Indigenous Women's Sporting Experiences: Agency, Resistance and Nostalgia

Abstract

Australian sports historiography, in privileging Western, reconstructionist approaches to narrating histories of Aboriginal sport, has overlooked Indigenous research methodologies that privilege Aboriginal voices. This paper adopts the Indigenous research methodology of yarning in a collaborative project with former sportswomen from the Cherbourg Aboriginal Settlement in Queensland. Yarning, as a culturally respectful way of eliciting memories and valuing expression of Indigenous voices, was used to explore their experiences, memories and meanings of competitive marching, a popular sport for young women in mid-twentieth century Australia. The yarning sessions revealed insights into sport that are missing from the empirical, archival record, and allowed the exploration of agency and autonomy, acts of resistance, and complex intersections of nostalgia and trauma. This paper offers specific and broader insights on sport in Australian Indigenous communities and on the entanglement of the sporting past with the histories and politics of race and gender in Queensland. In repositioning researcher and researched in Aboriginal sport history, this paper demonstrates the potential of transformative narratives about the experiences of Indigenous Australians. but sport rarely features in these accounts. 2 One possible explanation for the paucity of sporting voices is that men, who had the longest and most sustained engagement with sport throughout Cherbourg's history, have been slower than women in grappling with their experiences under the Act. 3 It is the women of Cherbourg who have most thoroughly tackled the past. Often, this is done in the spirit of healing, attempting to reconcile the past, with the intent of building a productive and meaningful future. 4 This paper grew from a collaborative research project about sport history in Cherbourg that sought to engage with community memories, meanings and perspectives on the sporting past. 5 During that engagement over several years, female Elders asked us to help them research and tell the history of the Marching Girlsteams of competitive, precision marcherswho were active in the 1950s and 1960s. That project led to an analysis of official rationales for marching, and how the sport furthered assimilationist policy aims of the Queensland government. 6 It did not attempt to explore the women's experiences or their memories of marching, which are warmly recalled in Cherbourg six decades later. Marching memories feature in a sport exhibit at the community's Ration Shed Museum, where a plaque reads: "The marching girls are fondly remembered by the Cherbourg community as a crossover recreational and semi-sporting activity […]". 7 Former participants, typically aged in their sixties and seventies, take an active interest in preserving memories of their activities, including sewing replica marching uniforms for the museum display. 8 These representations of marching provide an ideal opportunity to explore the subjective, lived experiences and memories of Cherbourg women. What di...

Improved Mental Health, Social Connections and Sense of Self: A Mixed Methods Systematic Review Exploring the Impact and Experience of Community Reminiscence Programs

“…2013 31 USA To examine if wellness was enhanced through the promotion of a sense of mattering to others Randomized Controlled Trial using pre-post measures 5F-WEL and Mattering Index Residents of a retirement community 19 (10 control and 9 intervention) 76–95 (mean 83.26) 15 w, 4 m Osmond. 2018 45 Aust To explore the lived experiences and memories of Aboriginal women Qualitative (Yarning sessions for oral history) Two separate yarning sessions were observed Members of Marching Girls groups (1950s and 1960s) 14 60-plus 14 w Pearson. 2006 32 USA The efficacy integrative reminiscence on depression, acceptance of the past and mastery Randomised controlled trial pre -post measures GDS; APS and PMS Community-dwelling elderly individuals 36 (13 exp; 11 received CBT and 12 brochures) 60–85 (mean 82) 34 w, 2 m Rawtaer.…”

“…a 2012 30 Integration of life events, stories, goals, discussion Life-review reminiscence To cope with present life events and form goals Mental healthcare institutions Groups of 4 to 6 older people Not stated Psychologists and other therapists 8 two-hour sessions Lukow. 2013 31 Based on four tenets of mattering Structured group reminiscence To create greater sense of mattering Club at retirement community Group program face to face 10 sessions over 5 weeks Two counselors 105 mins Osmond 2018 45 Discussion using photographs of marching girls Informal To elicit value and meaning of marching Community Face to face in groups 2 consecutive days Aboriginal Elder Over 2 hours each session Pearson. 2006 32 Themes such as family, turning points, emotions, stress, meaning Life Review using a guided autobiographical approach To reintegrate past events into ones’ life and examine them At home or senior center 3 randomly assigned groups Once a week for 6 weeks Psycho-therapist 90 mins Rawtaer.…”

“…Programs were delivered through group sessions (n = 21), 6 , 8 , 13 , 14 , 26–37 , 39–41 , 45 , 46 , 48 one-on-one (n = 3), 38 , 42 , 43 both group and one-on-one (n = 1) 47 and one virtual community online. 44 Most programs consisted of between 6 and 10 sessions, lasting between 45 minutes and two hours.…”

“…Programs were conducted at community locations, including churches and a museum (n = 13), 8 , 13 , 26 , 27 , 33–35 , 37 , 41 , 45–48 at retirement/senior centers or a nursing home (n = 11), 6 , 8 , 14 , 31 , 32 , 34–36 , 39 , 43 , 47 at health service centers (n = 5), 13 , 28–30 , 40 at home (n = 4), 32 , 38 , 42 , 47 and one online (n = 1). 44 Programs were delivered by nurses, educators, a psychologist, a psychotherapist, a social worker, an occupational therapist, and counsellors (n = 12), 13 , 14 , 26 , 28 , 30–32 , 35 , 36 , 38–40 authors/researchers (n = 6), 8 , 29 , 34 , 42 , 44 , 46 other paid professions (n = 4), 13 , 27 , 37 , 47 volunteers (n = 4), 6 , 43 , 44 , 47 an Aboriginal elder (n = 1) 45 and a museum educator (n = 2). 41 , 48 Of the 27 included studies, only seven were evaluating established community-based programs 14 , 30 , 37 , 41 , 46–48 with the remainder implementing the programs for the research.…”

“…2003 44 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Cannot tell Yes Osmond. 2018 45 Yes Yes Cannot tell Yes Yes Yes Yes Cannot tell Yes Sass. 2021 46 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Shellman.…”