Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

25 minutes – Part A: Our Connections to Each Other
25 minutes – Part B: Our Connections to Place
20 minutes – Part C: Dujuan’s Connections to History
5 minutes – Reflection

Teacher Preparation:

Ensure you know the answers to the following questions. If you are not sure of the answers yourself, make sure to check them on your local council website first, or check in with your local organisations/groups such as your local Aboriginal Education Consultative Group, local Aboriginal Land Council, or local Aboriginal Language and Culture Centre.

What Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Country are we on?
Who are the Traditional Custodians of this Land?
Which languages are associated with this Country?

Part A: Our Connections to Each Other

This first section asks students to consider the concept of identity. Students approach the idea from different perspectives, and consider how aspects of their identity might influence them to interpret a text in certain ways.

Be mindful throughout this exercise that students might be uncomfortable sharing certain elements of their identity with each other. Use your discretion as to exercises that might need replacing or refining.

Step 1.

Start by asking students to brainstorm elements that can make up parts of someone’s identity. Write their responses on the board.

If students need encouragement, you might offer suggestions such as gender or nationality, or your favourite food. Alternately, if you see any significant gaps in how students understand identity - that is, if they aren’t considering some obvious prominent category such as personality traits or cultural and linguistic background - ask leading questions to prompt further conversation.

Step 2.

Once you have collected a range of responses, ask whether there are any obvious groupings - for instance, race or sex are things you’re born into, whilst religion or morals might fall under ‘beliefs’.

As well as grouping aspects of identity, you might notice that there are also relationships between groupings. For example, someone might be Greek Orthodox, which is a meeting between a religion and a national or cultural background. Alternately, something like nationality is usually something you are born into, but it’s also possible to change your nationality and become a citizen of a different country. Encourage students to identify further interconnections between different parts of identity, with an eye towards any other complexities or overlaps that might exist.

Step 3.

From your previous discussion, ask students to split into pairs and come up with a definition of identity. When each group has their own definition, project this quote on the board:

“In an increasingly uncertain world, our beliefs, our culture, our family history contribute to our sense of who we are and what we mean to others. They help us belong to something – to anchor us and steer our course in ever turbulent seas.” ~ Mick Gooda, 2011

(Source: https://www.humanrights.gov.au/about/news/speeches/power-identity-naming-oneself-reclaiming-community-2011)

Step 4.

Ask students whether they agree or disagree with this description of identity. Ask whether they would add or remove any parts from the description. Write these edits on the board.

Encourage students to reflect on how the ways in which individuals define or describe identity can be very diverse because identities themselves can be very diverse (there is no ‘single’ human identity, nor is there a single ‘Aboriginal’ identity).

Step 5.

Next, leaving your revised description visible for the class, invite all students to sit in a circle on the floor, bringing a big ball of yarn with you. Give the ball to one student, and ask them to list some elements of their identity or something about themselves that they have in common with other people.

For example, a student might say ‘I am a female, Vietnamese-Australian Buddhist who values family and enjoys reading.’

If anyone shares any of those elements, they should put their hand up. The first student can roll the ball to them while holding on to the start of the string. The receiving student then starts listing elements of their own identity and passes it on to someone else (remembering to keep a hold of the string) and so on. As the yarn ball is passed around and connections are made, a big web is created. This exercise illustrates that our identity is made up of different but connected strands. While identities are diverse, it is always possible to find shared points of connection between each other. Identities are always evolving, and have multiple dimensions rather than one singular component.

Note: This activity may be difficult for students whose identities are not often positively affirmed or acknowledged. Make sure all students are aware they do not need to share anything too personal and use your discretion regarding students who might not feel comfortable sharing particular aspects of their identity in that environment. That said, this activity can be incredibly empowering for students who are proud of aspects of their identity that they may not get much opportunity to express. You might decide to start the activity yourself, listing elements of your own identity to demonstrate to students how they could share elements of their identity safely.

Part B: Our Connections to Place

In this section, students expand their thinking about how their identities shape, and are shaped by, connections to place and in turn, how the land is thought of and understood. Again, this section encourages students to reflect on how their identities might influence their actions or understandings.

Step 1.

Ask students to form small groups of 4-5. Once students are in their groups, ask them to record their answers to the following questions:

What suburb are we in?
What town or city are we in?
What state are we in?
What country are we in?

