I am Tanggan Allira Bostock from Mununjali & Bundjalung people and I have a simple dream.
Provide equitable access to Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander historical records held in Information institutions focusing on Queensland and decolonises a library environment by providing solutions and feedback on contemporary library issues .
My aim is to open this knowledge digitally to remote Queenslander’s, to remove the economic and geographical barriers, in order to empower and educate.
Providing information from a non Eurocentric point of view, is complicated by a national indoctrination on Indigeneity.
I classify Indigenous people as an individual that identifies as Indigenous, and has family ties to a First Nations traditional group or groups.
As Indigenous identity is not a colour of the skin race issue, it is a cultural Utopia issue that works for the good of all, through nurturing the environment and each other. Which differ from Migloo [Invading immigrational culture] usually with terraformous capitalistic ideology of empowering the few with wealth through stealing and destroying the natural resources of the land.
Until we educate ourselves an others on the past history of First Nations peoples, we cannot bridge the gaps of disadvantages for some of the oldest cultures in the world..
The name “Wantima” means “Rising Up”. The name came from Vocabularies of Four Representative Tribes of South Eastern Queensland, page 69 from the English to Yugarabul translation.
Wantima is about “Standing up” after been pushed around and hit down and getting back-up after each hit, to take another hit and to keep taking hits even in a losing battle for what you know is right.
I chose this name because there are so many barriers in place that needs to be removed, especially with regard to the systemic library system, such as adding Indigenous Immigration to the Dewey Decimal classification or creating a whole-of-library approach to solving remote access through Public Libraries and Indigenous Knowledge Centres, such as my Field of Dreaming ideology of “if you build it, they will come”.
My alias is Taggan Allira Bostock. Taggan [spirit that puts crystals into streams] Allira [daughter child – female] and Bostock to honour my family [Yukes, Anderson, Griffiths, Cowan, Sandy etc.].
Wantima is my building blocks for an online presence for information institutions to begin discussions and it is based on working in a State government library for several decades.
Wantima will try to abide to copyright and other enforced Migloo laws. If you have any complaint, get over it, for this site is crated by ‘one woman’ and I am doing the best I can.
As an Indigenous person I will not be placing material that I believe is ‘secret sacred’. However, Wantima will not seek cultural clearance for material that is readily available on open access in information institutions and which is view-able in the public domain and freely available digital via online platforms.
I hope that Wantima will become obsolete once GLAM [Galleries; Libraries; Archives & Museum] information institutions go beyond their custodian role, to sufficiently take on the role of servicing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients’ needs in digitally accessing Indigenous collections and information.
GLAM organisations need to go beyond progress exhibitions and public programming projects into networking with each other to share resources to services via the library catalogue and online platforms. Until this occurs Wantima shall become a transitional bridge to demonstrate what can be accomplished.
Wantima mission statement is :-
- bend the rules and think outside the box to assist clients and information institutions staff.
- create policies and procedures as examples to open discussion.
- attempt to make information user-friendly and community base relevant for clients.
- review Gallery/ Genealogical Society, Library, Archives /Associations, Museum and Indigenous Institutions to link and share material online.
- connect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to collections.
- to voice diverse ideas in the mainstream.
Wantima (Feb 2019) my journey has only just started and I will add to this site slowing as I am only one individual and I will giving up in 2030.
It is now 2024 and I have not touched this site, so I have better get a move on! Six years may not be enough time, so maybe 2035.
.. Until then lets see what the power of “one” can achieve …