[Text on screen: This video is not a standalone resource. It has been created for use by department teachers in connection to Stage 4 resources designed by the Creative arts curriculum team for the Music 7–10 Syllabus (2024). This video depicts an example of how one school has implemented the On-Country excursion and composition project for the Stage 4 unit Bigger than the song, with the support of local Aboriginal Knowledge Holders and DOBBY.]

[Text on screen: We Acknowledge Country and recognise the lands, skies and waterways of where our schools and workplaces are located. We pay respect to Elders past and present as ongoing leaders and teachers of knowledge, songlines and stories, and acknowledge the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples that contributed to the development of this film.]

[Text on screen: We advise this resource may contain images, voices or names of deceased persons in photographs, film, audio recordings or historical content.
In this film, terms including First Nations and Indigenous are used throughout. In NSW public schools, ‘Aboriginal’ or ‘Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander’ are preferred.]

[Text on screen: Bigger than the song
On Country excursion and composition project with Tempe High School]

[Text on screen: On-Country excursion]

[Music playing]

DOBBY

I first met the kids just on the side of the Cooks River in Mackey Park, just about a 10 or 15-minute walk from Tempe High School. The kids were really already abuzz, super excited to be on an excursion.

My name is Rhyan Clapham. I go by the name DOBBY, and I'm a proud Filipino and Murrawarri musician, drummer, rapper. I call myself a drapper -- Filipino on my mother's side, Murrawarri on my father's side from Brewarrina, North West New South Wales.

I talk about this a lot. I think there is an incredible, you know, comparisons and similarities that you can make with First Nations culture and hip hop culture. You know, the 4 elements of hip hop culture are graffiti, DJing, breakdancing, and rapping. The 4 elements of Aboriginal culture’ss graffiti, the body ochre, representing where you're from, the DJing, which is the didg, the clapsticks, the possum skins, breakdancing, our corroboree, kicking up dust, bringing Baiame rains down, and rapping our songlines right, our oral storytelling. None of the elements of hip-hop culture would make sense without knowledge with which we pass that through.

Similarly, with First Nations culture, none of those elements would make any sense if we don't have the knowledge and the stories that we tell from generation to generation, orally, through visual arts, through dancing. None of that would matter and make any sense if we didn't have the knowledge with which we pass that through.

Uncle Jagamarra

It is a pleasure to meet the spirit in you. Why? Because I'm connecting to you and your conscious through your ears and through our communication.

DOBBY

It was incredible walking down the river with Uncle Jagamarra, and hearing him speak about his connection there, and bringing the kids in on a story that is so ancient yet still present.

Uncle Jagamarra

The water inside all of you is no different to the water inside me, every plant, every animal, every bird, every insect, it's the same water. The only difference is your skin.

DOBBY

He talks to us about onomatopoeia and, I guess, like, bringing the world of language -- First Nations language -- to the kids, and talking about, OK, what's that sound that crow makes, you know? ‘Wah, wah’. And he said, that's what we call them, wah wah. You know, there are so many instances of onomatopoeic words that are actually part of Indigenous language.

Raph

My name is Raph, I go by a few different names, a lot of people name me as Dhinawan. A lot of people know me as Wajji wahlu. I'm a proud Gormeroi, Yuin, Anaiwan man with connection -- strong connection -- to the South Coast.

Aunty Julie

Yaama, yaama. I'm Julie, the founder of Dhinawan Yarn and Entertainment. I'm also a full-time Aboriginal performer, educator, and community member.

[Didgeridoo plays]

DOBBY

Aunty Julie, Brother Raph, they're just so beautiful and optimistic.

[Didgeridoo plays]

What they do so beautifully, is they brought spirit to the place for kids to really understand and acknowledge, you know, getting them to talk about place in terms of history, in terms of now, in terms of a meditative practise as well, you know? It's all inter-connected into culture.

[Nature sounds]

Aunty Julie

What I want you to do is I want you to connect with the sound of the trees. Connect with the sound of the water, because water is life. We need water to survive, and it's a very sacred thing amongst our people, and it should be amongst all people. And part of that is our connection and the way we look after country. And that's why it's so important we continue to be caretakers of this country.

