Welsh words about longing and be-longing

Hiraeth
A homesickness for a home to which you cannot return, a home which maybe never was; the nostalgia, the yearning, the grief for the lost places of your past.
Cynefin
A Welsh word for a place where a being feels it ought to live. It is where nature around you feels right and welcoming.


My friend Steve put me onto these words about home and belonging.  He was researching Welsh saints, and made the observation that many saints who are identified with particular places weren't actually born there.

For example, St Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland, but he came as a slave from Great Britain, kidnapped by Irish pirates. St Piran is supposed to have been flung into the sea in Ireland with a millstone around his neck before floating to shore in Cornwall. St George, patron saint of England, was born in Turkey or Palestine to Greek parents. St David, patron saint of Wales, was born in what is now Wales, but he would not have recognized or identified with that entity. He was probably a native of a particular area called Henvynyw (Vetus-Menevia) in Cardiganshire, who then left home and founded monasteries and churches across modern day Wales.

I think these ideas are interesting in the light of our difficulties with belonging as Settler people in a country that is not our own. How do we relate to the places our ancestors came from? Are our impressions of those places accurate?  What do we have to offer in this place?

Patti Smith wrote in her book The Mind of a Thief, 'I come from a transplanted people. It might mean we always grow a little crooked and ill at ease.'

The stories of those saints might remind us that God's people have often been exiled people. Perhaps they found ways to be at home in places that were not where they came from. Or perhaps they were able to act in ways that would not have been possible had they not left home.  

I wonder how it feels for Aboriginal people who do not feel at home in the nation state of Australia, but who have a deep affinity with particular parts of the land. I wonder whether some people have been able to offer particular insights, coming from a place on the margins.

And while we have a tendency to claim people who have done great things as being 'one of us', the insight they offer may come because they do not quite belong, and can thus see more clearly what needs to be done.

- Samara

Healing Rites for Seven Sites - a walking liturgy on Holy Saturday

26 March 2016

We walk the way of the Southern Cross and hear again the words of Christ on the cross.

On this walk we will hear the 'seven last words' spoken by Christ, and participate in words and actions of lament as we hear stories from Aboriginal people experiencing violence, suffering and injustice in our land. 

Those who have ears to hear... listen.

The walk will start at 2pm from Rushall Station (North Fitzroy) and end at approximately 3:30pm for afternoon tea at the IHH. 

Children are very welcome, but some guidance may be required.

RSVP by Wednesday March 23 to the Indigenous Hospitality House
1/907 Drummond St
Carlton North
house@ihh.org.au
Ph: 9387 7557

What if it's not written for us?

On Thursday nights during Lent we've been opening up unit 2 for dinner and discussion of the Bible.  At our most recent discussion last week we were talking about a story that just seemed strange and difficult to interpret. It was talking about demon possession and prayer, ideas which don't sit easily in our society, and the details of the story were hard to make sense of. We talked about whether we were finding it hard because the story just wasn't written for us. It was a story from a foreign culture, separated from us by two-thousand years.

We talked a bit about how Beyoncé's recent song 'Formation' (and particularly the music video that accompanies it) have been caused a stir in the United States, and that seems to have been because Beyoncé's music has often been made to be mass-marketed, and has depended on being appealing to the white majority. It is pretty clear that this song (and particularly the film clip) is not made primarily for European Americans but for African Americans, and for people unfamiliar with African American culture it may be hard to understand what the song is saying.

There is often something similar going on with the Australian ABC's Black Comedy. While people from different cultures might watch the show, some of the jokes are going to be missed by Settler people who aren't familiar with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. That's okay, because those jokes aren't written for us. It may make us feel uncomfortable, but it might also help to make us more aware that we're used to media being tailored for the majority culture.

Learning Circle: What we've learned through intercultural work

Batman's Treaty with the Aborigines at Merri Creek by John Wesley Burtt, circa 1875.

Batman's Treaty with the Aborigines at Merri Creek by John Wesley Burtt, circa 1875.

