deep listening in action
DESCRIPTION
By Laura BrearleyTRANSCRIPT
Deep Listening in ActionAn Ancient Community Development Model for the 21st Century
Photography Terry Melvin
Dr Laura Brearley and Friends
Acknowledgements
Introduction
The tepee was erected during a cross-cultural exchange between Australian and Canadian Indigenous people as part of the Deep Listening Project
Tepee at the Banff Centre, Alberta, Canada belonging to the Centre for Aboriginal Leadership and Management
Elder Tom Crane Bear, a Siksika Elder , conducts a smoking ceremony in the tepee during the cross-cultural exchange
Prayer
What is Deep Listening?
Vicki CouzensKeerray Woorroong / Gunditjmara Woman
Vicki Couzens
For Aboriginal people Deep Listening comes naturally
It’s about walking on the land
Softly quietly
And listening to the stories around the campfire
We’ve got to listen to the wind in the trees
Listen to the birds
It’s the feeling of a gift
A gift always comes back
Ron Murray Wamba Wamba
Elder Tom Crane BearBlackfoot Siksika
Everything is connected and doing its work
If the system breaks we all get sick
The trees purify the air that we breathe
The rocks purify the water that we drink
The trees drink that water
And give us branches and leaves
We know about the Creator who made everything
The planets and the sun
Deep Listening is an Aboriginal concept which translates as … Deep and respectful listening which builds community
What is Deep Listening?
Everything is holy
Deep Listening Circles
The ritual was underpinned by Deep Listening, an Aboriginal
concept which means deep and respectful listening which builds
community
We are all connected
敬 聽Respect Listen
Jing Ting
The characters for Deep Listening incorporate
Heaven
People
Earth
Ear
Eye
Heart
Respect
Authority
Ten
One
And the relationships between all of these
Traditional Chinese characters have been passed down through the ages
Each character has a story with multiple layers of meaning
Listening respectfully
The layers of meaning in this combination of characters involve …
Knowing our position in relation to Heaven and Earth
Listening in the context of surroundings – Land, People, Heaven and Earth
Oneness of mind and heart
Being connected to all things
Relationality to the Land
Understanding relationality
Giving your undivided attention
Giving yourself wholeheartedly
Involving total dedication
Treahna HammYorta Yorta
Dunghala Dilly Bag Treahna Hamm
There’s a strengthening of the bond we have when we get together
There’s a sharing of stories
In our stories we come to know ourselves
We look up at the sky and we see the clouds
We see the blue gaps in between
The gaps matter
They link the clouds together
The shapes we see in the clouds may differ
But the sky and the clouds connect us all
The world is not as we would like it …
Ben Okri
Ojibway of Tamiskaming First Nation
Don McIntyre
Things need to change
They must
And transform along the way
We start as blank canvases
If we’re stuck
We need to move forward
Moth is the transformer
The dark transformer
The Moth Medicine is helping us all to move through
We are at our most present in crisis
In the Shadowlands
There are no secrets
Time and space don’t work in the same way
Everything plays back into the spiral
There is a point where it stops being about us
Our work here is connected to a much larger project
Our community includes the Creator
We are in the protective arms of the Creator
France Trepanier in conversation with Laura Brearley
The Shearwater Project: Celebrating Biyadin
Building partnerships, cross-cultural understanding and environmental awareness
Billie’s message …
Please look after the shearwaters and look after our oceans for the shearwaters
Take good care of them and give them love
Make sure they come home safely
Cowes Primary School Grade 4
Cowes Primary School Grade 4
Cowes Primary School Grade 4
VERSE 1
Guyup guyup Birds
Wuwan gabuthdui Fly over the
Warrin warrin Sea
Nunnin all together All together
VERSE 2
Guyup guyup Birds
Wuwan gabuthdui Fly over the
Wurru wurru Sky
Nunnin all together All together
CHORUS
Boonwurrung Biyadin … Whistling in the wind
Boonwurrung Biyadin … Calling in the Spring
Boonwurrung Biyadin … Dancing on the wing
Boonwurrung Biyadin … Connecting everything
VERSE 3
Guyup guyup Birds
Wuwan gabuthdui Fly on the
Mummut mummut Wind
Nunnin all together All together
VERSE 4
Guyup guyup Birds
Wuwan gabuthdui Fly on the
Wilam wilam Home
Nunnin all together All together
Chorus
Boonwurrung Biyadin … Whistling in the wind
Boonwurrung Biyadin … Calling in the Spring
Boonwurrung Biyadin … Dancing on the wing
Boonwurrung Biyadin … Connecting everything
Chorus
Boonwurrung Biyadin … Whistling in the wind
Boonwurrung Biyadin … Calling in the Spring
Boonwurrung Biyadin … Dancing in the sun
Boonwurrung Biyadin … Connecting everyone
