I would like to say good morning to all, [inaudible]. Hello, friends, it's good to see you. My name is Greg Simms, everyone knows me as Uncle Greg. Firstly, I would like to acknowledge Darug land. I would like to acknowledge elders, past and present. We don't own the land, the land owns us. We come from mother earth. We are the land. And here I am today at Sydney University, giving a talk for the psychiatry unit. But just before I do, I would like to say that when we take our next step, just remember the ones who've walked this sacred land before. This is Darug lands, the land of ancestors. Their spirits still walk among us. Spirits that have been here since the Dreamtime. Our language and our culture has been passed down from generation to generation, to continue an unbroken culture that has extended for thousands of years. In the language of our people, we welcome you to the Darug lands. Thank you. And have a great day. Can you tell us about your people and the country that you come from? My country is the Gadigal tribe of the Darug, which is based here in Sydney, and - because we belong to the whale people. The other nation I belong to is the Gundungurra nation in the Blue Mountains on my grandmother's side, on my dad's side. We are the water dragon lizard people. On the south coast, my mum's side, we're the Yuin people around Tilba Tilba, the black duck mob and north of Tilba Tilba around Bateman's Bay, Ulladulla inland of Braidwood, we are the Balawang people, the beach plover. So that's four different clans. Four different, yeah. Grandmother and great-grandmother on the south coast. So how does your being connected with your clan and with your country - how does that help, you know, with a sense of well-being? It's being educated at a very young age by our elders. You know, they're our teachers and mentors. They're the ones that sat us down and talked to us about who we are and where we are connected so we don't get into trouble. And the foods; what we can eat and what we can't eat. And respect for different things in the bush, you know; what we can't - and, well, they taught us a lot about conservation. That was one of the main themes, is conservation. Not taking too much berries off the tree, not taking too much mud cockles out of the salt water and all that sort of stuff. And that's what the people taught us. And - and that's - that - we become people that shares, could be the story, or share food with others because we're not greedy people because we were taught about conservation when we were very young - very young people. Okay. So what happens when the family connections and ties and the connection to the land - when that gets disrupted, what happens then? You know, if I'm from country too long, I've got to come back. And I've come across people, you know, they've been very sick. They've been very ill because I said - well, I would say to them, or they'd say to me oh, I've been crook. And you see them a couple of months later either - and they still got this bad cold, whatever it is, they can't shake it off and say I'm still sick and it's annoying. I can't do nothing. I've been taking all this medication and all that. Been to the doctors and that's not fixing me. I say the thing is, in your case, for you to be healed, you have to go home to your country, take off your shoes, walk on Mother Earth and feel earth under your feet so you could regenerate your soul. And just walk down to the cemetery and talk, you know and say I'm home, you know? And just walk around and talk and I'm home and I'm here for a little while. I thought I'd come and say hello. And the spirits of our ancestors, you know, they can hear that, you know? And they - and when it's time for you to return back, maybe come back to Sydney, then you sort of - your soul has been regenerated and you feel so good inside and you say, "How you going?" "Oh, I feel real good; that cold, that's gone now. I feel real good". Because they've gone back to country. And that's what it's all about in Aboriginal culture, is returning to country to heal. And there are many people around who aren't quite sure where their country is these days? No, but there's a lot of people like that, you know? And I'm one of those people that will try and work - work in with these people and help them to find their mob, you know? And I found a lot of people's people, you know? They've gone to these professionals and asked them about could you help me to find my people? And they couldn't do that. And when they spoke to me about it, I spent a bit of time with them because, you know, you get people - you get people, say - just like a specialist. They, you know, they tell you so much. Then they want you to come back because they want you to come back again. You know what I mean? Yeah. But when I sit down with people, I sort of make sure I fill the gaps. You know, there's all these gaps, all these holes and I fill them in, you know, as we go along talking. And I help these people. I found a lot of people's families. And what's the effect on that person when they fill in all the gaps and when they discover their own people? Well, they - well, they feel much better, but there's still a long journey too, after that, you know? Then they need someone to take them on the journey, learning and healing because they're still healing at the same time, you know? You're going through a healing process as well, you know, when you're trying to find your mob. Yeah. And once all this is all put in place, it's not going to happen overnight. It's going - it's going to be like that for years to come, you know? It's something that you've got to connect up with and show respect. So what do you think the non-Aboriginal people could learn from Aboriginal Australians about how to live life, or well-being? When we come into a circle - when we come into a circle, that's what circle is all about, is sharing our stories because we're not going to learn anything by sitting at home. And if we all come to that circle, we come from different parts of the world, come to the circle and share our values and stories. And then we're starting to learn from each other because we will never have knowledge if we don't do this.