Note: While the question about country might seem obvious for many, remember that in Australia, the word ‘Country’ can have a very different meaning to the one we often connect with ‘nation’. For more information about what ‘Country’ means to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, you can refer to this website or this website. You could also use this quote from 'Nourishing Terrains', from the Australian Heritage Commission:

“Country in Aboriginal English is not only a common noun but also a proper noun. People talk about country in the same way that they would talk about a person: they speak to country, sing to country, visit country, worry about country, feel sorry for country, and long for country. People say that country knows, hears, smells, takes notice, takes care, is sorry or happy. Country is not a generalised or undifferentiated type of place, such as one might indicate with terms like ‘spending a day in the country’ or ‘going up the country’. Rather, country is a living entity with a yesterday, today and tomorrow, with a consciousness, and a will toward life.”

(Source: Deborah Rose, 1996, Nourishing Terrains: Australian Aboriginal views of landscape and wilderness, p7. Canberra, ACT: Australian Heritage Commission.)

Also remember, the Australian continent was home to hundreds of cultural and language groups prior to European colonisation and the Countries where each of these groups live/d are still recognised today, particularly in Acknowledgement or Welcome to Country ceremonies and statements. View the AIATSIS map here.

Step 2.

Go through the correct answers with students, and have them assign one point for each correct answer. When it comes to the fourth question, check for any answers other than ‘Australia’. That is, check whether any students gave the name of the Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Country that you’re on (these can also get one point, if correct). Then, ask the following set of questions:

Which Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Country are we on? (You may omit this question if the answer was given in the previous step)
Who are the Traditional Custodians of this Land?
Which languages are associated with this Country?

Again go through and assign points for each correct answer.

Note: It might be a little presumptuous to assume that your Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander students know the answers to these questions just because they have Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander heritage. Similarly, nobody needs to be embarrassed or ashamed for not knowing these details. This exercise is just an opportunity to establish existing knowledge.

Step 3.

Ask students to share which section they scored better on.

Collectively reflect on the reasons why different people might have different understandings of and relationships to the land. The idea of Country/country is a useful starting point here: if you read the questions out loud (rather than displaying them in writing), students might not have known whether you were referring to country in the European sense, or Country in the concept of First Nations peoples. You might like to use these questions to guide the discussion:

What did they assume?
Did they query what you meant by ‘country’, or did they default to one definition or the other? Why might they have done that?
Was their answer influenced by any particular element of their identity or background?

Note: This might be a good place to explore with the class the difference between ‘country’ and ‘Country’, if they are not already familiar with this concept. See the note in Part B, Step 1 for more information.

Step 4.

Finish this section by asking groups to think further about their connections with the place where they live. Starter questions here might include:

How are you connected to this place?
Why is this place important to you, your family, or your community?
Do you feel more connected to a place other than where you live? Why?

Encourage groups to reflect on how different people may have different or similar answers. Ask them to identify shared or divergent points of connection, or to think about how certain facets of their identity might influence their relationship with the land. For instance, a first-generation immigrant might have a different relationship with the place they live than a First Australian who has 65,000 years of ancestry connected to the land. Similarly, someone who recently moved to your state might identify themselves as Australian, but might not yet identify closely with their new environment.

Part C: Dujuan's Connections to History

In this section, students examine a scene from the film and analyse one of the film’s key techniques.

Step 1.

Introduce students to the feature documentary, In My Blood It Runs. Although you won’t be watching the whole film at this stage, it’s worth introducing and contextualising it before watching the upcoming clip.

You may want to begin by showing students the trailer for the film (https://vimeo.com/358942768), or by providing them with this initial description:

“In My Blood It Runs is an intimate and compassionate observational documentary from the perspective of 10-year-old Dujuan Hoosan in Alice Springs (Mparntwe), Australia, struggling to balance his Arrernte/Garrwa upbringing with state education.

When Dujuan cannot run nor fight alone, he faces the history that runs straight into him and realises that not only has he inherited the trauma and dispossession of his land, but also the resilience and resistance of many generations of his people.

Dujuan is a child-healer, a good hunter and speaks three languages. As he shares his wisdom of history and the complex world around him we see his spark and intelligence. Yet Dujuan is ‘failing’ in school and facing increasing scrutiny from welfare and the police. As he travels perilously close to incarceration, his family fight to give him a strong Arrernte education alongside his western education lest he becomes another statistic. We walk with him as he grapples with these pressures, shares his truths and somewhere in-between finds space to dream, imagine and hope for his future self.”

Step 2.

