Speakers

Charismatic and inspiring leader and speaker, Dr Chris Sarra has recently taken up the appointment of Director of the Indigenous Education Leadership Institute.  Dr Sarra is the 2004 Suncorp Queenslander of the Year; 2004 QUT Chancellor’s Outstanding Alumnus and Faculty of Education Outstanding Alumni Award Winner; and Indigenous 2006 Scholar of the Year. 

He has a strong understanding of cultural-related issues in dealing with Indigenous communities and children.  Through his practical, educational and teaching experiences Dr Sarra has been able to share his success with educators Australia-wide and around the world.

Dr Sarra is the youngest of 10 children and his family comes from Bundaberg. To date he has had quite an extensive career in education with a particular focus on pursuing more positive and productive educational outcomes for Indigenous children, which is his main passion.

More recently, he became well-known for the role he played as the first ever Aboriginal principal of Cherbourg State School in south-east Queensland. In his time as Principal he facilitated many positive changes that saw increasing enthusiasm for student learning through dramatically improved school attendance and increased community involvement in education.  Under Chris’s leadership the school became nationally acclaimed for its pursuit of the ‘Strong and Smart’ philosophy. 

Today, Dr Sarra is the Director of the Indigenous Education Leadership Institute, which is based in Cherbourg, and designed to pursue stronger, smarter, student outcomes for Indigenous children throughout Australia.

My name is Anahera Morehu.

My feet are firmly planted in the areas of Te Rarawa and Te Aupouri.

My fingers hold firm to the areas of Ngāti Kahu and Ngāti Whātua

My lineage comes from the House of Ngapuhi.

Therefore, I am one of the many generations of the House of Ngapuhi.

I work at the University Auckland as the Manager Maori and Pasifika Services.  My desire is to support all those that search for information which has been passed from our ancestors and more.  In response, seek distant horizons and hold on to those lessons that are important.  Greetings to you all.

Ko Anahera Morehu tōku ingoa

Ka tū aku waewae i nga rohe o Te Rarawa me Te Aupouri

Ka mau aku ringaringa i nga rohe o Ngāti Kahu me Ngāti Whātua

Ko taku tuarā te tahuhu o te Whare Tapu o Ngapuhi

No reira, ko ahau tētahi uri no te Whare Tapu o Ngapuhi.

 E mahi ana ahau i Te Tumu Herenga o Te Whare Wānanga o Tāmaki Makaurau.  Ko ahau te Kaiwhakahaere Maori me Moana-nui-a-Kiwa.  E hiahia ana ahau ki te whakahāpai nga hapū e whai ana te mātauranga a o nga tūpuna i tuku iho.  No reira, ko te pae tāwhiti whāia kia tata, ko te pae tata whakamaua kia tina.  No reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa.

Haki Tahana is currently working at the Whangarei Libraries/ Wānanga Whakatupu Mātauranga as the Māori Services Information Librarian. The position allows Haki to do some traditional library work but also to liaise with communities (especially Māori) and encourage their use of the library facilities.

Before Whangarei Haki was the Māori Collections Librarian for Hamilton Public Libraries and worked for Te Wānanga o Aotearoa also. Haki is currently an Executive Committee member for Te Roopu Whakahau (Māori working in Libraries & Information Management) and is a member for the National Digital Advisory Committee 2007-2008.

Māori Services and Partnership Librarian
Bay of Plenty Polytechnic – Te Kuratini o Poike

Kitty’s work with Māori resources within Libraries spans 17 years. Her work in the main has been with tertiary educational institutions. Kitty was the LIANZA (Library & Information Association of New Zealand Aotearoa) representative on phase three of the Māori Subject headings Steering Committee from 2003 until August 2006. She is currently the LIANZA member on the Māori Subject Headings Governance Board.

Team Leader, Bongard Library
Bay of Plenty Polytechnic – Te Kuratini o Poike

Jenny has worked in libraries for 10 years in the tertiary education sector with a main focus on targeted library service delivery to Maori. She has served on: Te Ropu Whakahau Executive Committee, LIANZA Council, Maori Subject Headings Working Groups (Phase 2) and Maori Subject Headings Steering Committee (Phase 3). She is currently the Te Ropu Whakahau member on the Māori Subject Headings Governance Board.

