” Werte. That means “hello” in my first language, Arrernte.

My name is Dujuan, I am 12 years old. I am from Arrernte and Garrwa Country. I came here to speak with you because our government is not listening. Adults never listen to kids – especially kids like me. But we have important things to say.

I grew up at Sandy Bore outstation and at Hidden Valley Town Camp in Alice Springs. Now I live in Borroloola.

Something special about me is that I am an Angangkere, which means I am a traditional healer. It is my job to look after my family with my healing powers.

I am the star in a new documentary, In My Blood It Runs. “

Dujuan Hoosan : From speech given to the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva on 11 September : See Part 1 below : 

Meet ten-year-old Dujuan, a child-healer, a good hunter and speaks three languages, as he discovers the resilience and resistance of many generations of his people and faces the history that runs straight into him.

Check out the In My Blood It Runs Website 

How you can share promote In My Blood it Runs  : See Part 3 below

From director Maya Newell (Gayby Baby), in collaboration with Arrernte and Garrwa families onscreen, you won’t want to miss this essential story about the strength and resilience of First Nations communities.

Where can you see the film national from February 20

” We begin to realize that Dujuan’s world does not exist in a vacuum, but is a microcosm of a much larger political and historical battle being waged in Australia. This event offers a stark insight into a potential future for Dujuan. How will his family and community rise above?

In My Blood It Runs looks beyond the ‘problem’ to see the people. Instead of seeing this Aboriginal boy as a ‘criminal’, we see a child who has experienced systematic abuse; instead of ‘bad parents’, we see a family who has been systematically stripped of all agency yet undeniably love their kids; instead of a ‘failure’ at school, we see a child whose talents have been completely overlooked.

And crucially, this child observes the inequality of the world he is presented with.”

Read full synopsis Part 2 below

“Our children have to leave their identity at the school gate”

Felicity Hayes, Senior Traditional Owner of Mparntwe, Alice Springs and Executive Producer

Part 1 : Edited speech given to the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva on 11 September

It was filmed when I was 10 years old. It shows what it feels like to be an Aboriginal kid in Australia and how we are treated every day.

Many things happen to me in this film.

In school, they told me Captain Cook was a hero and discovered Australia. It made me confused. It’s not true because before cars, buildings and houses there were just Aboriginal people.

I want Australia to tell the truth that Aboriginal people were the first people who had the land.

My school report cards said that I was a failure.

Every mark was in the worst box.

I thought “is there something wrong with me?”.

I felt like a problem.

The film shows me working to learn Arrernte and about being an Angangkere.

I say, “If you go out bush each week you learn how to control your anger and control your life.”

I feel strong when I am learning my culture from my Elders and my land.

I think schools should be run by Aboriginal people.

Let our families choose what is best for us.

Let us speak our languages in school.

I think this would have helped me from getting in trouble.

The film shows Aboriginal kids tortured in juvenile detention. I know lots of kids that have been locked up. Police is cruel to kids like me. They treat us like they treat their enemies. I am cheeky, but no kid should be in jail.

I want adults to stop being cruel to 10-year-old kids in jail.

Welfare also needs to be changed. My great-grandmother was taken from her family in the stolen generation. My other great-grandmother was hidden away. That story runs through my blood pipes all the way up to my brain.

But I was lucky because of my family. They know I am smart. They love me.

They found a way to keep me safe. I am alright now, but lots of kids aren’t so lucky.

I think they should stop taking Aboriginal kids away from their parents – that’s wrong.

What I want is a normal life of just being me. I want to be allowed to be an Aboriginal person, living on my land with my family and having a good life.

My film is for all Aboriginal kids. It is about our dreams, our hopes and our rights.

I hope you think of me when you are telling the Australian government how to treat us better.

Thank you for listening to my story.

Baddiwa – that’s goodbye in my other language, Garrwa.

Dujuan Hoosan is 12 years old. This is an edited speech given to the Human Rights Council at the United Nationsin Geneva on 11 September

Part 2 Synopsis

Ten-year-old Dujuan is a child-healer, a good hunter and speaks three languages. As he shares his wisdom of history and the complex world around him we see his spark and intelligence. Yet Dujuan is ‘failing’ in school and facing increasing scrutiny from welfare and the police.

As he travels perilously close to incarceration, his family fight to give him a strong Arrernte education alongside his western education lest he becomes another statistic. We walk with him as he grapples with these pressures, shares his truths and somewhere in-between finds space to dream, imagine and hope for his future self.

Director Maya Newell’s first feature Gayby Baby (Hot Docs, Good Pitch Aus, London BFI), sparked a national debate in Australia when it was banned in schools. Told through the lens of four children in same-sex families during the fight for Marriage Equality, the film offered the voice of those being ignored. Made in collaboration with Dujuan and his family My Blood It Runs tackles another heated topic, First Nations education and juvenile justice and places the missing voice of children front and centre.

Filmed candidly and intimately, we experience this world on the fringes of Alice Springs through Dujuan’s eyes. Dujuan’s family light candles when the power card runs out, often rely on extended family to drop around food and live alongside the ingrained effects of colonization and dispossession.

Every day in the classroom, Dujuan’s strength as a child-healer and Arrernte language speaker goes unnoticed. While he likes school, his report card shows a stream of ‘E’s, which make him feel stupid. Education is universally understood as a ticket to success, but school becomes a site of displacement and Dujuan starts running away from the classroom.

In stark contrast to his school behaviour, on his ancestral homeland surrounded by is family, Dujuan is focused, engaged and learning.

We begin to see Country as a classroom and a place where the resilience can grow and revolution is alive.

But the pressures on Dujuan in Alice Springs are ever encroaching – educational failure, domestic violence, child removal and police. In May 2016, images of children being tortured at the Northern Territory’s Don Dale Youth Detention Centre are leaked and spike global uproar. In fact, 100% of children detained in the Northern Territory are Indigenous.

We begin to realize that Dujuan’s world does not exist in a vacuum, but is a microcosm of a much larger political and historical battle being waged in Australia. This event offers a stark insight into a potential future for Dujuan. How will his family and community rise above?

In My Blood It Runs looks beyond the ‘problem’ to see the people. Instead of seeing this Aboriginal boy as a ‘criminal’, we see a child who has experienced systematic abuse; instead of ‘bad parents’, we see a family who has been systematically stripped of all agency yet undeniably love their kids; instead of a ‘failure’ at school, we see a child whose talents have been completely overlooked. And crucially, this child observes the inequality of the world he is presented with.

In the end, when Dujuan cannot run nor fight alone, he faces the history that runs straight into him and realises that not only has he inherited the trauma and dispossession of his land, but also the strength, resilience and resistance of many generations of his people which holds the key to his future.

Part 3 How you can share promote In My Blood it Runs

• Social Media Marketing Kit with sample copy for FB/Twitter/Insta/EDMs that you can use
• Trailer – downloadable for Instagram (60 secs, 1×1), or shareable on Facebook
• Instagram Images – 1×1 for feed: plain images; images with quotes; quotes from film
• Instagram Stories – 9×16 for stories: plain images images with quotes; quotes from film
• Approved stills – no text/not edited
• Poster
• Banners for e-newsletters