United Indigenous Round - How learning leads to healing

Each year, the NBL’s Indigenous Round acts as a celebration of the First Nations people of Australia.

From the amazing jerseys to spectacular gameday displays, every game across the league is a showcase of Indigenous culture.

The round provides an opportunity for the Australian basketball community to take in this culture and learn from the stories of our First Nations people.

Alex Kerr, a proud Wurundjeri man who has worked closely with Melbourne United for a number of years, including as part of our brand refresh and in designing our NBL25 Indigenous Round uniform, believes the opportunity for education is the most important part of Indigenous Round.

“Education is key to really understanding our culture,” he said.

“We have a responsibility as Indigenous people to widen that knowledge and get the word out there. I go out every day to help people understand our culture, to make our culture more accessible to the wider community.

“I think there’s a lot of good things about our culture that get missed, and I’m out there every day trying to close that gap and widen people’s knowledge. 

“Education should come before anything, it’s more important than jersey to be honest. The artwork is cool, but what’s more important is me being able to work with Melbourne United and share my culture with them, and have the club share its culture with me.”

As part of this year’s uniform design, Alex has incorporated aspects of Bunjil and Waa, spirits who act as the creator and protector of country respectively.

He has also included a portrait of William Barak, a seminal figure in Victorian Indigenous history for his work surrounding the Coranderrk Mission.

“That’s my direct bloodline,” Alex explained. 

“William Barak and especially his sister, Annie Barak. Wurundjeri people are direct descendants from Annie Barak, so that connection there is a family one.

“He was able to break barriers and fight for basic things that we today take for granted. This is about respect, it’s about respecting the elders and my ancestors that paved the way for me to be able to do what I’m doing now, but it also sheds light on the difficult times that we’ve had to go through.”

Showing this respect and telling these stories is a crucial part of helping to break down barriers and promote inclusion and empathy for Indigenous members of the community.

Ricky Baldwin, a proud Gunai Kunai man from Lake Tyers Mission and the founder of the Koorie Academy, is confident that using the power of sport to educate people about culture will bring people together.

“The uniforms that we wear during this round help celebrate culture and share culture, that’s why they’re important,” Baldwin elaborated.

“That aspect of sharing culture extends to education. Teaching people about our history and what Indigenous people have experienced across generations in this country. I hear it far too often, people saying ‘get over it, it was a long time ago’ but those people may not know the history of this country.

“Sport is a great way to educate people about our history. Something like the history of Coranderrk and William Barak is so important but it’s something that a lot of people don’t know about.

“Once people understand that our history is, for a lot of us, filled with trauma, then we can empathise and work together in a more inclusive way.”

Ultimately, our Indigenous uniform, and the entirety of the NBL’s Indigenous Round isn’t about forcing people to face and embrace every part of the history of First Nations people.

It is about providing fans of the sport we all love with the tools to learn more about Indigenous culture, and learn why these games, this round and this uniform exist.

“I want people to be able to understand these stories,” Alex concluded.

“To understand the heartache that we went through because the more people that listen and learn, the easier it is to create a future where everyone is so much more inclusive and accepting of one another.”

Help us celebrate Indigenous Round when we take on the Perth Wildcats inside John Cain Arena on 9 November from 8pm. Tickets are available here.

To learn more about our Indigenous culture, follow the links in the article, or read more through the links at the bottom of the page.

• https://www.firstpeoplesvic.org/
• www.deadlyquestions.vic.gov. au
• Koorie Heritage Trust
• Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation
• Treaty for Victoria