Sarah Bingle Lowitja Institute International Indigenous Health and Wellbeing Conference 2016

Sarah Bingle

Fay Stewart-Muir Fay Stewart-Muir, is a Boon Wurrung Elder and traditional owner of the Melbourne area from her mother’s Boon Wurrung clan and Wemba Wemba from her father’s clan. Fay is a registered nurse and has worked in the medical field for over thirty-five years and continues to nurture strong bi-cultural partnerships within the health, education and community sectors to embed cultural knowledge into educational practice. Fay holds a Bachelor of Arts in Education in Primary teaching and is passionate about passing on her knowledge of one of the oldest living cultures in the world, Aboriginal culture and teaching students from a very young age through to tertiary about Aboriginal history and language. Fay is a respected Elder who fosters strong cultural links for Aboriginal children and their families through her regular attendance at koori playgroups, schools and community services based on both Boon Wurrung and Wemba Wemba Country. Fay currently works as a Project Officer with the Victorian Aboriginal Corporation for Languages, where she is discovering historical knowledge through old documents, which are valuable information to assist her to reawaken her traditional language which has been a ‘sleeping language’ for many, many years. Sarah Bingle Sarah has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Humanities and a Degree in Dramatic Arts from the Victorian College of the Arts. She is currently completing her Master’s Degree in Regional Education and Community Development at Monash University. Sarah has over twenty-five years’ experience working within community, health, arts and education sector. Sarah has a passion for developing place-based and culturally meaningful learning environments for Indigenous children, families and extended kinship community, which draw on the wisdom of Elders and the traditional stories and knowledge embedded within the traditional place or Country where her programs are based. Sarah adopts Elder led and community strengthening approaches to ensure that early years' programs are developed for and steered by the Indigenous community. Sarah believes that empowering Aboriginal Elders and educators to teach Indigenous children about their traditional culture and language in their early years, not only strengthens’ the identity and well-being of children but improves their confidence and self-esteem, increasing their motivation to learn and paving pathway for a new generation of Aboriginal Elders to emerge.