_______________

The men of Kiwirrkurra 

Hello All

A senior Aboriginal leader said to me recently, “let us hope the voices of the Aboriginal men are heard on the ground about what they think is important to address in the fight against domestic violence”. November 19 is International Men’s Day – a day to come together to celebrate what it means to be a man and also to build support for some of the problems men face. Over this week, a number of events are planned in Central Australia and Alice Springs by Aboriginal men. CASSE will share reports of these events thereby amplifying the voices to be heard. We are privileged to be sharing the voices of the men of Australia’s central and western desert region who are involved with the Men’s Tjilirra Movement (MTM) via a new video...

Pamela Nathan

Read full report from Pamela Nathan, Director, CASSE Aboriginal Australian Relations Program...

_______________

Word of the Men’s Tjilirra Movement (MTM) is spreading like wildfire! The MTM is expanding and engaging youth in other communities in Central Australia. It is exciting to take up and create new opportunities for the youth! Santa Teresa is one community that has enthusiastically grasped the opportunity to host a two day Tjilirra Workshop which was run by the MTM's Jamie Millier Tjupurrula and Nathan Brown. If the boys were not engaged with making Tjilirra, they were busy helping to film the action…

Read more

_______________

Ken Lechleitner holds strong beliefs about a few things. One is that to fix the problems in Alice Springs we need to fix the men. Another is that there are a lot of critics out there. He is also adamant that unless they are willing to stand up and do something, nothing will change. As a facilitator of the ‘Breakthrough Violence’ program being run through Ingkintja by the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress in partnership with CASSE, Ken is making real progress working with men to help them understand why they become violent, the impact their violence has on others and developing strategies to prevent their violence.

Read more...

_______________

“Leicester was making a kuturu but he kept working it in a style that we had not seen before. We let him work without saying much but as it become more obvious that this was a relatively unique object we asked him more about it. He told us that he’d seen something similar in his Grandfather’s house a long time ago…”

The Men’s Tjilira Movement is rekindling skills that were almost lost. It is bridging generational gaps, affirming and empowering. But what happens on a day of Tjilirra making? This vignette from Jamie Millier Tjupurrula, CASSE’s Program Manager for the Men;'s Tjilirra Movememnt, shares some of the work done by the MTM ‘one day in September’…

Read more…

______________

In March 2016, CASSE sat down with Aboriginal men and youngfellas from Mt Liebig (Amundurrngu) to speak with them about their lives, culture and community. 'Wake Up Strong' is the latest video created by CASSE with the Aboriginal men who are involved with the Men’s Tjilirra Movement (MTM).

‘Wake Up Strong' will also go to air on ICTV from the week commencing November 22nd and can be viewed on the ICTV website: https://ictv.com.au/video/item/3892

Watch video

_______________

Momentum around the Men's Tjilirra Movement is growing! Following is the attendance record for the 12 month period from November 2015 - November 2016 (number of attendees listed by age group):

• up to10 yrs: 30
• 10 - 20 yrs: 219
• 20 - 30 yrs: 224
• 30 - 40 yrs: 128
• 40 - 50 yrs: 84
• 50+ yrs: 68

Of the total of 753 male attendees, 354 were repeat attendees. These numbers only include men who have taken part in MTM trips or engaged directly in some sort of cultural activity. They also don't include the significant number of women who have participated. The men are looking forward to an even bigger year in 2017!

______________

How you can help to make a positive difference to the psychological health and wellbeing of yourself and those around you? As jilpie Lear states, ‘Wisdom can be won from illness and this wisdom can be practical’. Analytic psychotherapy seeks to understand the meaning/s of things, feelings and actions and in this practice restore the humanity in a person. One of the most difficult things a person has to overcome is the sense of incapacity. One of the most difficult things a person has to achieve is to accept responsibility for their life and to lead it. ‘The Psychoanalytic Tool Box’ provides some living tools for achieving psychological wellbeing for yourself and others and for dreaming and living…

Read ‘The Tool Box’...

_______________

In August 2016, Pamela Nathan, Director of CASSE’s Aboriginal Australian Relations Program, and Anne Kantor, CASSE’s Deputy Chairperson, were invited to present CASSE’S work at the Victorian Association of Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist’s (VAPP) professional development evening. The presentation centred on Pamela’s writing and work on recognition in the context of CASSE’s Aboriginal Australian Relations Program. Anne Jeffs, a member of the VAPP Professional Development Working Party, provided the following feedback about the presentation:

"One member responded by stating that they felt the work was ‘the most important work in the world’. Out of context, this may sound hyperbolic. Within the context of the essay, the film and the CASSE work, it felt like recognition.”

Read full review...

_______________

Just in time for Christmas, CASSE's online shop is open for business! Help the men to 'hold on to culture' with a Men's Tjilirra Movement t-shirt, or develop new understandings with one of CASSE's psychoanalytic booklets. And look out for teh MTM posters and packs of MTM Postcards - soon to be released! All proceeds contribute to CASSE's work.

Image from CAAMA website

International Men’s Day encrouages men of all ages to come together to discuss their health and wellbeing. This year the focus of the day is preventing male suicide. On the 17th of November - two days ahead of the official day - Ingkintja, the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress' Male Health Service, brought together a large group of men to celebrate. At a presentation shared via CAAMA Radio, Ken Lechleitner shared a powerful message, encouraging males to speak up:

"A lot of our men are suffering in silence and deciding to carry that worry themselves, but then deciding to end that worry by ending themselves. When we do that, we leave our kids and we leave our families without a father, without an uncle, without a brother, where we can solve that problem just by talking. Places like this are set up to have that conversation..."

Full story...

_______________

Donations make possible:

• A vehicle, and its running costs, for the Men's Tjilirra Movement.
• Employment of Elders to work as cultural and tjilirra supervisors.
• Purchasing tools for the project.

To make a donation, please contact us: phone 0450 540 366 or email enquiries@cassse.org.au.

CASSE Australia Inc (ABN: 17811 536 315) is registered in Australia as a Deductible Gift Recipient. All donations over $2 made to CASSE Australia are tax deductible and go directly towards supporting our programs.

How else can you support our work?

• Subscribe to receive our regular newsletters and updates
• Follow @CASSEaustralia on Twitter
• Like CASSE Australia on Facebook
• Visit CASSE Australia on LinkedIn
• Watch CASSEvideos on Youtube