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Open Right

Jan Wositzky: Wominjika – The Thank You Workshop

Session Info:

In Wominjika: The Thank You Workshop Jan teaches students to sing a song called Thank You for the Welcome, to be used as a meaningful and dignified musical response to Indigenous Welcome to Country, school concerts and other occasions. As students learn the song Jan tells them the black-white history stories embedded in the song.

Format It takes a two-hour session for Jan to teach the song and tell the stories within it. After that a music teacher can take over the process, or Jan can return to see the process through to performance. Suitable for groups up to 50 students.

Description Wominjika means welcome in the Wurundjeri language of Port Phillip, and in Wominjika: The Thank You Workshop, Jan ‘Yarn’ Wositzky teaches students a song to be sung as a dignified response to Indigenous Welcome to Country ceremonies, as well as other occasions such as school concerts. Written by Jan ‘Yarn’ Wositzky, the song is called Thank You For The Welcome. As students learn the song they will gain, through Jan’s personal and historical stories, an understanding of black-white relations in Australia, including: * Aborigines and First Fleet soldiers dancing together * The Woiwurrung welcome for John Batman when he came in 1835 to ‘purchase’ the land that is now Melbourne * Jan personal experiences with Aboriginal people’s hospitality and welcome * How Indigenous ceremonies compare with our customs of welcome and laws of visas and passports. Thank You For The Welcome was a finalist in the 2005 Port Fairy Folk Festival Songwriting Award, and has been used in the Opening Ceremony of the 2009 Castlemaine State Festival, the 155th Eureka Stockade commemorations, and by choirs at various festivals across Australia.

“The whole school community was moved by the students singing your ‘Thank You For The Welcome’ song in Reconciliation Week. The workshop sessions were invaluable, providing a context for students to understand the thousands of years of complex story within the song. On behalf of the teachers who had the privilege to sit in on your workshops, we thank you for engaging the students in such rich sessions of storytelling – inspiring dignity, awareness, understanding and appreciation as well as lots of laughs!” —Thais Sansom, Castlemaine South PS

Topics:

  • Relationship between black and white Australians.
  • Events of history – particularly first contact.
  • Aboriginal map of Australia
  • Jan’s personal experiences with Indigenous Australians