Explain to students that you will now watch one short clip from the film, looking for how the main character, Dujuan, expresses and understands his own identity, and how the film uses specific techniques to communicate that understanding.

Step 3.

Show students this short clip from the start of In My Blood It Runs:

In My Blood It Runs (documentary) - 'I had a memory' (clip 02) (https://vimeo.com/437698443/99889f361b) Closer Productions, 2019.

Step 4.

Ask students to describe what they think might be some elements of Dujuan’s identity and list these on the board. Encourage students to justify their responses based on evidence from the film, including quotes from Dujuan himself.

Possible answers: Dujuan is a proud Aboriginal person, he is a child, he feels a sense of connection to his history.

Step 5.

In this scene, Dujuan says that he feels a connection to his history.

“I was born a little Aboriginal kid. That means that I had a memory, a memory about Aboriginals. I just felt something, a memory. History. In my blood it runs.”

The above quote is voiced over shots of Dujuan running with a firework, and historical footage of colonial attempts to assimilate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples into Western constructs of identity.

Watch the clip again, and ask students to look for how those two sets of footage are combined. Examine with the class the techniques that the film uses to create links between the past and the present. They might find it useful to use this table on the Student Worksheet to take notes:

What I see or hear	What I see or hear next	I see the connection between them being...
Possible answer: Dujuan carrying a firework	Aboriginal people carrying smoking sticks - possibly fire sticks	Dujuan moved in the same direction, trailing smoke from something he is holding.

Other example answers might include:

The film uses juxtaposition, placing the two sets of footage alongside each other to create an association between them. (If you haven’t explored the Kuleshov Effect with your students, this might be a good opportunity to delve into it.)
The film uses a sound link: it plays the sound of the firework while the historical footage is shown.
The film uses a visual link: the lens flare caused by the firework in the present is laid over the historical footage. (There is a good stand-alone shot of the lens flare at 0:24-0:26 (4:12-4:14 in the full film) for comparison.)

Students may come up with further answers, but make sure that at least these first four points are covered. Students may need to watch the footage a few more times, or may need encouragement to consider different elements of the footage, such as sound or visual effects.

Step 6.

Display this quote from earlier so that students can read it or direct them to the top of their Student Worksheet:

“I was born a little Aboriginal kid. That means that I had a memory, a memory about Aboriginals. I just felt something, a memory. History. In my blood it runs.” ~ Dujuan

Then ask students, in their groups, to consider what Dujuan might mean when he talks about having a ‘memory’ of history. What might he mean by that? How might his identity be connected to or influenced by events from the past?

The resulting discussion could move in a range of different directions here, depending on where students focus their answers.

For instance, from 0:55-0:57 (4:42-4:44 in the full film), we see Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in a schoolyard, and a nun in a habit enters the frame from the left. Students might identify that when Australia was colonised by Europeans, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children were put into a European (predominantly Catholic) education system. Many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are still educated within a European system today. This is an example of how colonial actions in the past can continue to influence identities and experiences today.

Step 7.

Ask students to share their responses with the class. Were there any other historical elements that they noticed which may have influenced Dujuan’s identity?

Reflection

Invite students to reflect on the following questions:

What thoughts do you now have about the diverse ways in which identity can be formed or understood?
How have your ideas of identity changed since the beginning of this lesson?
Did any historical factors come to mind that may have influenced your own identity? How do you feel about that?

Differentiated Learning

Extension - Part C, Step 5 might be challenging for some students. Get them to work in groups, watching the clip on their own devices and allow ample time for them to discuss the imagery in the clip before making any claims about it. Some students may find it challenging enough to simply identify the things they see or hear, rather than draw conclusions about it at this stage.

Provisions for Learning Support - At Part B, Step 4 students could create an artwork or multimodal text that explores the significance of a place that means a lot to them. For example, students could create a flowchart that visually demonstrates the various influences that have contributed to forming identity in their own lives. Similar to a timeline, the flowchart could represent key relationships, interest groups and institutions along with books or media that have had a significant impact on how they view the world and feel about themselves. Students could think critically about the kinds of factors they would choose to influence their identity in the future and how they might go about harnessing those influences, while limiting others if they so choose.

Teacher Reflection

Take this opportunity to reflect on your own teaching:

What did you learn about your teaching practice today?
What worked well?
What didn't work so well?
What would you share?
Where to next?
How are you going to get there?

In My Blood It Runs - Identity

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