Library Services for Saskatchewan Aboriginal Peoples (LSSAP) enriches communities by promoting and improving library services through a network of partnerships.  The committee was established in 1991.  This committee was organized for information sharing on issues relating to library services for First Nations and Métis peoples, based on identified needs by library and information personnel from First Nations band school libraries, public libraries, post-secondary institutions, and Aboriginal based organizations.  

The LSSAP committee has undertaken numerous initiatives to improve library services for Aboriginal peoples in Saskatchewan, i.e., co-hosted the 4th International Indigenous Library Forum in September 2005; host and fund annually Aboriginal Storytelling Week, an event held throughout Saskatchewan in February of each year to promote First Nations and Métis oral traditions and the use of public libraries; hosted a number of conferences relating to Aboriginal cultural awareness, Aboriginal literature, promoting Aboriginal authors, workshops on libraries serving diverse communities; created a resource list of Aboriginal storytellers and a list of recommended Aboriginal titles.

Marilyn Russell was born in Bemidji, Minnesota but lived most of her life in Kansas City, Kansas.  She is an enrolled member of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe at the Leech Lake Indian reservation and is of the Pillager Band.She attended the University of Kansas where she received her B.F.A, M.A., and Ph.D. degrees.  She earned her Master of Library Science from Emporia State University.  Her career has focused on teaching and librarianship.  She has taught Art at the Johnson County Community College, Art and American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota Duluth, and Contemporary Native American Art at the Institute of American Indian Arts. 

Marilyn has been in librarianship for over twenty years.  Her library work has been in Art Librarianship and the past five years in Library Directorship.  She has been employed by the Kansas City, Kansas Public Library, the University of Minnesota Duluth, the Institute of American Indian Arts, and is currently at Haskell Indian Nations University where she is Library Director.  She is a member of ARLIS/NA, ALA, AILA, and TCLI.

Marilyn has presented numerous papers at regional, national, and international conferences.  She is also an artist who has exhibited in numerous juried art shows and faculty art shows over a period of thirty years.

 David Kukutai Jones is Māori from Aotearoa New Zealand and his tribal affiliations are Ngāti Mahanga and Ngāti Maniapoto iwi. He is the Māori specialist in the Alexander Turnbull Library, which is a research and archival library within Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa National Library of New Zealand.

David assists the library in the management of and access to, it’s Māori materials, both published and unpublished. He is the former Tumuaki (President) of Te Rōpū Whakahau, a professional association for all Māori working in libraries, archives and information management, former Māori Trustee on Te Pūranga Takatāpuhi o Aotearoa - The Lesbian and Gay Archives of New Zealand (LAGANZ) Trust and a former representative on Te Rau Herenga o Aotearoa – The Library and Information Association of New Zealand Aotearoa (LIANZA) Council. David is also a member of the American Library Association and a member of one of its strategic planning committees.

David lectures at Te Wānanga o Raukawa in Māori Information Management theory, has key noted and spoken at many conferences and universities in New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the United States. David is passionate about the unique contribution which Māori and Indigenous people worldwide, can make in the management of our countries’ treasures in libraries, archives and repositories of memory.

He Māori a David Kukutai Jones nō Aotearoa no ngā iwi o Ngāti Mahanga me Ngāti Maniapoto. Koia te Kaitiaki Kohikohinga Māori i te Whare Pukapuka o Alexander Turnbull i Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa. He whare pukapuka rangahau, he whare pukapuka pūranga hoki a Turnbull, ā, ko te mahi a David he āwhina atu ki te whare pukapuka ki te tiaki i ngā taonga Māori; taonga tā, taonga kaore anō kia tā, me te tiaki atu hoki ki ngā manuwhiri e toro mai nei.

