Hosted by: Laura McBride

Guests: Aunty Fay Moseley, Uncle Richard Waubin Aken, and Fleur and Laurance Magick Dennis




This nation's natural history museums, like many institutions that played a role in colonisation, have been viewed with great suspicion by First Nations Peoples.

Today, the Australian Museum stands firm in its commitment to acknowledge the wrongs of the past. Part of that process is truth-telling. In this episode, Laura McBride – Wailwan and Kooma woman, and Director, First Nations, at the Australian Museum – shares three important pieces from the AM’s award-winning exhibition, Unsettled.

We hear from Aunty Fay Moseley, a Wiradjuri Elder who was taken from her family when she was ten years old; we travel back to 1770 to hear the accounts of Kaurareg Peoples on the arrival of Cook’s tall ship; and we return to the present to learn an Aboriginal teaching of caring for one another and sharing with one another.

Discover the Explore podcast series.




About the guests

Elder Waubin Richard Aken


Elder Waubin Richard Aken is a Traditional Owner of the island of Tuined and appointed Tribal Historian for Kaurareg First Nations people. He works with elders of the Kaurareg lands and waters to strengthen alliances with the wider Cape York community.

Richard was involved in the re-establishment of the Horn Island community through a Native Title Claim of the Kaurareg nation and actively participates in the maintenance of his people’s unique culture.


Contested Possession: Elder Waubin Richard Aken in conversation with Dr Mariko Smith
According to his journal, Lieutenant James Cook landed on Tuined, one of the inner islands of the Torres Strait on 22 August 1770, raised the British flag and called it “Possession Island”. Kaurareg First Nations people, the Traditional Owners of Tuined, reject Cook’s record, asserting that he did not go ashore, nor did he raise a flag. In the first of our Unsettled talk series, Elder Waubin Richard Aken, Traditional Owner of Tuined and appointed Tribal Historian for Kaurareg First Nations people, appears in conversation with AM First Nations curator Dr Mariko Smith to discuss the HMB Endeavour’s voyage from his people’s accounts and perspective. Talk held in the AM Theatre on 22 May 2021 as part of the Unsettled opening weekend. Image: Anna Kučera
© Australian Museum

Fleur and Laurance Magick Dennis

Milan Dhiiyaan means “One Family or One Mob”. We are referring to all of us, all of humanity, as one family on mother earth. Milan Dhiiyaan provides Aboriginal cultural immersion experiences for both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people of our Australian and global community.

Milan Dhiiyaan is led by Wiradjuri/Wailwaan songwoman and senior cultural educator Nyimirr (Fleur Magick Dennis) and Wailwaan/Yuin songman and senior cultural educator Millmullian (Laurance Magick Dennis).


Unsettled exhibition 26 May 2021

Artist Laurance Magick Dennis of the cultural education group Milan Dhiiyaan in the Winhangadurinya reflection space of the Unsettled exhibition.

Image: James Alcock
© Australian Museum

Aunty Fay Moseley


Aunty Fay Moseley is a strong Wiradjuri woman, Elder, artist and advocate for the Stolen Generations, working hard to support other stolen children in re-connecting with their families and cultures, and having their stories heard.

Aunty Fay Mosely was stolen from her family and home in the Riverina region of NSW when she was just ten years old. She was robbed of her family and a bright future for no reason other than being Aboriginal. Despite this, Aunty Fay has worked hard in her life to overcome her experiences as much as possible. She resisted domestic service and eventually became a nurse instead, dedicating her life to helping others.


Wiradjuri woman, Elder, artist and advocate, Aunty Fay Moseley
Aunty Fay Moseley is a strong Wiradjuri woman, Elder, artist and advocate for the Stolen Generations. Image: James Alcock
© Australian Museum


Host

Laura McBride is a Wailwan and Kooma woman and Director, First Nations at the Australian Museum. In this role, Laura leads the First Nations strategic direction and operations, as well as managing the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and Pasifika collections.

Laura’s vision for the AM centres on prioritising and amplifying First Nations voices so that Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, and Pacific communities represent themselves and their cultures within the Museum.



Laura’s projects at the AM include the development of Garrigarrang: Sea Country and the award-winning GADI exhibition. She conducted ground-breaking First Nations community consultation through The 2020 Project that informed the First Nations-led exhibition Unsettled, which she co-curated, that opened at the AM in May 2021.

Laura holds a Bachelor of Arts (University of Sydney) with a double Major in Psychology and Australian Indigenous Studies, and a Master of Aboriginal Education (University of Technology Sydney).


Laura McBride, Director, First Nations
Laura McBride, Director, First Nations, stands in one of the many exhibitions she has curated at the Australian Museum – Garrigarrang: Sea Country. Image: Anna Kucera
© Australian Museum