At the Heart of Learning (Series: Paper 2 of 4): Witulya Mulapa nganana Mantjintjaku: From Cultural Devastation to Cultural Re-Invention. Issue 1 (March 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Minutjukur, Makinti; Osborne, Sam
• Is Part Of: Alternative. Volume 10:Issue 1(2014)
• Page Start: 15
• Page End: 22
• Publication Date: 2014-03
• Subjects: Anangu education -- remote education -- culture -- philosophy -- values -- cultural interface; Indigenous peoples -- Periodicals; Maori (New Zealand people) -- Periodicals; 305.8005
• DOI: 10.1177/117718011401000102
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1177-1801

Abstract

For remote Central Australian Aboriginal communities, the world has changed completely and irrevocably in the space of a lifetime. Drawing on Jonathan Lear's (2006) Radical Hope, the authors highlight the comparative struggles outlined in Lear's reflection on the life of Crow Indian chief Plenty Coups. For An angu (Pitjantjatjara/Yankunytjatjara people), the same question that confronted Plenty Coups arises: "How can An angu pursue a 'virtuous' An angu existence in a world where 'being An angu' no longer 'makes any sense'?" The authors explore the possibilities of choosing cultural re-invention over resigning to a sense of "the end" and consider how the recognition and retention of long-held values might benefit the broader experience of education, rather than be considered as a barrier or constraint to "success".