First Nations Sovereignty and Diplomacy Team (FNSDT)

Indigenous Diplomacy Courses

The FNSDC team coordinate and develops short courses, modules and immersive workshops aiming to introduce the cultures of Indigenous sovereignties in Australia and their distinct ways of making diplomacy in both traditional and contemporary platforms. These courses are great for people working in community development, policy making, organisational management, education and research.

Indigenous Diplomacy Courses

First Nations Sovereignty and Diplomacy Team (FNSDT)

FNSDT is a unique ‘dual academy’ led, operated and guided by Indigenous elders in collaboration with non-Indigenous academics within the Faculty of Arts and Society. FNDT's primary focus is to extend and nurture the network of First Nations sovereign groups in Australian First Nations education and research.

FNSDC operates with the following three Yolŋu concepts in practice:

Wata - seasonal winds that explain how each group of Yolŋu recognises its place in the world through understanding the winds and breezes that come to them from other places. It talks about being in place and meeting others through connections among places.

Warraw’ – temporary ceremonial shelters where the owners of a particular landscape enact ancestral knowledges under the guidance and supervision of their guardians and custodians.

Mulka' – a space where Yolŋu elders and emerging generations comfortably sit, support each other, and work respectfully with mindfulness of reciprocal care.

Researchers/ Lectures L-R Brenda, Joy and Gawura

A long history of connection and partnership between Yolŋu scholars and elders in communities with CDU academics and researchers is the foundation of the Centre. Recognised by Indigenous communities across NT and beyond, FNSDT provides a culturally comfortable space for First Nation Authorities and teachers to come together to share knowledge and contribute to research projects, teaching-learning programs and language-related research work. These authorities provide cultural expertise and value to courses like the Indigenous Cultural Diplomacy program (Kaurareg, Mawng, Ngambri Nations) and First Nations language programs.

This work is vital in changing non-Indigenous ways of knowing the world and promoting consultative and collaborative research and teaching practices so that First Nations Rom (Culture, Law, System, Values) can be understood properly and taken seriously.

Research strengths

First Nations Knowledge Traditions and Philosophies
First Nations Sovereignty and Diplomacy
First Nations Languages

Find out more about Yolŋu Diplomacy through the Indigenous Diplomacy Research and Sharing Program, which elders from East Arnhem Land, Kaurareg, Wagadagam, Ngambri and South Goulburn Island nations deliver in collaboration with Charles Darwin University – Faculty of Arts and Society, and The Australian National University – Coral Bell School of Asia-Pacific Affairs.

Indigenous Diplomacy Teaching and Learning