'Help Aunty Ellen and Jelina'

The importance of living on the land and protecting what it remains for the future generation (Aunty Ellen Trevorrow).

Project: 'Help Aunty Ellen and Jelina get to  Vancouver'

Time is the essence now as the conference is fast approaching; your donation will support Aunty Ellen and Jelina to travel to Vancouver to present a conference paper.

We seek your support to help us to raise: $7560.00
Breakdown cost of where your donation will be used.
Accommodation and flights
2 return economy Flights = US 3654.33 (AUD $4909.00)
Accommodation:
Address 1100 Burrard St, Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y7, Canada (walking distance to the conference venue at the Hyatt Regency, Vancouver.Phone: [phone redacted]
6 nights’ accommodation  = US986.78 (AUD$1,386.00), Reserved
Conference Registration    
Aunty Ellen Trevorrow & Jelina - US$1244.70 (AU$1748.43) - confirmed & registered
Visa (2 people)     = $281.66 (paid & confirmed)                

Where: The conference will be held from the 10th - 14th of November 2018 in Vancouver,
Canada. Theme conference "BUILDING AND SUSTAINING AN ETHICAL FUTURE WITH EMERGING TECHNOLOGY."

The Annual Meeting of the Association for Information Science and Technology is a premier international conference dedicated to the study of information, people, and technology in contemporary society. Canada has a reputation for supporting their Indigenous people and attending this conference will bring many benefits back to the community and making connections to other Indigenous community and academic institution in Vancouver. This conference is a perfect place for bringing the Indigenous voice to the academic research and presenting Ngarrindjeri culture and tradition within a cultural context and globally. The outcome of this conference will provide a stepping-stone for the next generation and the generations to come to present Ngarrindjeri cultural stories and practices with pride and honour.

Why attending this conference important: 
First, the history of unethical research conducted among Indigenous people has not changed.  Evidence of misrepresentation and exploitation of traditional knowledge purported through immoral research showed by past researchers still lingers. As a result, Elders are reluctant to share their knowledge and who is given the right to traditional knowledge, specifically when stories are seen as sacred or secret.  This conference is impeccable of bringing the Indigenous voice to the academic research and giving that voice to Aunty Ellen to present her culture and tradition within a cultural context and the respect and honour for the knowledge she held before it gets lost. The outcome of this conference will provide a stepping stone for the next generation and the generations to come to present their cultural stories and practices with pride and honour. 

This is where our research comes in:
We are hoping, that we increase the awareness to preserve Indigenous Elders knowledge in South Australia, instead of scattered records around the world. To do that is to present our paper on a world premier conference to build the credibility of our research and bring back of what we learned from other researchers.

Conference paper entitled 'Video Ethnographic documentation of stories and cultural practices with Indigenous Elders' 

The paper reflects on the extensive use of video as an invaluable tool for ethical recording of the stories and cultural practices of Indigenous Elders. The focus was to record Elder's stories communally and accurately. Research concerns were based on a community's needs rather than introduce ideas from the researcher. The various segments of the video shone a light on ethical issues by ensuring that the collective knowledge was shared truthfully and in line with traditional laws and protocols of the Ngarrindjeri Nation. Our paper will present a video recording of songs, language, and stories shared by three prominent Elders. The outcome of our findings has significant implications for education, health, technology and the library and information professionals as well as researchers who gather video data from within (and about) Indigenous communities.

The concept of 'Living on the land' -it is the sharing of stories while picking rushes under the guidance of Aunty Ellen Trevorrow.

Who is Aunty Ellen Trevorrow:
Aunty Ellen is Ngarrindjeri Elder, Cultural Ambassador/Icon and world-renown artist and cultural weaver with over 37 years’ experience.  Aunty Ellen's woven works and sculptures are exhibited at events and galleries internationally including the National Gallery of Australia, National Gallery of Victoria, and Art Gallery of South Australia. Her collaborative weaving works are currently on display at the Maritime Museum Adelaide and Adelaide Festival Theatre. For over 37 years, Aunty Ellen has supported thousands of individuals including students from kindergarten to University, overseas travellers and groups who have visited Camp Coorong and participated in her weaving and cultural storytelling workshops. Sharing her culture through weaving with the younger generations is a key focus and a lifetime devotion she has vowed to continue.

Who is Jelina Haines:
Jelina is a renowned Textile/Fibre visual artist and designer with 20 years’ experience and 18 years’ experience as a weaver. She was taught and mentored Ngarrindjeri weaving by Aunty Ellen Trevorrow.  Jelina and Aunty Ellen co-founded the Ngarrindjeri Eco Art Coop at Camp Coorong and worked with the group voluntarily as a Project Arts Manager, Mentor, Cultural Liaison, and
Arts Instructor.  She is an active Gawler Local Artist and Video Ethnographer Researcher. Since
Jelina arrived in Australia; she had dedicated her time to helping people and accumulated for more than 15,000 hours of voluntarily works with various organisations. She has spent more than
20 years working alongside with the Elders at Camp Coorong in South Australia. Jelina is known for her wearable arts and is held in public and private collection in Australia, UK, New Zealand,
Canada, USA, Japan, Egypt, Johannesburg, Russia, Sweden, Malta, Taiwan, China, France and the Philippines. Currently, her PhD research aimed at the archival and preservation of traditional Indigenous knowledge by the ethical recording of their stories and cultural practices. Jelina's PhD research focused on giving the Elders a voice as co-researchers rather than a code or number, and she used the principles of Community based participatory research where it focuses on the community's needs and research outcome based on respect, trust and reciprocity.

Media coverage:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-12/two-women-fight-to-save-camp-coorong-and-ancient-craft/9857466
https://www.murrayvalleystandard.com.au/story/5472658/camp-coorong-ngarrindjeri-cultural-centre-closes/
http://www.academia.edu/3519707/Australia_Day_Citation_Speech_for_Aunty_Ellen_Trevorrow
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfz8Eb6SOTM
http://w3.unisa.edu.au/unisanews/2017/November/story11.asp
http://www.unisanet.unisa.edu.au/students/homepage.asp?Name=Jelina.Haines


Please help us,
Aunty Ellen and Jelina