Nukunu man, Research Fellow, Aboriginal and

[Jared] The Churchill report is now public and, while we haven’t started to test it yet at the South Australian Museum because we’re waiting for a new director, my personal hope is that it does underpin the development of Aboriginal representation through the Museum.

[Jared] I hate prejudices and discrimination. Addressing racism has been something that I set out to do as a young person, as a 16-yearold – I was only turning 17 when I was enrolled into university. You start to question more of the world and become more critical during your teen and young adult years. It’s a really good time to engage with young people going through that transformation: detaching from your parents’ viewpoints, or that of your community. You’re starting to form your own vision of the world. For me, it’s just putting before non-Aboriginal people how I see the reality about people in my communities-in my [Nukunu] community and other Aboriginal communities.

[Kathers] You were awarded the Churchill Fellowship to ‘investigate colonised people’s interpretative strategies in permanent gallery displays’ in museums in the US, NZ, Norway, Canada, and Finland. What were some of the key strategies you learnt through your travels? Have they been tested here at the South Australian Museum?

[Jared] There were a number of key findings, and it wasn’t only in regards to how to present content, but how do you develop things like First Nations workforce, what is the relationship between repatriation and community engagement, and then the quality of exhibits. I was looking very broadly across each of those countries, meeting with CEOs of institutions, curators (especially First Nations curators), community members, artists, scholars, to kind of gain a better insight into what is international best practice surrounding First Nations representation, and what are the changing dynamics in First Nations Museology.

[Kathers] How difficult has it been to transform what has been a traditionally colonial space into one that is more approachable for First Nations peoples?

[Jared] That’s a great question. I’m on the journey towards doing that, and part of that journey is undertaking research. The Churchill research is one part of the key that will hopefully be able to unlock the door. I’ve also conducted an audit of the Australian Aboriginal Cultures Gallery at the South Australian Museum, and then I’m just undertaking further research where I’m engaging with First Nations curators of other national institutions, so that I can see what the trends are and the developments are.

[Kathers] With the Federal Voice to Parliament referendum coming up, what are your thoughts? Are you ‘for’ or ‘against’?

[Jared] During my time in the countries I visited for the Churchill Fellowship - many of which I had visited before - it was really clear to see the impact of treaties on positive outcomes for First Nations people. Finland and Norway don’t have a Voice to Parliament: their First Nations peoples have their own parliament. And then you look at all the treaty agreements happening in the US, Canada, and New Zealand. They have public holidays in Canada and New Zealand marking key First Nations cultural events. There’s even a public holiday in Canada which marks the experiences of residential schools, which is almost the equivalent to Australia’s Stolen Generation.

[Jared] Those kinds of rapid changes have occurred. I’ve visited some of the countries shortly before COVID and there’s been such a huge transformation, including other social justice isses. In the US and Canada in particular, you can see the impact of #MeToo, Black Lives Matter, and Climate Change Activism, which is changing the way things operate within social institutions.

[Jared] So that was really heartening to see and inspiring. Regarding the Voice, it’s such a small step, but it’s such a big and necessary step. Ultimately, I would like to see us jump straight to treaty and negotiations, but if you have a Federal Opposition that doesn’t even want to have a conversation about the Voice, how the hell do we get to a treaty?

[Jared] The Voice is a small but huge step, and it’s important to have representation enshrined through the constitutions, because if there is a future government that doesn’t want to have an Aboriginal Voice, they can just erase it. Once it’s enshrined through the referendum, it makes itnot impossible, but very difficult to take away.

[Jared] It is disappointing, as an Aboriginal person in this country, to think that this is such a small step that is available to us, and I’m fearful that we won’t get a positive outcome in the referendum – what does it say about Australia and its citizens, and how they feel about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, if we can’t even have a representative body to parliament?

[Kathers] Do you have any upcoming projects you’d like to talk about/mention?

[Jared] At the moment, I am influencing some change through the Museum. One change is an augmented reality app that allows us to start to layer content upon existing exhibits, which comes at a far lesser cost than actually overhauling the whole of the exhibits. It’s all about putting Aboriginal voices up front and centre within existing spaces. I released Uncle XBox in March, the first book in a junior fiction series, and I’m currently working on books 2 – 6.

[Kathers] Awesome, thank you so much Dr Jared! I really appreciate you coming down here and talking with me.

[Jared] Of course!