#OHAus24

Mike explaining that the main thing they learned is that the history they were leaned wasn't lost, wasn't past or deep, but was lived every day by the people they spoke to on Country #OHAus24

John is sharing the story of how a drain was cut through to link Burrawan with the sea, in the process poisoning it as a freshwater lake #OHAus24 #storiesofplace

Burrawan is the name of the lake, renamed as Lake Innes by colonisers (dunno why my photos are so bad, sorry! #OHAus24

#OHAus24 second panel session for the day, exploring place and Country - first up John Heath and Ashley Barnwell (John speaking) 'Burtawan: a history for the present'

Another gem, on insider/outsider interviewing: what makes the interview possible is what you have in common, what makes it interesting is the differences between your experience and theirs (badly paraphrased) #OHAus24

Portelli: as oral hstorians, our job is not to give 'a voice to the voiceless' - if they didn't have a voice we couldn't do our job! Our job is to give a listen to those who have been unheard #OHAus24

Portelli: the basic technique of #OralHistory is respect #OHAus24

Portelli also has some important insights into the ways we sit while interviewing - stuff we probably do without thinking, like sitting at an angle rather then front on - it's not an interrogation #OHAus24

#OHAus24 opening keynote is Portelli - coming to us with a methodological insight into the difference between testimony and story. Testimony is about being a witness to history, story is about yourself.