[Aboriginal singing]

DOBBY

So at one point, Aunty Julie told the kids to close their eyes, and she asked them to put their hands together and start rubbing their hands. And as she was doing that, Brother Ralph was playing the didg getting faster and faster. She asked the kids to rub their hands faster and faster, and then to blow, as if to sort of ignite a fire. And that was that fire within them, and she told them. And after that, you know, they got hot enough, put it on your face, and bring that warmth back to you. That instruction comes from a very meditative practise.

[Didgeridoo plays]

One thing that Uncle Jagamarra and Aunty Julie both sort of challenged the kids to do is to connect with these knowledge, bits of knowledge and information about the place and put themselves in the situation. You know, Uncle Jagamarra said, I challenge you to create your own songline. And Aunty Julie said, I want you to bring yourself into the picture as we walk through this songline.

[Birds chirping]

We're all Indigenous to somewhere, and this is what I said to the kids. I feel like knowing yourself is a really, really important part of knowing what land you stand on, what we can do, and our relationship with each other, you know? It's part of truth telling. It's part of history and it's part of truth telling.

Aunty Julie

There's a lot of cultural significance around protocols, which I really want to bring to teachers' attention. So especially with our songlines, with our Aboriginal art, with lots of the things that may be adapted into the curriculum, there needs to be a lot of permission, you know, made. They need to ask permission and to make sure that it's culturally safe, because it's a big emphasis on culturally safe. Because a lot of different mobs have a lot of different protocols. So what I do is I ask you teachers to reach out to your local Elders, communities and teachers.

DOBBY

You put a Texta in their hands. You put a blank piece of paper in front of them, and you say, what are we going to start with? And all of a sudden, this magic starts to happen where they're recalling, they're thinking about that journey, they're thinking about what they've learned from Aunty Julie and Uncle Jagamarra.

Aunty Julie

Snakes - well, snakes are a very, very big part of our culture; that of our dreaming.

DOBBY

I make it a mission for myself personally to not over suggest. I don't ever want to step in the way of creation and creator, because it's a very sacred practice. And so I am trying my absolute best to let the student think of what is important to them most, you know, that's from a really artistic perspective, but I think it's important.

DOBBY

[speaking to students] Water is a sacred part of culture. That's a very good one.

We wrote down key words, things like listening, things like ochre, right, the body paint, we wrote mangroves, we wrote even the idea of Cooks River. We talked about the naming of such things, you know? Ownership -- who really owns the river? Well, we don't own the river, the river owns us. That's from a First Nations' perspective; that's from my perspective, that's from the knowledge holders' perspective, that, you know, these aren't things that we own. These are things that we belong to. And so the students wrote that.

It's kind of just stuff that they brainstormed between each other to create the jigsaw pieces for what will end up being their song.

Students

The waves rose against the mangrove.

[Text on screen: Songwriting workshop]

DOBBY

[speaking to students in the classroom] Who had a fun time yesterday? You had a good time? Great. It was really, really good. So what we're going to do today is I'm going to show you some of the stuff that I like to do and the music that I make as DOBBY. And then, we're going to work on the stuff that we wrote yesterday.

I think it's so important for students to be able to get -- to be shown examples of, you know, this type of practice whereby they can follow suit, they can take from example, they can also understand the information that they need to correctly sort of respect, honour, and attribute, you know?

It's not about just going cold into a rap and saying, I'm going to write about this. It's understanding the context, you know?

So there's actually an artistic responsibility there and a cultural responsibility there, no matter if these kids are Indigenous or not. It comes back to place. So the more we understand our place in Mackey Park, Steel Park, wherever you take these students, the more informed, the more accurate, the more reflective, the more powerful their lyrics, their song, their intentions will be. Because we're instilling respect. We are establishing songline. We are connecting, reconciling all of those things because we have engaged with First Nations knowledge holders in that land.

[DOBBY speaking to students in the classroom] OK, cool. I've got a couple of beats for you, and I want you to, like, choose a beat. And then, we're going to get to this a little later today, but I want you to write a rap from scratch so that we have the tools with which we can create our amazing song. Does that sound cool? OK.

All teachers need to do once they have their lyrics sort of written down, it's just about finding one of their favourite hip hop instrumentals by their favourite artists on YouTube. It's all there accessible for free, easy to find, let that beat play and figure out how the line fits on top of the beat. Or use your favourite DAW -- D-A-W -- your audio workstation. And yeah. And from there, you can sort of get the students, or you can yourself create loops, different beats, and create the beat yourself.

