Activity 2: Introduction to songlines

Activity 2: Introduction to songlines

Focus: This activity introduces songlines and explains how they connect land, culture, and communication in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. It lays the foundation for understanding their significance in maintaining cultural continuity and identity.

Possible overarching question: How do songlines help us understand the connection between land, culture, and communication in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures?

Step by step guide

• Step 1: Connecting to students' prior learning

• Step 2: Introduction to songlines – Viewing and note taking

• Step 3: Songlines Exploration Stations

• Step 4: Anchor chart - reflection and new learnings

Required Resources:

• Teacher Support Material

• Access to the video clip "What are songlines?"

• Note taking template

• Exploration Stations Materials (setup prior to lesson)

Step 1: Connecting to students' prior learning

Have students form pairs or groups of three, connect students back to the overarching question from the previous activity. “What are the different ways we communicate, and why is communication important?”

You could break this into two sections:

1. What are the different ways we communicate? Let students chat then regroup.

2. Why is communication important? Let students chat then regroup.

Remind students about the concepts of modes and function/purpose and the discussion about maps/pathways.

Draw parallels between the use of maps and pathways as modes of communication and introduce songlines as another form that for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples connects significant sites, conveys stories, holds cultural laws and demonstrate how Indigenous Peoples moved across the nation prior to colonisation.

Step 2: Introduction to songlines

Watch: "What are songlines?" Colin Jones, a Kalkadoon and Nunukul man, renowned artist, and scholar in Aboriginal culture, art, and history, explains what songlines are in this clip.

Let students know you will pause at key moments for discussion and note-taking.

Explain to students that they will be working together to build a collective understanding of what songlines are. Highlight that this understanding will grow and evolve as they learn more about songlines, emphasising the collaborative and iterative nature of learning.

After the initial viewing, facilitate a discussion, encouraging students to share their thoughts and questions. Use these discussions to start populating the anchor chart with keywords, phrases, and students' illustrations that capture key concepts.

View the clip a second time, pausing at predetermined or important moments to delve deeper into the content (see Teacher Support Material for guidance). Encourage students to suggest when to pause based on their curiosity or need for clarification.

As students contribute ideas and observations, collaboratively add these to the anchor chart. Guide them to make connections between their notes and the broader concepts of songlines, such as how specific stories or symbols relate to navigation, trade, etc.

Step 3: Songlines- Exploration Stations

Using the provided materials setup various stations around the classroom, each dedicated to a different aspect of songlines.

Possible station ideas include:

• Station 1: Kungkarrangkalpa (Seven Sisters Dreaming) National Museum of Australia Digital Classroom Students engage with the artwork and context statement

• Station 2: Warakurna Community National Museum of Australia Digital Classroom Students engage with the artwork and context statement

• Station 3: Explore the Walinynga rock art site and surroundings, which includes the Seven Sisters artwork. Home - Walinynga rock art (nma.gov.au)

• Station 4: Using the book: ‘Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters (Margo Neale)’ as visual stimulus to explore an artwork, and the description and supporting text, students are asked to consider how these relate to their existing learning of songlines.

• Station 5: Clip Songlines explained: A 360 experience with Rhonda Roberts

• Station 6: The Seven Sisters by Reggie Sultan

Guided Exploration: Use the provided prompts and materials to guide students' exploration and encourage them to consider how each station's focus relates to the concept of songlines as a mode of communication. Details around the resources and set up of exploration stations are elaborated upon in the Teacher Support Material. Questions to guide and extend students’ thinking are included for each station.

Step 4: Reflection and sharing

This is an opportunity to spend time assessing students understanding of the activity focus. Have students share their recordings from the exploration stations in partners.

After the exploration stations, regroup and facilitate a reflective discussion, prompting students to share how the station explorations have influenced their understanding. Collaboratively update the anchor chart, integrating new insights and making connections between the initial concepts and the enriched understanding gained from the stations.

You can reconnect students with the overarching question to signpost to them how you are all building your understanding of this question. "How do songlines help us understand the connection between land, culture, and communication in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures?"

Ensure students understand songlines are not just physical paths but also encompass songs, stories, dance, art and trade routes that map the landscape and convey important information.