School of the desert
Felicity Hayes walks through the dry bed of the Todd River leaving soft footprints in the red sand. There’s a trail of children following her, the toddlers sitting happily on the hips of the older kids. Felicity, 61, points to the ground at a witchety grub hole, to the hill at a native fig bush, and a fluorescent green budgie nestled amongst the leaves of a gum tree. This is her Country: Tyewerretye (Alice Springs).
It’s a Tuesday morning at the Telegraph Station and Felicity, an Arrernte elder and senior traditional owner from the Irrkerlantye (Whitegate) community on the outskirts of town, is leading a Children’s Ground learning session with her “grannies” – the youngest branches in her family tree.
“It’s really hard for our kids,” says Felicity, who has worked as an educator all her life. “I was teaching Arrernte at a local primary school [six years ago], but the kids never turned up. Being in a mainstream classroom with English-speaking teachers was a struggle for them. So, in 2016, I started working at Children’s Ground, where we speak in language and teach on Country.”
According to the Closing the Gap