[DOBBY speaking to students in the classroom] Give me a thumbs up or a thumbs down if you like this beat.

[Music plays]

[DOBBY speaking to students in the classroom] It's like 3 people. It's like, OK, what about this one?

[Music plays]

[DOBBY speaking to students in the classroom] OK, it's like -- maybe like, oh, OK. OK, cool. Cool. I respect that. Respect. Respect. What about this one?

[Music plays]

[DOBBY speaking to students in the classroom] This one takes a while. I'm going to skip ahead. Oh, OK. OK. Which one do we want to go with?

Students

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

DOBBY

[DOBBY speaking to students in the classroom] You happy with that? OK, cool. Now, what I usually do is I let the beat play for a little bit, and we start with a word. It could be any word, but let the word come to you. Ready?

The other thing I should mention is one thing can come before the other. You can start with the beat, and have the kids listen to it, and then figure out how the lyrics fit on top of the beat.

If you start with the lyrics, the only thing to consider is that they need to rhythmically make sense on what will typically be a 4/4 beat hip hop instrumental. More often than not, you're going to find that anyway.

[DOBBY speaking to students in the classroom] What's a word? Could be a person. It could be a place. It could be a thing. It could be a shoe. It could be a foot. It could be a fruit. It could be a soccer player. It could be a --

Student

Jupiter.

DOBBY

[DOBBY speaking to students in the classroom] Huh? Jupiter?

Student

Jupiter.

DOBBY

[DOBBY speaking to students in the classroom] Jupiter.

I'm so passionate about this. And for you as the teacher, this is your moment to shine. Because it actually -- the kids don't realise it, but it lies with you. It's and not to put any sort of pressure on you the teacher, but it's super fun. It's really, really fun. You start with a word you tell these kids, all right, I'm, you know, pick a word. And it could be a person, a place or whatever. And they usually say something like, you know, an easy, one-syllable word like tree. You write that down.

What rhymes with tree? One kid will say free. You write that down. Be. And then one kid will say believe, and you accept that, because that almost rhymes. And then, you take believe, free, tree, and you say, ‘How are we going to start our story?’.

All right, well, I was sitting under a tree. You write that down. I felt so free. You write that down. Don't say no to any of these answers, because they're actually collectively understanding and reckoning with this mechanism of the collective lyric writing. It's an important part of the process whereby you can then be a bit more curative. You can be a bit more selective, steer towards other ideas in the actual brief of the song. But this moment here is kind of where they're realising, oh, anything goes. This is an amazing tool. And it's accessible.

[DOBBY speaking to students in the classroom] Jupiter -- that's a hard one. OK. Yo.

Student 1

Stupider.

[LAUGHTER]

President's getting stupider.

DOBBY

[DOBBY speaking to students in the classroom] Man, I'm so happy this guy is in the class. OK, stupider. Very good. What else?

So when I'm doing my workshops, I use Google Docs just because, you know, it's very simple. The autosave is fantastic. And then, actually being able to sort of -- if I need to edit, if I need to share things, I can kind of go straight to any device, and log in, and, you know, continue it. Say, if I were to do it at a different school, you know, that's all fine.

But actually being able to project it onto a screen so that the kids can do it, it's a lot faster than being on a whiteboard. But then again, no 2 things are necessarily better. It really depends. I find it better because it's faster, and I can really take ideas down. But yeah, that's my process.

[DOBBY speaking to students in the classroom] Guacamole. Yes.

Student 1

Rigatoni.

DOBBY

[DOBBY speaking to students in the classroom] Rigatoni. What? Rigatoni, guacamole. Yeah.

Student 2

Moly.

DOBBY

[DOBBY speaking to students in the classroom] Moly.

The other thing about Google Docs is that, you know, kind of what I said before. I don't say no to ideas. So when one kid kind of says, you know, something completely irrelevant, it's fine. You can say, all right, let's put that down. And then, you start to -- you start to put more suggestions above it, and it starts to make its way down. And you found you can keep referring back to things back and forth and trying to find, OK, well, this feels like, actually, now that we've kind of got 4 bars of lyrics that are fitting to a story, maybe this one isn't so necessary. And that kid will more often than not be like, oh, yeah, you're right.

