Year 5 & 6 Incursion 

When Katrina Amon came to speak to us a couple of weeks ago, we all learnt so much about the First Nations people. She spoke about her family, bush tucker, racism and her growing up. She had lots of family and came from the Quandamooka tribe. She was given the name ‘Aunty’ because of her love for her community and the hard work that she put into helping her tribe. Her great Grandmother, Lucy the 1st, had her daughter Mable taken away from her by the government and they never got to see each other again. I would feel so angry, upset and worried if I got taken away from my mother. Katrina also talked about how she grew up. She said that some of the foods she ate were crabs, fish, oysters, mangos and avocados. Her favourite was oysters. She said she had experienced racism, been called rude names and been made fun of because of her culture. I think that it is awful that people need to make fun of someone just because they are different from you.

When she was growing up, her grandmother took her to Brown Lake. Katrina said although it looked brown, it was beautiful and clear when you were swimming in it, it was really refreshing . Her grandmother would not go in because she believed there were Bunions in the water which were mythical creatures that apparently lived in the lake. 

Katrina had two children named Lucy and Karl. Lucy is a teacher and is named after her great grandmother. She spoke about stereotyping and racism when she presented a talk to student Haileybury. I think the speech taught lots of people many things. She spoke about people being seen as half casts and often they were asked what percentage of you is Aboriginal?” The lesson there is that if you are of Aboriginal descent, you should not talk in percentages, you are Aboriginal. Her son Karl plays footy for Port Adelaide. Katrina was given the nickname ‘Mok,’ which stands for Mother of Karl. Katrina is the new Aboriginal Development Manager for St Kilda Football club and she said it is an honour to support the Aboriginal players. Overall, I learnt so many new things about the First Nations people. I think that more people should be educated on the Aboriginal culture and that we should all try and acknowledge the people who have been living here for over 60,000 years. 

By Grace Board 6HA