Beyond the Meeting of the Waters

‘Storyline’ is the word used to describe the way the Indigenous stories relate with each other like veins running across the land. They are passed on by word of mouth and are communicated through other mediums: art, language, music and ceremony.

Yorta Yorta Elder Wayne Atkinson’s storyline begins, like thousands of generations before him, on the banks of a river, but it would take him to the halls of higher learning and a lifetime of activism to further the empowerment of his people.

For Atkinson, education is a life-giving river that can be traced back to the teachings of his great grandfather and his Elders. This eventually led him to a university education and he became a much-loved teacher of Indigenous Studies at the University of Melbourne, where he pioneered the concept of Oncountry Learning.

An essential voice of his generation, Atkinson has been at the forefront of Aboriginal cultural renaissance in Victoria since the 1980s, when Kooris asserted their rights to self-determination. His advocacy for human rights has contributed to widespread reform. He also played a pivotal role in the Yorta Yorta Native Title land claim and was a commissioner with the Yoorrook Justice Commission.

Beyond the Meeting of the Waters is a penetrating and deeply humane insight into the power of the voice, the spear of the pen and the potential of collective organisation.

About the Authors

Dr Wayne Atkinson is a proud Yorta Yorta and Dja Dja Wurrung man. He was the senior research officer for the Yorta Yorta Nations as they pursued their native title land rights claim and provided leadership of the Barmah National Park campaign, bringing the forest under joint Yorta Yorta and state government management. After completing a PhD he became a lecturer at the University of Melbourne, teaching about Yorta Yorta culture, their land rights struggle and long history of political activism. Dr Atkinson created the concept of Oncountry Learning, which is taught in Yorta Yorta country.

Catherine Guinness was born in England of Irish and English ancestry with connections to the Guinness family line in Ireland. Her family migrated to Sydney, where she completed a science degree. She worked on racial equality with West Indian communities in England and, back in Australia, has worked extensively with Aboriginal communities, especially on adult education, and with women and refugees. She is the author of Rubber Justice, which chronicles her grandfather’s humanitarian work in the Congo, and A Haunting Silence, which seeks the truth about her great grandfather, a landowner in Tasmania at the time of the Black War.