So it's actually about going through the process and experiencing what feels right, what feels wrong, and just trying every idea for the kids to feel trusted enough.

[DOBBY speaking to students in the classroom] What else?

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Student

Bed frame.

DOBBY

[DOBBY speaking to students in the classroom] Huh?

Student

Bed frame.

DOBBY

[DOBBY speaking to students in the classroom] Bed frame.

[Chatter]

Because these kids have already heard so much hip hop music, whether they like it or not, they're already engaging in rhyme. They're engaging in metaphor, all of these different types of techniques without even knowing it.

So I start off with the rhyme and the lyrics first and foremost. They're putting stuff down. They're suggesting things. I'm typing it in. And as I'm going, I'm explaining to them, oh, by the way, this is a near rhyme, because tree and believe don't exactly rhyme, but they work. So that's great.

Here's some examples of artists that do that -- Kendrick Lamar, Eminem, Doechii, right -- kind of trying to tie in and reveal to them that, actually, there's a lot of analysis that you could make for the music around them today.

I also talk about simile, metaphor, symbolism, imagery, allegory, onomatopoeia, like we talked about, you know. I use punctuation as markers for rhythmic implication, you know. The full stop is my semiquaver rest, comma is a breath, you know. The dash or the slash indicates where the kick in the snare is, so there's all these types of things that you can do to cross over literacy skills with your musical skills.

[DOBBY speaking to students in the classroom] You know, we look at these lines, and we're like, OK, these are just lines. But we can now turn it into a bit of a drum score. I use these 3 symbols -- the dot, the comma, and the dash or a slash, right? Now, that tells me where I am on the beat. You know on a hip hop beat, there's always, like, the kick and then the snare.

[Beat boxing]

[DOBBY speaking to students in the classroom] These dashes tell me where the kick is.

[Beat boxing]

[DOBBY speaking to students in the classroom] Right? And so I can tell where my words are going to land.

You know, after I write a random rap with these students, and they're having fun, it is also a really great icebreaker -- gets them talking to each other, you know? And they're more excited to, like, put their hand up for, you know, certain rhymes, certain ideas that they've got.

You get them to practise it, you get them to rap it together, and it gets them out of their comfort zone, but also having fun. You take that energy into the brief in terms of, like, what inspired them, what resonated with them from the excursion that they had with the knowledge holders, and thinking about how these same words that they've used, like the same language, can be used to honour and reflect Country.

And now, it's just like doing the same exact exercise. Pick a word from the butcher's paper, right? Instead of pick a word, any word, it's pick a word from this. And kind of another thing that I talked about, instead of just these rhymes is, like, OK, let's talk about concepts. Before, I said, let's pick a word -- tree. What rhymes with tree? Free. Instead of what rhymes with fire, what did we learn about fire?

Student 1

I was thinking of smelling the fire burning through my veins.

DOBBY

[DOBBY speaking to students in the classroom] Beautiful. That's a great start. Smelling the fire and --

Student 1

Burn through my veins.

DOBBY

[DOBBY speaking to students in the classroom] Yeah, smelling the fire, it burns through my veins. That's beautiful, right? We're creating an image. This is a really, really beautiful start to our story. Yes.

Student 2

Breathing it in, igniting my inner flame.

DOBBY

[DOBBY speaking to students in the classroom] Woo. Are we hearing this right now? Breathing it in, igniting my inner flame.

It is a little bit more involved, a little bit more thought out, a little bit more contemplative, and definitely more related to the source material.

[DOBBY speaking to students in the classroom] What about names mean nothing, we don't own -- the river owns us. What about that?

Students

Yeah.

DOBBY

So I believe the hardest part is the hook, writing the chorus for a song. Because, you know, from the artistic standpoint, the hook will sort of bring all of your ideas together. I usually end with that. I like to write all the lyrics that you have, or that you need to write for whatever song that you're making with the students, make sure it's all out there. The hook can usually come from one of those lines, you know? Maybe it's something that comes up in the end of the verse, right?

[DOBBY speaking to students in the classroom] You can't break Country without consent. Names mean nothing. Wasn't discovered. We don't own the river, and the river owns us. You know, maybe something like that.

