Garma Festival

As Indigenous Australian scholars from across the country gathered at the second GARMA Festival, 4-10 September 2000, we acknowledge and honour the invitation by the traditional owners of Gulkula to participate in discussions of the grounding principles of the GARMA Institute. We as a national community of Indigenous Australian scholars support its vision, principles, values and its working strategies with the following declaration.

Indigenous philosophies of life and their connection to country, and the knowledges, languages and spiritualities derived from this, are the foundations to historical and intellectual traditions that have been in place since time immemorial. As cornerstones to our peoples across the nation and our futures in a globally changing environment, it is important that these principles are embedded in our lifelong education and embraced by non-Indigenous peoples. To incorporate Indigenous knowledge traditions in an inclusive and equal relationship in the formal learning environment, we state the following :

We recommend that the Australian Vice-Chancellors’ Committee (AVCC) adopt, implement and resource the above fundamental principles listed across all research and curriculum areas and that they also inform and underpin all core teaching and learning practices.

We acknowledge the AVCC’s initial support for the GARMA Institute, and recommend that this be taken further to include support for the negotiation and implementation of the GARMA principles across all research, education and training sectors.

We recommend that all activities be undertaken in partnership with Indigenous units, centres and institutes in the higher education sector and the broader Indigenous communities.

We recommend a monitoring and review process for benchmarking progress in the key result areas (as noted in the Draft Strategy Document) to be also done in conjunction with the Indigenous Higher Education Association and the broader Indigenous community.

The AVCC is asked that these principles be pursued as a matter of urgency and given priority.
The future of Indigenous people in Australia rests on intellectual pathways in formal education processes that build on principles connecting Land and Community with people and Indigenous Knowledge Traditions.

In a rapidly changing global marketplace, it is crucial that the intellectual and cultural knowledge of Indigenous people in Australia maintains its key significance in Australia’s heritage.

New partnership arrangements between Indigenous peoples and the educational authorities are needed to devise intellectual and cultural infrastructures that can facilitate learning processes of future caretakers of Indigenous knowledge and traditions in these changing times.

Educational funding arrangements thus need to be reviewed as a matter of urgency and new thinking must be brought around to the way educational resources are prioritised and allocated across the country