you just can’t vibrate at that level of tenseness and negativity without having some serious
consequences. I guess the interesting bit in all of it is that spiritual bypass conversation.
’Cause actually to be able to get to the point where we can talk about the Lores of our Old
People, which really would say that we are one consciousness and that anybody born to
the earth belongs to the earth, and that non-Indigenous and Indigenous people actually
belong to each other. That’s what I believe the Old People would say. That you can’t have
that conversation whilst half of the consciousness is the benefactor of the suffering of the
other half. It’s a very fine line to walk. I’m really conscious of that in my own community
and not wanting to, you know, alienate people still going through trauma and absolutely on
the receiving end of what has been some pretty brutal government policies and actions. But
I’m also absolutely refusing to believe anymore that we are just passive victims in all of this.
And you can still have the conversation about water sovereignty and birth justice and be
empowered. I think a lot of it is about language and vibration and energy and moving away
from some of those old realities and old ways of dealing with problems in a way that’s good
for your spirit and moves things forward. ’Cause that other energy can give you a real false
sense of action. ’Cause it is so forceful. It’s just a hamster-on-a-wheel kind of vibe.Yeah, I mean I feel like those intersections
of oppression play out in all of our lives in
different ways. Me and my partner often
talk about this ’cause he’s a black man in a
patriarchal society and I’m a light-skinned
woman in a white society. There’ll be situations
where I am disadvantaged and where he’s
advantaged and then it’ll completely flip. So
it’s interesting to see that all of those divisive
identity markers, whatever they might be—
disability, perceived disability, gender—how
they play out. For me the two-way strong
thing, there’s two ways to think about it. Hah
hah! There’s a version that’s very different out
bush. And I don’t want to speak on behalf of
that version because I am a light-skinned urban blackfella who has a lot of privilege in this
country compared to my country men and women who are living in remote communities.
Their concept of two-way strong is probably a lot deeper and a lot more connected to
language and culture and all of the things that have not been taken away as much in that part
of the country. But for me it’s about knowing that you can be in the world but not of it. There
is never a physical solution to the physical problem. You can’t fight or solve the issue with the
same thing that created it. So being two-way strong means knowing the world and getting to
learn the western ways of doing things. I work in the arts so a lot of the artists that I work with
I say to them, “If you want true self-determination and autonomy in your creative practice,
learn the money.” Watch the money, learn the money, know how to get it, know how to look
after it, know how to report against it because then you have true freedom in your creative
practice. You’re not relying on anybody to do that bit for you. So it’s a bit of that. You’ve got
to know your creativity, your spiritual and cultural realm, and watch and observe how it
intersects with the physical world and these more western aspects. So to be able to walk with
knowledge on both sides is a really good thing for our people. And for the rest of the country.
I was at the Indigenous advisory group for impact investment a few weeks ago. And one of
the members was talking about growing up in New Zealand. And what a blessing it was as aSo that leads me to my favourite thing you’ve ever said to
me. Like we’ve not known each other very long. But in the
time we’ve known each other you bring a lot of medicine with
your wisdom. And I was talking to you about how I was in the
US and really felt the race politics everywhere. Crushing.
People were frightened of each other. My friend who is
African American, who’s a spiritual teacher, she was sitting
on a plane on her way to a silent retreat and was elbowed
by the six-foot-five white man next to her in the middle of
the flight. She was fast asleep and he elbowed her and said,
“Get your fucking black arm off my armrest.” And I was like,
“What? That didn’t happen!” I think that the shadow is at
play. And you said something really, really amazing and I’d
love you to elaborate. You said the words, “Two-way strong.”36
LYDIA FAIRHALL
DUMBO FEATHER