It became sort of something where we looked at the whole entire verse and said, what does this mean to us? And it came down to what we had was names mean nothing. We don't own the river. The river owns us. The people are pleading. Caring for Country right now is a must. And then we repeat it. Names mean nothing.

It's also a good opportunity for singers to be able to sing that chorus, right? So we were playing with that couple of ideas of what that melody could be. But the idea of names mean nothing just kept resonating. The more we listened to it, the it, the more we liked it. And the kids were like that -- I think that could be the title.

[DOBBY speaking to students in the classroom] Names mean nothing. We don't own the river. The river owns us. Names mean nothing. We don't own the river. The river owns us. The lies are bleeding. The people are pleading. Caring for country right now is a must. And then the next one goes dancing something.

And, all of a sudden, we kind of rearrange the verse to sort of reflect in the way that it could actually honour Names mean nothing. So it's chicken or the egg. It's really trying to figure out what comes first and, you know, you think of it like 2 sides of the Harbour Bridge being built on either side and how they meet up together. That's kind of how the song is made.

[DOBBY speaking to students in the classroom] Can you sing that with me? (SINGING) Names mean nothing. We don't own the river. The river owns us. The lies are bleeding. The people are pleading. The caring for Country right now is a must. Names mean nothing. Yeah. Yeah.

[DOBBY speaking to students in the classroom] That's really cool. I think that's a great chorus. Names mean nothing. We don't own the river. The river owns us.

After we had the verse, we had the chorus, they went for the -- the kids went for a break. They came back, and we then broke them off into small groups of about 4 or 5, and they all wrote 4 lines each, kind of taking from, you know, the techniques that they learned, and also taking from the song so far.

Student 1

Won't hold us down.

DOBBY

[DOBBY speaking to students] So what connects us? Like, ask yourselves. We talked about fire connects us, we talked about water connects us, we talked about nature, we talked about the sound of the world around us connects us. So what else connects us?

They continued that practise. And what happened after about 30, 40 minutes is that we had 16 more lines, right, to add to the song.

Students and DOBBY

Truth is in the river.

Truth is in the land.

All the secrets lying

Underneath the sand

Listen to the stories

Feel the connection

Now we know the land gives us protection

DOBBY

[DOBBY speaking to students] Yeah, mic drop. Now we know the land gives us protection. That's fantastic. It's really, really good.

I feel the sun shine on my face. It bursts with light to no disgrace. Smoke and soot can't block its warmth. Its rays lead us to better days. The gravitation of meditation, like respiration for the new inspiration, the slaps of the waves, the rustle of the leaves -- this is the formation of a new generation.

[Laughter] I didn't even touch that. Like, they just made that in their own groups.

Students

The gravitation of meditation, like respiration for the new inspiration. The splash of the waves, the rustle of the leaves. This is the formation of a new generation.

DOBBY

[DOBBY speaking to students in the classroom] Ohhhh.

[Applause]

We ended the whole session with a final jam. Some are on piano, one kid was on cello, some were on the drums.

Students

Yeah, names mean nothing. We don't own the river. The river owns us.

DOBBY

We had 4 of the vocalists actually rapping all of the lines, and you could see, like, these kids being like, oh, that's my rap, and they're singing my rap. And so there was like a sense of pride, you know, and being like, you know, I can't believe hearing not only my words come out of my mouth, but watching other kids rap my lyrics. So it was a really, really beautiful moment, really great exchange.

Students

Our land gives us protection

History called Cook a saviour

Why do we praise his bad behaviour?

Let's walk together to call the truth

Respect our Country

Tell the truth

Names mean nothing

DOBBY

And then after this, they have the tools whereby they're going to write these lyrics whenever they feel they need to express themselves.

Students and DOBBY

We don't own the river

The river owns us

The people are pleading

And stop.

Caring for Country right now is a must

DOBBY

[DOBBY speaking to students in the classroom] Very good.

[Applause]

[Text on screen: Community BBQ and sharing]

Luke Chapman

Hello, my name is Luke Chapman. I'm a music teacher at Tempe High School.

It was important to share these projects back with the knowledge holders for the kids. It was important to share it back for the knowledge holders as well. I think it's important for the students, so that way they feel like their songs were heard, and they can be excited and share what they've done.

