Aboriginal Perspectives This Easter

7/4/2020

2020 has brought a lot of changes to all of us. We are spending more time at home as lockdowns and isolation restrictions are in place around the country and getting tighter as COVID-19 continues to impact our lives. It certainly is not life as usual.

Easter has arrived without the usual fanfare. There were no Easter hat parades or egg hunts and there will be no family gatherings to celebrate the occasion. For my family this means a quiet weekend at home instead of the holiday we usually enjoy with my parents. My boys look forward to the time they get to spend with nanny and poppy and the realisation that we will not be seeing them has brought great disappointment. Luckily, they have an amazing nanny who has posted their usual PJ gift and a few small treats and we have organised a facetime call so all is not lost. I have it on good authority the Easter Bunny will still be able to visit.
The boys are also missing the craft they would normally do at school at this time of year. I will admit that Easter activities are something that I usually leave to the teachers so I didn’t have anything up my sleeve to cater to this request but after some discussions we have decided to make some paper baskets and leave some of our local friends some small gifts – contactless of course. We have also been having some conversations about eggs - both the chocolate and non-chocolate variety and how people use them.

While Easter is not an Aboriginal celebration, eggs were a big part of customary life and looking at how Aboriginal people used eggs is a great perspective for all age groups and an easy one to discuss at home. I have attached some worksheets that the Wingaru Educators have created that may keep your young people occupied for a while and help them to explore how eggs were included in traditional bush tucker.

I wish you and your mob a safe and healthy Easter.