To  “have a yarn” meaning to “have a chat” has been a part of Australian slang for a long time. Put very simply, Yarning is about building respectful relationships.

~ Greg Dodge

What is a Yarn Up, you ask?


“Let’s get in and have a good Yarn Up“, says Uncle Alan C. Parsons to us regularly.

We are looking for writers and creative people who can share a good yarn with each other. To “Yarn Up” is also a slang word used by our Australian First Nations people.

The use of a yarning circle (or dialogue circle) is an important process within Aboriginal culture and Torres Strait Islander culture. A yarning circle is somewhere stories and knowledge can be shared in a relaxed and comfortable place. The yarning circle has been used by Indigenous peoples from around the world for centuries to learn from a collective group, build respectful relationships, and to preserve and pass on cultural knowledge. The articles below are all focussed on stories, poems and a range of medium (film, stories etc) to help us build up our respect by having a Yarn Up with one another in a respectful Australian and Homo Sapien way. We would love your contribution in writing or poems that are about your experiences, thoughts and ideas to a Healing and Unification for all Australians. Use this as a free educational resource, or engage with us by yarning with your comments at the bottom of each article. If you would like to creative collaborate or contribute with a Yarn Up, please contact us here.

Aboriginal Trading Routes

By Greg Dodge
Since the early 20th century archaeologists could show that Australia was criss-crossed by Aboriginal trade routes. For Isabel McBryde – ‘the mother of Australian archaeology’ – these Aboriginal trade networks were ‘among the world’s most extensive systems of human communication recorded in ‘hunter-gatherer’* societies’. Goods and people travelled vast distances: the Dieri people, east of…
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Songify your day- Community Intercultural songwriting week @ Caboolture

By Greg Dodge
Songify Your Day This singing and song-writing pilot project provided an exciting opportunity for 2 local musicians,Greg Dodge and Mira Chorik, to support and collaborate with Council’s Community Developmentteam, The University of Queensland School of Music, and the Community Action for a MulticulturalSociety (CAMS) program. Delivered in April, the project aims to better understand the…
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Blak, Black, Blackfulla: Language is important, but it can be tricky – great useful article

By Greg Dodge
By Jack Latimore – In this SMH article If you followed the last year’s Black Lives Matter uprisings, you will have noticed the word Blak being used by writers and commentators in Australia. Perhaps you dismissed it as a spelling error, or just considered it a bit of a head-scratcher until the next curio snagged…
Read More Blak, Black, Blackfulla: Language is important, but it can be tricky – great useful article

Creation, Colonisation & Healing – Why Wunyungar’s Message Sticks are important | Documentary Extract

By Greg Dodge
Wunyungar – Alwyn Doolan’s, Gooreng Gooreng and Wakka Wakka man, three Message Sticks represent Creation, Colonisation and Healing. He has walked through 50 First Nations across the land, so called Australia, to create these three Message Sticks. This video is a statement and story for all those who wish to know more. He set off…
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How to be a good Indigenous ally

By Greg Dodge
Pic: Ed Sheeran performs at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, wearing an Aboriginal flag t-shirt. Source: WireImage OPINION: How do you cross that invisible line that takes you from being in the Aboriginal ‘good books’ to being on the s**t list?, writes Summer May Finlay – article from NITV How can non-Indigenous people be a useful ally to…
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