But I also think it was important for the knowledge holders to see what they've done with the music, know that their stories have been heard, and know that they're valued amongst the students in the school.

[Luke on school hall stage talking at a podium to large audience] So we've got our songs that we've made, that we've recorded. And today is about celebrating that. So Alex and Leo, if you can come up here. Make them feel welcome, guys another big round of applause.

[Applause]

[Luke on school hall stage talking at a podium to large audience] OK, so I'm going to interview you guys a little bit, and then, we're going to play the song. So how did the excursion, and the time on the excursion, and the stories from these guys help influence the song that you made? And nice and close to the mic.

Student 1

I think like with DOBBY, when we made a rap -- so basically, we enhanced the rap with the funk, and nature, and just made it all big one thing.

[Song track playing through school hall speakers to audience]

Gotta respect the ground, plants, and the creatures

Learn the Elders, be one of the teachers

Walk softly, listen closely, let the land speak,

Heal the earth, for a future that we seek.

Changes of place as part of soul

Connect and let the story unfold

From the river to the mountains [inaudible]

And from the land with nothing to hide

Now pass it on for the next generation

[Applause]

Student 1

I think it was an amazing experience, because I actually got to write a rap, which I've always wanted to do as a child. And I got to meet someone that was really popular.

Student 2

Writing music, it not only connects you. I guess it also connects everyone who listens to it.

Luke

[Luke on school hall stage with two students at a podium to large audience]Tell me the story of the song. How did it come about?

Student 1

So after we went to the excursion, we retraced our steps and thought about what we learned on the excursion. And we used those ideas, and we constructed lyrics that really communicated that we respect the land that we stand on today.

[Song track playing through school hall speakers to audience]

Below the sky is what we call a Dreamtime

Enrich this history

This isn't a mystery

This is where we stand today

This is where we hold our care for our home

A land that we share

It runs deeper through appreciation

Our lives are our own creations

The love in our hands of nature

Working together, we can be greater

Luke

[Luke on school hall stage talking at a podium to large audience] Let's give a big round of applause.

Student 1

It's just been the most amazing experience getting to do something like that at, like, especially this age.

Student 2

I think it was quite good, because I kind of got to express my own opinion, and tell my own story, and make it really enjoyable and fun.

Student 3

It was really fun and really interactive. We got to do many different things, brainstorm our words. And it put together a perfect rap song.

Luke

Logistically, it can be a bit hard to get a whole year group to go on an excursion like this, to try and make sure that all the things fall in the right place, having the right days, different things. But trying to have buy-in with our Uncles and Aunties to want to come in and be part of an excursion like this has meant that I needed to have those strong relationships first. They needed to have trust with me. And I needed to be flexible with them as well.

Aunty Julie

Tempe is an amazing school. We've had nothing but pleasure working with Tempe. They are doing so much to respect us as Aboriginals. We're cultural advisors here and around the area. They're just a very unique bunch of amazing, amazing teachers.

Luke

I really listened and worked with them to make sure that they felt comfortable, not being taken advantage of and wanting to be in a space where their knowledge can be shared authentically.

Student 1

I learned a bit more about Aboriginal culture and really understood their connection to Country and how deep that goes.

Student 2

Hanging out with DOBBY these last few days was a really nice experience to help us connect with the Country, and it was very eye opening, and we got to see many people's point of views.

DOBBY

Oh, gee, it was just such a fun day of listening to all of the kids with their final songs. They were all so, you know, shy, but also very proud of their music, which made me just-- like, it just lit up the room, you know? This is such a great project where we can see the conception of the idea all the way to the final project. So it's been really, really inspiring today.

Aunty Julie

[Aunty Julie on school hall stage talking at a podium to large audience]]

I'm really proud of you all. You know, that was such an honour to be on the Cooks River there with all you young fellas. Music, in general, that's how our people, for thousands of years, have communicated our lore, our sky, our seas. And to hear that as an Aboriginal woman through you youngsters has made me very proud. But I want you to be very proud of yourself.

[Music playing]

(RAPPING) If we can't see what we're supposed to see

We look of course around our life

So we could live and we could survive

And walk down what was on the other side

And flaunt our Country, our pride

[Text on screen: Special thanks to the staff and students of Tempe High School for inviting us to join your school community and share your learning.]

