Central Arrernte and Mudburra Elder Patricia Ansell Dodds is a lecturer in Aboriginal history of Australia, she paints her country and works with bush medicine and heals people when they ask for help.
Aunty Pat has recently presented a lecture and interactive seminar titled 'Current state of affairs within Australia's Government and Legal Systems and how to heal and move forward.'
The seminar and exhibition of her art work took place at 4DVerse on the Boonwurrung nation Port Phillip Bay, hosted by her Marlpa (companion carers) from the Positivity Project.
"In Alice Springs in the 50s and early 60s teacher's wouldn’t teach us properly. Because we were Aboriginal, they had this concept that all we could do is cleaning."
Aunty Pat says it was hard becoming a lecturer in Australian History. She says her father's wishes changed the course of her journey. Aunty Pat has now graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, Associate Diploma in Business Management and Certificate One Tourism.
She started her career as a nurse in Native Wards in hospital's in Alice Springs and Adelaide. Native Wards were set up to keep First Nations people segregated in the wards.
"It was hard, in Alice Springs in the 50s and early 60s teachers wouldn’t teach us properly," Aunty Pat says. "Because we’re Aboriginal they had this concept that all we could do is cleaning."
Aunty Pat's father was an Ambulance driver and approached his daughter when she was nursing and asked her to do something for her family.
He asked her to fight for their country.
"I want you to fight for our country."
Aunty Pat said "Where?"
"Undoolya, you got to go home."
Undoolya is part of Alice Springs and her traditional home. Her people are part of the Arrernte Nation and Amjatere Nation.
Aunty Pat says she knew that she had to fight for her family, this was an opportunity to move away from her life as a nurse and study. After years of studying in Alice Springs and Darwin and she took her family's Native Title case to the court and won the case in 2000.
"They need to change. It’s been 10 years - let's move on. Give us a bloody treaty."
Aunty Pat says she is pleased of her achievements because of the lack of opportunity offered to her by the education system as a child.
From this experience and her knowledge of the struggle for Native Title for country, she says the first thing the Commonwealth can do is stop giving Indigenous people token gestures.
How can we heal and move forward?
In 1988 the former Prime Minister Bob Hawke was presented with the Bark Petitions and Barunga Statement where he promised that there would be a Treaty during the time of his current serving government. In 2017, the people are still waiting for that promise.
In 2007 Patrica Ansell Dodds witnessed the the roll out of the Northern Territory National Emergency Response and the suspension of the Racial Discrimination Act to bring the 'Intervention' forward.
Aunty Pat says "The Australian government should wake up and look at making changes for everyone and give people their rights to move on."
"Now in the last 10 years one community, two community had a problem with pornography with children.
She says "They want to blame all of the communities and they shut 'em down and took all the funding off them.
"So those people can't even run their own councils anymore.
"We are still under the Commonwealth - whenever when they want to do something they do.
"We had soldiers coming into our clinics to checking out our kids, it's not right.
"That's just pure racism.
"Give them back their funding so their schools can be run and the council people can have their money to run their council properly and employee their own people on their own land."
She says "A lot of people work hard for those communities to help their people and they're not even recognised properly."
Aunty Pat Ansell Dodds and Justine and Amandine. of the Positivty Project at NITV Radio, SBS Melbourne. Source: The Positivity Project
