Mutitjulu Community visit and 5 ways you can show your support this NAIDOC Week
Before you read on, we’d like to acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the Traditional Custodians of the land. It Always Was and Always Will Be Aboriginal Land.
Short Back & Sidewalks and the HoMie team. Photo: Ben Crook
In December 2019, after a long time in the making, Craig Hollywood and the team from Short Back & Sidewalks (SBSW) including Shonagh Botley (Sho & Co.) and Maria Dillion (Grand Royal Barbers), alongside Marcus and Darcy of HoMie’s founding team, were invited to the Northern Territory to host VIP Days for the community.
“For most (if not all) of our team, this was a life changing experience,” Craig said. “Not only to have been given the invitation to go to Mutitjulu, but to be able to positively connect, provide a helpful and friendly service, and, most importantly, to be accepted by the community.”
Mutitjulu is a closed Aboriginal community located at the base of Uluru, within Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, of which the Anangu people of Mutitjulu are the Traditional Owners and joint managers.
Uluru. Photo: Marcus Crook
The conversation started when SBSW were at Garma Festival Of Traditional Culture in North East Arnhem Land, and Craig met Dave Tome [Night Patrol Manager at Mutitjulu].
While at Garma, Dave witnessed first-hand the impact a fresh haircut and positive connection could make and asked if SBSW would be keen to head to Mutitjulu. Due to the remote nature of the community, it was mentioned that something like a fresh haircut, or some brand new clothing, isn’t something that’s easily available for the people at Mutitjulu.
“After seeing SBSW in action at the GARMA festival I Invited them to visit Mutitjulu to provide haircuts and styling, as well as HoMie for clothing giveaways for the community,” Dave said.
Craig had been aware of the work HoMie had been doing for the community in Melbourne since 2015, and reached out to HoMie’s Co-Founder Marcus Crook, who was immediately keen for HoMie to be involved. The decision was made to collaborate as part of the trip, and from this the SBSW x HoMie School Holiday Program at Mutitjulu was born.
Reggie Uluru. Photo: Marcus Crook
THE TRIP ITSELF:
Having been welcomed into the community by Mutitjulu Aboriginal Corporation Director Craig Woods, we kicked things off by heading to the aged care facility at Mutitjulu. It was there we met Senior Anangu Elders such as Reggie Uluru, Nelly Patterson, Nyanu Watson, Cassidy Uluru and Yuka Trigger, some of whom are Senior Traditional Owners of Uluru. By starting off at the facility it gave our team the opportunity to show respect to the Senior Elders who’d given our group the permission of staying at the Mutitjulu Community.
Here, everyone was ecstatic with their new HoMie clothing and fresh new haircuts. It was a special experience for all of us to positively connect with the traditional owners of Uluru and set the tone for the rest of the trip.
We then headed to the community centre; by then, word had gotten around that some visitors had arrived, and it wasn’t long before the rest of the community came along to say Palya! (“hello, good, OK”) and to get a fresh new haircut and some new HoMie clothing.
Over two days in Mutitjulu, the SBSW and HoMie team set up a pop-up store and barber in the shadow of Uluru, giving more than 80 haircuts and 800 items of brand-new clothing to over 200 members of the community. A big thank you to Clothing The Gap, Qualitops and LMB Knitwear for providing items for the community to choose from.
Entrance To Mutitjulu. Photo: Marcus Crook
“Setting up to host VIP Days in the community, just beneath Uluru and meeting Traditional Owners was a truly unique and special experience. We won’t forget the endless games of basketball and football in the downtime and being shown local areas with the most amazing energy, including sunrise Kata Tjuta, something I’ve never experienced before,” Marcus said.
Darcy, HoMie’s Social Impact Program leader, says the experience of learning the history of the Mutitjulu community, and other surrounding communities was so insightful.
“Speaking to and learning from the Traditional Owners of Uluru, Reggie Uluru, was a special moment I will cherish,” Darcy said.
The experience also had a significant impact on the SBSW team.
“We were given the opportunity to meet the beautiful children at Mutitjulu, who at any given time would be dragging you off to kick the footy, play basketball, go to the pool, to run hand in hand together into a willy-willy or to cheekily spray an obscene amount of hair colour spray into your hair (for the 20th time),” Craig said.
“Meeting the Anangu Elders, being treated to an open air sunset concert under Uluru by the Mutitjulu Band, to learn from the inspiring people who come from all corners of the world to work in the community, the memories and experience is something that will stay with us all forever.”
Kata Tjuta. Photo: Marcus Crook
KEY LEARNINGS FROM THE TRIP TO MUTITJULU:
For Craig:
“Having spent time at Mutitjulu and meeting some amazing people who are working together, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous, I learned that reconciliation won’t arrive in a single moment or place in time.
“It’s going to take lots of small, consistent steps, that no matter where you’re from or your background, if you have a positive attitude, it’s something you’ll go a long way to helping achieve. These steps are something my team and I were proud to take alongside Marcus, Darcy, Ben and the overall HoMie collective.”
WHAT’S NEXT:
Both SBSW and HoMie are eager to continue to build on the relationship with the Mutitjulu Community, and to become a permanent fixture during school holidays.
SBSW and HoMie are beyond grateful to be invited into Mutitjulu, to have met Traditional Owners and the wider community, and be given the opportunity to connect with the community.
Here’s how to show your support to First Nations People, throughout NAIDOC Week, and each week after that:
Support Aboriginal owned and run businesses, such as Clothing The Gap and Gammin Threads.
Follow, Listen, read, educate: follow accounts such as @blakbusiness, @indigenousX, @marlee.silva and @clothingthegap.
Abolish Australia Day. January 26 is not a time to celebrate - read up on Invasion Day and educate yourself as to why this is important.
Continue to show up: continue to stand up for Aboriginal Australians, support and share campaigns such as Free the Flag, attend rallies, donate to services such as VALS and keep the conversation going.
Champion diversity within your workplace or business: educate employees on diversity and how to be better allies, work with and hire BIPOC team members, creatives, models!