.”

After the performance, the audience and didgeridoo players joined the children in sending messages of support to the Aboriginal Communities which were captured as images for posting on the internet. Ms Hetaraka explains, “Our aim is to create warrior scholars sound in their cultural identity, making our kids change agents in what's happening in their world here and being connected to indigenous folk world-wide."

In a unique twist, since January former Thames resident, Denise Messiter from Ngati Pukenga ki Waiau, has been living in Kalumburu, the northern most remote community in Western Australia, working with the Aboriginal community at their Strong Women's Centre. Denise says, "We are on the closure list, although the Australian Government is now saying that no such list exists."

A two page letter from the women elders of Kalumburu Strong Women's Group was read at the Thames rally. In the letter the elders explained, “Our mob has been living here continuously for over 60,000 years. How long do we have to live here for our communities to be considered sustainable? This is black fella land, always has been, always will be. We do not support the closure of any aboriginal community, and we feel deeply for those, whose communities have been closed in recent years.”

In unexpected connections, one of the warrior scholars who performed at the rally was Denise Messiter’s eldest grandchild. And in the audience were two retired Kiwi locals, Graham & Rosina who had lived in Kalumburu for ten years, and are planning to return there on holiday next week. They were unexpectedly able to renew connections in advance with Kalumburu elders Mary and Dennis, at Thames Cinema, after a special screening of "Utopia", a film about a remote outback Aboriginal community which (according to Denise Messiter) is just like Kalumburu.

After the film, the audience chatted on the big screen via Skype to “the mob in Kalumburu”. And in an email the following day, Denise Messiter said, “The ones from here who were on the Skype were so buoyed by the connection, and what really made it for them was Graham and Rosina being there - so a few tears were shed at this end.”

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