The Indigenous Hospitality House is a learning community inviting people on a shared journey of cultural healing and growth in light of stolen land. Learning Circles are an oppotunity to reflect on what we have been learning by offering hospitality to Indigenous people. At our first Learning Circle for 2016, Matt Bell will be helping us explore what the IHH has learned about our own cultures and about Indigenous cultures through shared hospitality. Feel free to join us for dinner from 7:00pm. We plan to start our discussion at 8:00pm.
If you are planning to come, please let us know by emailing house@ihh.org.au

'...a place that all may find peace'

On Wednesday last week the Indigenous Hospitality House opened for guests for 2016. Tonight the residents had their their first house meeting for the year. One of the things we do at the house meeting is reflect on a query, and tonight's query was,

“How have you contributed to the House being a place that all may find peace?”

Sarah and Ian mentioned Big Ted, a huge teddy bear that some of their student friends gave to their son Winston. One of our first guests for the year, a little boy a couple of years older than Winston, saw the bear when he arrived and did a happy dance! We're glad that Big Ted made his hospital trip to Melbourne a bit more peaceful.


Creating a Learning Community

In July 2015, despite efforts made to recruit new people, the IHH dropped to only four residents.  We decided therefore not to host hospital guests in Term Three. Instead we used the time to review our community engagement strategies, and put some energy into hosting events and making connections with local mobs and people that would extend our networks and strengthen support for the project and the residents.  

It has a been a rich and nourishing time!

We hosted visitors from several churches and organisations including Whitley College, L’Arche, Urban Seed and the Railway House Reconciliation and Respect group; caught up with IHH alumni; ran a series of conversations on Everyday Spirituality and a Bible study on Lamentations; and held a Cancer Council Pancake Brunch.

We worked on a community engagement plan with Dusk Liney from Inspirit Creative, and got some conflict resolution training from Shawn Whelan.

We represented the IHH at several conferences and gatherings including the TEAR Gathering, the ‘Teach Anything Good’ day at the new Kathleen Syme library in Carlton, and a ‘Forming Disciples in Mission’ colloquium at the Melbourne Korean church.

We walked a prayer labyrinth, sang songs and told stories at the Church of All Nations to celebrate and strengthen our partnership of nearly 15 years!

We attended various cultural activities such as the Ngarrindjeri postcolonial conversation with Ken Sumner (the chair of Congress in Victoria), a Coranderrk mission visit during Wurundjeri week, a workshop on Aboriginal languages run by Mandy Nicholson from VACL, and Yarnin’ films at the Footscray Arts Centre.

This time has been an investment in the second part of IHH’s purpose: to be a place where we can help people explore what it means for their identity and faith in practice to be non-Indigenous people living on Aboriginal land.  This is the gift of being involved at the IHH for residents, but also for visiting volunteers, those on our Business Committee and others who have the opportunity to share the stories and join in the learning journey we are all on.

In 2016, we have new residents coming on board, but we will also be opening up more ways for people to be part of our learning community without having to move in. 

Stay tuned!

Sharing food and stories in Unit Two.

Sharing food and stories in Unit Two.

Clare Landy talks about her book Decolonising Solidarity with the Railway House Respect and Reconciliation group at IHH.

Clare Landy talks about her book Decolonising Solidarity with the Railway House Respect and Reconciliation group at IHH.

Uncle David Wandin at Coranderrk Cemetery during Wurundjeri Week.

Uncle David Wandin at Coranderrk Cemetery during Wurundjeri Week.

Lamentations Bible Study

In term three the IHH community gathered around the Biblical book of Lamentations and read it in light of our own context at the house and the broader Australian context. We found that the story of the Israelite people and their prolonged suffering at the hands of invaders could be related to the suffering of Indigenous people in our own country. We were also challenged by the idea of needing to sit in the tension of difficult circumstances and become better acquainted with our own pain and the pain of others. The realisation that the book of Lamentations offers no resolve to the circumstances faced by the people of Israel is at once confronting and also honest to our shared human experience.

