Embedded with the Murri Mob (ATOM Study Guide)

This study guide to accompany Embedded with the Murri Mob, a documentary by Circe Films, has been written for secondary students. It provides information and suggestions for learning activities in Australian History, English, Media, SOSE and curriculum projects exploring contemporary Indigenous Australia.

Given the need for curriculum to be culturally inclusive, Embedded with the Murri Mob provides students with the opportunity to understand and value the culture of Australia's Indigenous people.

Embedded with the Murri Mob is one of three episodes from the Embedded series, where young Australians from a variety of backgrounds are placed into very different cultures in an attempt to bridge racial divides.

Synopsis
Sarah-Jane Woulahan is a political activist and firmly believes that if you don't agree with something, you should stand-up and do something about it. In the past, Sarah-Jane has protested for Aboriginal rights, but now realizes it's not enough and for all her activism, she has only one Aboriginal friend, Alex Bond. While she and Alex both call Brisbane home, they live in entirely different worlds. Sarah-Jane's decision to find out why there is such a divide between non-Indigenous and Indigenous Australians leads her to leave her white world behind, and for a month live on the black side of Brisbane.

When most white people think about Aboriginal Australia they think of a people plagued by alcoholism, petrol sniffing, child abuse and domestic violence. Aboriginal art is all about dot painting and every Aboriginal person has a deep spiritual connection to the land and can play the didgeridoo. The reality is, ordinary Aboriginal life is hidden from most white people, and the negative images in the press and on television are all they see. The majority of Australians don't really know what it means to be Aboriginal and how they see the world. As a white Australian woman, Sarah-Jane is really interested to find out what everyday life is like for Aboriginal Australians and is hopeful that her decision to cross the divide will test the stereotypes and mean that at least in her life the Aboriginal community will no longer be at arm's length.

Sarah-Jane's journey begins in Inala, nicknamed Vegemite City, home to the largest Murri community in Brisbane. (Aboriginal people from Northern New South Wales and Queensland are known as Murri.) Inala has long held a reputation for being dangerous and Sarah-Jane's friends even warn her to be careful. In Inala, Sarah-Jane stays with Jannette Evans, a single mother, and her three sons. For Sarah-Jane, the visit is an opportunity to find some of the answers she is looking for. Her next home stay is with the Doomadgee family. Local DJ Alec Doomadgee grew up in a remote community in the Gulf of Carpentaria, and has brought all his traditions to suburban Brisbane and made them part of every day life for his children. Sarah-Jane's exposure to ceremonies that are thousands of years old leaves her wondering about her own cultural identity.

As the month continues, Sarah-Jane meets Nadia Currie, a 26-year-old law student who is set on becoming a barrister and making a difference in the world. Then there is Richard Bell, a high profile radical artist from the ProppaNOW group who courts controversy. Given Bell's reputation as outspoken and critical of the way Aboriginal people have been treated, Sarah-Jane is initially uncertain whether she will hold her own with a man who loves to put white people in their place. Nearing the end of her journey, Sarah-Jane returns to her own stomping ground of inner city Brisbane, and meets Fred Leone, a hip-hop artist and youth worker. It turns out that as teenagers, Sarah-Jane and Fred had been unknowingly crossing paths. Fred's life has not been easy but his circumstances and sense of self have changed for the better because of his decision to embrace his family's history and