LEARNING ACTIVITY
Creating a yarning circle: involving First Nations people
Climate Region: Arid | Temperate | Tropical
State or Territory: ACT | NSW | NT | QLD | SA | TAS | VIC | WA
Age Range: 7-13

STORY

Jarrah was really keen to start the yarning circle in his school. He found a nice place to sit in an open patch of lovely lush grass underneath an old Kurrajong tree in one section of the playground. Jarrah excitedly gathered his friends together in the area.

Jarrah: “Ok everyone, I have brought you all over here to sit in the yarning circle I have created.”
Ricky:“What’s this all about, bra? We were in the middle of an epic game of footy – last try wins!”
Jarrah: “I want us all to sit in the yarning circle like my ancestors used to do.”
Ricky: “Well ok, and what are we meant to do?”
Jarrah: “Hmmm, actually I don’t know.”
Ricky: “This is silly… We’re off!”
Adam: “Haha, not so fast… I’ve just seen what you fellas are up to! This is great, Jarrah, but maybe you need to speak to some community and Elders first before you launch into making your own yarning circle! You know Aunty Vi is coming to the school next week to do a Welcome and Smoking Ceremony for Reconciliation Week? How about we have a chat to her and her son Paul about setting up a space and ask if they are happy to share some knowledge about yarning circles?”
Jarrah: “That sounds great, I can’t wait!”

ACTIVITY OVERVIEW

This activity is the third activity in an 8-part activity sequence that has been developed to help you design, build and use a yarning circle in your school or community.

This activity will help guide how you might work with your local Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander community as part of your yarning circle project.

The order of these learning activities are: background, site selection, involving First Nations people, building the yarning circle, connecting to Landcare, using the yarning circle, yarning circle activities and yarning and wellbeing.

Outcomes

For children to:

  • learn how to develop questions and explore different ways they can be answered
  • connect with First Nations people
  • involve First Nations people in the project
  • consider the opinions of others
  • apply learnings to a real-world project.
SEASONAL NOTES

This activity can be undertaken at any time of the year.

Did you know?

Outside of discussing ‘everybody/OUR business’ where all community members would gather together in a circle, separate yarning circles would also often take place that involved only men or only women.

Did you know?

When inviting or speaking with a local Elder, always ask the correct pronunciation of their Country or tribal name. It is also important to check you have the correct spelling as the pronunciation of the name can be phonetically different to common English pronunciation rules.

Did you know?

For First Nations people, land is sacred and it is possible that you will have a significant feature or site on or close to where your school or organisation is situated. Can you find out what it is?

Did you know?

Outside of discussing ‘everybody/OUR business’ where all community members would gather together in a circle, separate yarning circles would also often take place that involved only men or only women.

We value your feedback

When you have finished this learning activity, please tell us what you think with our survey.
Your feedback will help Landcare Australia improve the activities in the Junior Landcare Learning Centre.

Why not try one of our other Junior Landcare learning activities?

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