WALKING WITH SPIRIT – BELINDA DUARTE

There was no doubting the enthusiasm and passion for her subject that Belinda Duarte brought to her speech to the Balwyn Rotary Club. She stopped speaking a couple of times apparently overcome by the sentiments she stirred in talking about her life in Australia.

She was speaking strongly and eloquently of her Aboriginal origins and their deep impact on her life. To hear her speak of ``walking on country’’ with her forebears ``around her in spirit form’’ was a convincing story of how Australia’s natives felt about their country. As an example of her forebears she ran through a long list of some of her relatives including a Stawell Gift winner, Rob Kinnear.

An athlete herself, she looked to her relatives for inspiration in her sporting endeavours. Referring to the Canadian winter Olympics, she said she had visited the native peoples of Vancouver and had talks with the elders of the four different tribes of the Vancouver area.

Belinda said she actually had ties to two countries, the other being Poland. However the rich Polish culture of music, science, dancing and art seemed to have had little effect for her on her life here.

She suggested Australians should look for four things to improve the outcomes for `her people’ – context, reasons, implications and possibilities - ``and you should be proud and expose yourself to chances,’’ she added.

She warmly thanked former Victorian premier Joan Kirner (who attended the meeting with her husband Ron) for being a strong woman who continued to help the aboriginal people. ``Your legacy will be recognised for years to come,’’ she said.

On past connections and belonging, she ran through her relations adding ``they are my forebears and among them a great uncle and aunt who were my lineage including Rob Kinnear who won the Stawell Gift.  If you would ask an aboriginal person how they would describe themselves, they could reply `these are what I carry – the generations that went before me.' It leaves me with a sense of responsibility,’’ she said.

``Where do you feel you belong? In your own right, for our mob to feel they belong and by providing scholarships,’’ she explained. The context was to be inspired by Aboriginal Australians. The reasons? A lot of people did not know the facts, she said. The people needed to take care of each other.

Implications? ``There may be extra work because the Government might view it in a more appropriate light – and this included changing leaders that were disinterested. Imagine how you could change things for the betterment of Victoria,'' she suggested.

The possibilities including expanding the ``dreamtime stories on the land on which you live''.  She suggested people could ``in a moment of quiet, hear of the stories and celebrations that went before nd they may hear the whispers of the ancestors of our land as they move around your life.’’

Belinda said she was optimistic about the future for the Aboriginal peoples but ``we need to do more.’’