Despite the vast amount of funding and services currently targeting Aboriginal people in current day Australia, the impacts of invasion, assimilation and cultural unsafety continue across generations, undermining the wellbeing of Aboriginal people mind, body and spirit.
This thesis incorporates an exegesis, 'Australians all let us rejoice: Using story as a catalyst for transformation and improved wellbeing', and a creative project - a fictional work, Consequence. Both works aim to explore a central question relating to how storytelling can communicate and engender a greater understanding of Aboriginal Lore and culture as expressed in the form of young adult fiction - and do so in a way that educates and entertains young adult readers (Indigenous and non-Indigenous), with a hope they better understand the causal factors of the problems facing Aboriginal people today and hence support a healing process inclusive of all Australians.
The novel uses the creative elements of character, setting, plot, dialogue, theme, connection, conflict, and resolution to provide storylines that raise several points of reflection including respecting Mother earth, the importance of family, respecting women, learning from Aboriginal spirituality, depression and mental health, the consequences of not embracing our responsibilities and the importance of listening. It is my hope that the novel will make a valuable contribution to the growing field of Aboriginal young adult fiction works, enabling the reader (Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal) to reflect on their internal world (their personal story) and the external world (other people's story) in a way that supports a more harmonious and culturally safe Australian society.
The exegesis explains why the novel is considered the most appropriate creative form in which to service the objectives of the thesis; why it is in the form of a young adult fictional work; the organisation involved in developing the creative work (including decisions on architecture, story arc, content, literacy style and techniques); the research, shared cultural knowledge, and family and personal knowledge that I have drawn on in writing the novel; my review of other Aboriginal authors and writing styles; the methodology I have used to draft and write this work; what I have learned in this process; and the challenges I have overcome to complete this project.
Through examination of the novelistic form and technique, my awareness of the importance of storytelling throughout the traditional history of Aboriginal people, and my research of diverse fields of discourse and endeavour to create knowledge that adds to the ongoing conversation in creative practice and scholarship, I have developed two integrated works that aim to increase social understanding, and the opportunity for reconciliation, between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australia.
As a 'Loreman', I have a responsibility 'to care for my place and all things in my place.' By sharing some of the knowledge I have been given by my Elders, I hope to demonstrate to the reader, the significance and accessibility of Aboriginal culture to all who live in this country. By bringing the two worlds together, we all win.