Issue 90

The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun. - Christopher McCandless

Twitter is an engaging way for teachers to hear a diverse range of authentic Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices.

A good starting point for accessing this material is to follow @IndigenousX, a curated Twitter account. It will assist library staff to select and link to sites that will enhance the development of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives across the curriculum. It is also a source of very strong commentary and debate on contemporary issues in Australia.

@IndigenousX was set up by education consultant, public speaker and writer @LukeLPearson in 2012. Each week the host changes and a different Indigenous Australian is the voice. Its significance was recognised by The Guardian Australian edition which runs a weekly feature in its ‘Comment is free’ section: Five questions to @IndigenousX.

@IndigenousX features diverse and thought-provoking hosts who provide perspectives from remote, rural, urban, and metropolitan areas across Australia, and gives direct access to a wide range of personal and professional insights and experiences from Indigenous people working in, or impacted by, Indigenous programs.

Past guest tweeters include:

@BensonSaulo the first host and director of the National Indigenous Youth Leadership Academy

@ShaunEdwards a textile artist who released a range of swimwear as part of the inaugural Indigenous Fashion Week.

@AnitaHeiss writer, activist and Indigenous Literacy Day Ambassador

@WarrenMundine former National President of the Australian Labour Party and chair of the current government’s Indigenous Advisory Council

@thekooriwoman who blogs on Indigenous health issues

@leesawatego educator, writer and CEO of Iscariot Media, a media company that focuses on educational, creative, and online projects

@sivparker writer and public speaker, who ‘#tweetyarns’

@NovaPeris OAM, Labour Senator, Northern Territory. Olympic & Commonwealth Gold Medalist

@pauldutton1968 possibly the best joke teller on Twitter and passionate on health and social justice issues.

These tweeters and the IndigenousX account will introduce you to many other people active in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community, as well as key organisations and their Twitter accounts such as:

@ILF the Indigenous Literacy Foundation www.indigenousliteracyfoundation.org.au

@theNCIE the National Centre for Indigenous Excellence www.ncie.org.au

@No_Smokes an anti-smoking website for young indigenous people www.nosmokes.com.au

@UrbanNativeMag provides pop culture with an Indigenous twist www.urbannativemag.com

@reconcil_WA supporting the drive for reconciliation in Western Australia www.reconciliationwa.org.au

@AAMUmuseum the only museum in Europe that is entirely dedicated to contemporary Aboriginal art from Australia www.aamu.nl/home-us

@TTBL_2SER The Thin Black Line brings you ‘news and current affairs from an Indigenous perspective’ www.bit.ly/1j59t00

@AIFW2014 Australian Indigenous Fashion Week 2014 (AIFW) is ‘the 1st event of its kind, celebrating Indigenous Design, Fashion & Art from across the country’

@Indigenous_Inst Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education 40 Years 1974-2014 Strengthening identity, achieving success and transforming lives

@FNAWN for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander writers, poets, and storytellers, advocating First Nations Australia writing and storytelling.

SCIS has drawn upon these Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander resources, contacts, and information, and shared them to subscribers through its social media channels. Many of the web links discovered through these connections have also been added to the SCIS catalogue.

For those already familiar with Twitter, prepare to be impressed with the way Indigenous Australians have taken up social media to share their stories and disseminate information, and fascinated by the different perspectives provided and debated within the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.

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References

• Theguardian.com, 2014. IndigenousX | Comment is free | The Guardian. [online] Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/series/indigenousx