Ep08: JoAnne Rey, Teacher-Librarian, Author and Researcher

Today my guest is Jo Anne Rey, a teacher-librarian, author and researcher. Jo is also a Dharug community member; Dharug Country covers the majority of Sydney, Australia. In this episode we explore Jo’s Australian Indigenous identity, her research approach and methodologies and her family storying as woven into Sydney’s Dharug and colonial heritages. Jo’s storying is the basis of her recent doctoral thesis Country Tracking Voices: Dharug women’s perspectives on presences, places and practices, that explores the voices and perspectives of seven Dharug ‘sistas’. This research led to the development of a Macquarie University Indigenous Studies unit which sheds light on the places and practices that characterise the local area and its original inhabitants. In our conversation we explore the profound significance of Goanna Walking across Country, a motif representing the third-cultural way, an approach and process required when walking between Aboriginal and academic presences, places and practices. Jo also shares her thoughts on the importance of sustainable practices in caring for Country, ancestors and the Dharug community. In our time on Country, Jo and I are met by various other-than-human presences in the form of numerous and enthusiastic birds. Jo crystalizes and highlights Dharug custodians’ resilience, renewal and continuity when Country is the colonized, cosmopolitan city of Sydney. Links: Country tracking voices: Dharug women’s perspectives on presences, places and practices: https://www.researchonline.mq.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/mq:70950 Article: Learning and teaching on Dharug country https://www.mq.edu.au/thisweek/2019/07/08/learning-and-teaching-on-dharug-country/#.XUeb66mubjA The Sarsaparilla souvenir https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/25770007?q&versionId=31053593