He Tiamana ia o Te Rōpū Whakahau; he rōpū tautoko mō ngā kaimahi Māori i ngā whare pukapuka, ngā whare pūranga me rātou mā e tiaki ana i te mātauranga Māori. He rōpū whakahau kaupapa Māori i te ao whare pukapuka hoki. I runga ia i te poari whakahaere o Te Pūranga Takatāpui o Aotearoa me te Poari o Te Rau Herenga o Aotearoa hei kaunihera Māori, ā, kātahi anō ka whakatūngia ia i tētehi rōpū whakamahere kaupapa tangata whenua i tētehi rōpū kaitiaki pukapuka o Amerika. 

He kaikauwhau ia ki Te Wānanga o Raukawa mō te Tari Tiaki Mātauranga Māori, kua korero ia ki ētehi atu hui nui me ngā whare wananga i Aotearoa, Ahitareiria, Kanata me Amerika. Ki a ia, kaore he painga atu i ngā Māori me ngā tāngata whenua ki te tiaki i ō rātou taonga me ō rātou matauranga taketake e mau nei i ngā whare pukapuka me ngā whare pūranga i tēnei ao.

 Lisa was born and raised in Regina, Saskatchewan.  She recieved her teaching degree from the University of Regina and went on to teach around the province for a few years.  After settling back in Regina, she accepted her first community development position in the inner city.  This is where she got her real education!  Lisa went on to teach an Adult Education class.  She recieved her Life Skills Coach Certificate and worked with youth.  Lisa is currently the Aboriginal Community Development Coordinator for Four Directions Community Health Centre under the local health authority.  Lisa has been involved with the Albert Library Committee and the community that it serves since 1999. 

Lisa lives in the inner city to be close to the action.  Her household is made up of one dog and 3 cats!  Outside of work, she loves to volunteer, walk, read and spend time with family. 

Cate Richmond is Assistant Director, Libraries and Knowledge Centres, Northern Territory Library (NTL). Cate has held this position since March 2004 and has overseen the implementation of the Libraries and Knowledge Centres Program: a new model for library services to remote Indigenous communties in the Territory.

Prior to joining the NT Government, Cate worked for 16 years in the Library and Learning Services Division at Deakin University in Geelong. Cate has more than 26 years of library experience and has worked in the academic, government and public library sectors. Since joining NTL, Cate has published several papers on Indigenous library services and is the NT representative on the National and State Libraries of Australasia (NSLA) Indigenous Library Services and Collections Working Group.

 Dr. Patterson is professor in the School of Library and Information Studies at the University of Oklahoma. A member of the Comanche Nation Dr. Patterson serves as an officer on their Comanche Nation College Council. 

Dr. Patterson’s research interests focus on library and information services to indigenous populations. In this context she has been an invited presenter at symposia and conferences throughout the United States and in Sweden, New Zealand, Ukraine and Canada.  In Fall 2000 she was a Visiting Scholar at the University of British Columbia and a was Visiting Lecturer at the University of Maryland in 1997.  She has served as a consultant to the National Commission on Libraries and Information Studies, as well as  many universities, publishers and organizations. Most recently she was a Senior Advisor to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian.

Among her awards are the most prestigious ones given by the 70,000 member American Library Association, the Oklahoma Library Association, and the American Indian Library Association.  She was one of 25 people in the United States to be awarded the Silver Award for noteworthy and sustained contributions to libraries and information services by the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science on the occasion of their 25th Anniversary.

An author of numerous articles, books and reports appearing in professional literature Dr. Patterson is best known for her work in the area of developing libraries on American Indian reservations. She has testified before U.S. Congressional committees five times as an expert witness on the subject of library and information services for American Indians.
She continues to work with tribes throughout the United States and with indigenous librarians around the globe.

Olivia Robinson is a Senior Policy and Project Officer in Indigenous Library Services at the State Library of Queensland. She has extensive experience in service delivery to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities having worked for community organisations, government agencies, and cultural institutions in the areas of policy and project development, cultural heritage management, exhibition development, repatriation, and community engagement.