It was a valuable time of learning together. I'm looking forward to sharing more of these spaces to engage with the Bible and current events in the near future. I would invite all those interested in learning more to keep an eye on our website, Facebook page and emails for the next opportunity to come along and join in!

 

This is one of the texts that we read alongside the book of Lamentations, Oodgeroo Noonuccal's 'We Are Going':

They came in to the little town
A semi-naked band subdued and silent
All that remained of their tribe. 
They came here to the place of their old bora ground
Where now the many white men hurry about like ants. 
Notice of the estate agent reads: 'Rubbish May Be Tipped Here'. 
Now it half covers the traces of the old bora ring. 
'We are as strangers here now, but the white tribe are the strangers. 
We belong here, we are of the old ways. 
We are the corroboree and the bora ground, 
We are the old ceremonies, the laws of the elders. 
We are the wonder tales of Dream Time, the tribal legends told. 
We are the past, the hunts and the laughing games, the wandering camp fires. 
We are the lightening bolt over Gaphembah Hill
Quick and terrible, 
And the Thunderer after him, that loud fellow. 
We are the quiet daybreak paling the dark lagoon. 
We are the shadow-ghosts creeping back as the camp fires burn low. 
We are nature and the past, all the old ways
Gone now and scattered. 
The scrubs are gone, the hunting and the laughter. 
The eagle is gone, the emu and the kangaroo are gone from this place. 
The bora ring is gone. 
The corroboree is gone. 
And we are going.


Conversations with a Four-year-old

Recently we had some old friends from Dareton come and stay with us. On this trip they brought their spritely four-year-old daughter and niece with them. The first few of days were spent quietly playing with the toys in the toy corner but by day three or four her mum sat down with me at the kitchen table as we had breakfast.

The young girl's mum and I chatted over our cereal while the little one was engrossed in her iPad game. Then across the table she began explaining what she was doing to me. 'See, this is what you do, this is how you play! See, do you like that one? Do you like that one?'

As her mum went to have a shower and I drank my cup of tea the four year old kept talking and talking. Slowly she moved closer to where I was sitting, until she was right next to me. She even let me have a turn playing with her iPad, explaining how to play and encouraging me when I did well 'That's it cuz, you got it!'

As we played she noticed a man climbing a ladder in front of the house next door. 'What's 'e doin'?' she asked. 'I think he might be looking for a bee hive.' I replied, as we had noticed a small swarm of bees had been gathering there over the last few days. 

'They gunna get 'oney?'

'Well, yes, they might get honey, if they keep the bees. They might just need to put them somewhere else.'

'They like 'oney? I like 'oney.'

'I'm not sure, they may like honey, I like honey too.'

Later the next day as I was reading outside the inquisitive four year old came to join me. 

'Whatcha doin'?'

'I'm reading.'

I was by the outside fire pit, trying to keep my distance as I had developed a bad cold. She was not deterred. 

'Can I come over there.'

'Yeah, you can.'

As she looked around the backyard she wondered,

'You got 'ens?'

'No, we don't have hens, but we have thought about getting some.'

''Ens are good for eggs.'

'Yes they are, you're right.'

'I like 'em 'ens.'

'Yeah I like them too.'

Seeing that young girl, talking to her, being welcomed in to her world was a real experience for me. It is one of many precious experiences I have had while living at the IHH. These small, everyday things add up to create a great deal of difference over time. Most especially in me.

- Mehrin

Introducing the Chapmans

Hi IHH community! We are the Chapman’s - Ian, Sarah, and Winston. We are thankful and excited to become 'ressies' of IHH in mid-December and look forward to living, serving, and learning there. Ian is pursuing his passion for preaching, teaching, spreading, and living the love of Jesus in various ways including Newmarket Baptist Church. Sarah is soon entering the final year of her nursing degree at Melbourne Uni, enjoys music and writing, and loves being a mum. Winston (16 months) is on the go all the time, exploring everything, and bringing much joy to those around him. We hope to meet and chat with the wider IHH community soon!