‘Positive’ or problematic?: Northern Beaches school praises God with Acknowledgment of Country

A school principal on Sydney’s northern beaches has stood by his Christian take on an Indigenous acknowledgment of country after it was criticised by some students.

Northern Beaches Christian School principal Tim Watson’s acknowledgement of country has been critiqued. Picture: Supplied

An independent school principal on Sydney’s northern beaches has stood by his Christian take on an Indigenous acknowledgement of country after it was criticised as problematic by some students.

Northern Beaches Christian School principal Tim Watson has been delivering an acknowledgment before the school’s weekly assemblies for five years.

However his speech has recently received blowback from a minority of secondary school students who take issue with its phrasing.

“As we gather on these ancestral lands, we acknowledge God, our Heavenly Father who made the heavens and the earth,” the acknowledgment reads.

“He entrusted this land to the Traditional Owners, and it is to Him that we are all responsible for its current stewardship.”

In response to the criticism, Mr Watson held a Q&A with students to address their concerns, pledging to develop new and “genuine” versions of the acknowledgment in consultation with pupils.

When asked why the school delivered an acknowledgment of country, why it referred to “custodians” and “stewardship”, and why it included an acknowledgment of God, Mr Watson told students “we are openly and non-defensively a Christian School”.

Northern Beaches Christian School principal Tim Watson. Picture: Supplied

“Interestingly enough, our Christian faith is one we share with a majority of Aboriginal people,” he said.

“The Dreaming includes creation stories that help us make sense of a Creator God, to whom we are all responsible to be wise stewards of this land.”

Independent schools are allowed to conduct Indigenous recognition ceremonies as they see fit, with a NSW Education Standards Authority spokesperson confirming “NESA does not prescribe policies relating to schools delivering a Welcome to Country or Acknowledgment”.

Aboriginal Christian leader Brooke Prentis, who consults with schools on Indigenous issues including reconciliation, told The Daily Telegraph it was unusual for a non-denominational Christian school like Northern Beaches Christian School to deliver an Acknowledgment.

Brisbane-based Aboriginal Christian leader and consultant Brooke Prentis. Picture: Stephen Laffer

“The fact they do it is a positive,” she said.

“It is a first step in building relationship with Aboriginal peoples.

“It comes from our cultural practices … as the basis of respect, and is a form of truth-telling today.”

In the 2016 Census, 54 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders identified as Christian.

The students who are opposing the school’s current Acknowledgment are right in one way, Ms Prentis said, but without first consulting Indigenous leaders may be doing more harm than good.

“When it comes to a Christian context, and I often have students in Christian schools come to me with this dilemma … they actually often don’t come from a place of relationship with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples,” she said.

“From learning about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives in the curriculum, they can sometimes assume that we would be anti-Christian, and that is not the full picture.

“Christianity has been used as a tool of abuse and created trauma, yes, but faith in Jesus has also been a source of hope and healing for Aboriginal peoples. and we have to hold those two things together.”

Aboriginal Australian theologian Aunty Anne Pattel-Gray said, like Christianity, Indigenous spirituality also recognised a supreme being which entrusted the land to First Nations peoples.

“It reflects a truth that we hold; while we might not refer to God, we would refer to a creator spirit,” she said.

“We wouldn’t have a problem with how (the principal) has articulated that.

“It sounds like students were more offended that he said we are the custodians ... that, to me, is more racist, because what’s your problem with that?”