[Text on screen: Special thanks to DOBBY for supporting the learning in this project with student mentorship and the creative workshop facilitation focusing on ethical storytelling, process and Hip Hop pedagogy.]

[Text on screen: Special thanks to Aboriginal Knowledge Holders Uncle Jagamarra, Aunty Julie and Raph from Dhinawan Yarn and Entertainment, for sharing your stories and supporting this project.]

[Text on screen: Special thanks to Dr Thomas Fienberg – Sydney Conservatorium of Music for your expertise and guidance on this project.]

[Text on screen: NSW Department of Education:
Aboriginal Education Team
Secondary Curriculum – Creative arts]

[Text on screen: Filmed and edited: Andrew Piper
Producer: Carolyn Hammer
Production Manager: Emily Murphy-O’Neill
Emagined]

[Text on screen: Filmed on Gadigal Country, Tempe NSW.]

[End of transcript]

[Text on screen: Acknowledgment of Country
We recognize the Ongoing Custodians of the lands and waterways where we work and live. We pay respect to Elders past and present as ongoing teachers of knowledge, songlines and stories. We strive to ensure every Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander learner in NSW achieves their potential through education.]

[Text on screen: NSW Department of Education
I belong: as I walk on my country
Play along video]

[Music plays]

Singer

One, two, three, four.
As I walk on my country, feel the spirit of the trees.
Hear our stories upon the wind.
Feel the power of this place.
Speak our language, speak our names.
We've come together as we have always.
I belong, I belong.
Let the love of country make you strong.
I am free, I am free.
Part of everything that lives and breathes.
I am free.

[Paakantyi Language]

Kirray girri kirray girri thik appa
Kirray girri kirray girri thik appa
Kirray girri kirray girri thik appa

When our bodies return to the land.
Back to dust, to soil and to sand.
I'll be ready, I'll understand.
Ancestors there in the sky will lead us all through the long dark night.
Through their love and to the light.
I belong, I belong.
Let the love of country make you strong.
I am free, I am free.
Part of everything that lives and breathes.
I am free.

[Paakantyi Language]

Kirray girri kirray girri thik appa
Kirray girri kirray girri thik appa
Kirray girri kirray girri thik appa.

[End of transcript]

[Music playing]

Singer 1

We're in the river, it flows through my soul.
Feeding the fish that feeds us all.
The mangroves thrive, the ochre pain.
Songlines and stories survived it all.
Smelling the fire, it burns through my veins.
Breathing that in, ignites my inner flame.
I rub my hands and feel the warmth.
The crackling fire, it keeps me tame.

Singers

Names mean nothing.
We don't own the river, the river owns us.
The people are bleeding.
Caring for Country right now is a must.
Names mean nothing.
We don't own the river, the river owns us.
The people are bleeding.
Caring for Country right now is a must.

Singer 2

Nature's ever silent.
Even if it's quiet, the sound connects me and keeps me high.
Trains and planes won't drown it out.
A better world is what's truly desired.
Birds chirp with its hearts content.
Leaves crunch under dry cement.
Chains and reins won't lock us out.
You can't break Country without consent.

Singers

Names mean nothing.
We don't own the river, the river owns us.
The people are bleeding.
Caring for Country right now is a must.
Names mean nothing.
We don't own the river, the river owns us.
The people are bleeding.
Caring for Country right now is a must.

Singer 3

The truth is in the river.
Truth is in the land.
All the secrets lying underneath the sand.
Listen to the stories, feel the connection.
Now we know our land gives us protection.

Singers

Names mean nothing.
We don't own the river, the river owns us.
The people are bleeding.
Caring for Country right now is a must.
Names mean nothing.
We don't own the river, the river owns us.
The people are bleeding.
Caring for Country right now is a must.

Singer 4

History called Cook a saviour.
Why do we praise his bad behaviour?
Let's work together to call a truce
Respect our Country.
Tell the truth.

Singers

Names mean nothing.
We don't own the river, the river owns us.
The people are bleeding.
Caring for Country right now is a must.
Names mean nothing.
We don't own the river, the river owns us.
The people are bleeding.
Caring for Country right now is a must.

[End of transcript]