Olivia convenes the National and State Libraries’ Australasia’s (NSLA) Indigenous Library Services and Collections Working Group, and in this role assists to implement the National Policy Framework for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Library Services and Collections. Olivia is also developing and implementing key strategies at the State Library of Queensland promoting reconciliation, Indigenous training and employment, and protocols for managing Indigenous collections.

Olivia is a Bidjara woman from southwest Queensland, Australia.

Dr Alex Byrne is the President of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions.  He chaired IFLA’s Committee on Free Access to Information and Freedom of Expression 1997-2003, during its formative years. Alex previously chaired IFLA’s University Libraries Section and was President of the Council of Australian University Librarians.  He led IFLA’s interventions in the World Summit on the Information Society and the preparation of numerous statements and declarations including the Glasgow Declaration on libraries, information services and intellectual freedom and the Alexandria Manifesto on Libraries, the Information Society in Action.

Alex’s broad expertise in information policy has been demonstrated through many government and sectoral appointments to educational, library and information technology committees and boards as well as his authorship of submissions to inquiries and many publications.  His publications are primarily in information management, community empowerment and human rights, with particular regard to freedom of expression and access to information. 

Together with Alana Garwood, Heather Moorcroft and Alan Barnes, Alex Byrne undertook the groundbreaking development of the. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Protocols for Libraries, Archives and Information Services which was published in 1995.  More recently, Alex has collaborated with Professor Martin Nakata and others to review and reposition that initiative and to work on a range of specific issues relating to libraries, archives, knowledge management and Indigenous peoples and knowledge.

In his day job, Alex has been the University Librarian at the University of Technology, Sydney since 2000 following posts in other Australian universities. 

 In 2001 Jackie Huggins was awarded an Order of Australia for her services to the Indigenous community, particularly for her work with reconciliation, literacy, women’s issues and social justice. In 2000, she had been honoured with the Queensland Premier’s Millenium [sic] Award for Excellence in Indigenous Affairs.1

Born in Ayr in Central Queensland on 19 August 1956 she is of the Bidjara (central Queensland) and Birri-Gubba Juru (north Queensland) peoples. She attended Inala State High School before leaving at fifteen to work for the ABC and then spending two years with the Department of Aboriginal Affairs in Canberra. Enrolling at the University of Queensland (UQ), she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in History and Anthropology and an Honours degree in History and Women’s Studies. She also has a Diploma of Education from Flinders University in South Australia. She has several publications to her name, including Auntie Rita (with her mother Rita Huggins, 1994) and Sister Girl (1999).
 
Over the years, Jackie has been an influential and effective member of numerous organisations. Jackie is the Deputy Director of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit at the University of Queensland. Currently she is co-chair of Reconciliation Australia; a director of the Telstra Foundation; director of the Australian Centre for Indigenous History, Australian National University; council member of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies; member of the Indigenous Advisory Board of the Queensland Centre of Domestic and Family Violence Research, Central Queensland University; co-chair of the Independent Inquiry into Release Policy and Practice in the Queensland Prison System (2004); and member of the Indigenous Advisory Board for the State Library of Queensland.   She is also an AFL Foundation Board member (2006).

Prior to these appointments, she was an executive member of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation (1994-2000); chair of the Queensland Domestic Violence Council (2001); commissioner for Queensland for the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from their Families (1997); and a member of the ATSIC Review Panel (2003).

Jackie received a Doctor of the University honoris causa from the University of Queensland on 4 December 2006 and the position of Adjunct Professor in the School of Social Work and Applied Human Sciences on 8 December 2006.

Jackie is one of UQs leading academics and an Australian icon.  Her heritage, her intellect, her own experiences and her love of history, have all contributed to her deep understanding of life and people and have made her a force behind important Indigenous initiatives in Queensland and Australia.   Jackie’s vision as an Indigenous Australian “is for people to understand and know their history….then they can better understand issues about native title, Wik and the stolen generations, but they first have to know and understand the 60,000 years plus of Aboriginal history in this country before we can move on”.2  But, she adds:  “I’m still hopeful.  I remain forever optimistic.”