Yarning: A Vietnamese/Australian/Indigenous way to speak/share/belong

This is a reflection on how a migrant organisation that I belong to has adopted Indigenous yarning to tell truths, share experiences and heal wounds.The Vietnamese Australian Forum (VAF) was established in 2021 by two south-western Sydney-based lawyers Tu Le and Than Nguyen. 1 They sought to form a national body to advance community leadership and identity made up of mostly 1.5-and second-generation Vietnamese migrants-that is, the children of the first-generation refugees.VAF holds informal monthly meetings to organise online and in-person events about culture, politics and other issues of interest to its members who include artists, councillors, community organisers and lawyers.I joined VAF in late 2021, seeking to make a greater contribution to public life and to connect with other Vietnamese Australians.Given my experience as a lecturer and radio presenter, I became the primary forum facilitator.Since its inception, VAF has endeavoured to respectfully engage with Indigenous people and culture.This engagement has been led by several members who work with Indigenous colleagues promoting diversity and inclusion.In 2023, VAF began developing a bilingual Acknowledgement of Country toolkit that could be used at community events and discussed a program to combat racism against Indigenous people among Vietnamese Australians.By that time, I had begun incorporating elements of Indigenous knowledge and issues into my teaching, research and broadcasting.In March 2023, VAF became one of the first of over 120 multicultural organisations to sign the joint resolution in support of an Indigenous Voice to Parliament.It was in this context that we turned to yarning as a way to promote understanding and healing among Vietnamese Australians.Yarning means different things to different people.While British yarning is associated with spinning improbable tales, Australian yarning has evolved into casual chitchat, often accompanied by a cuppa or a brew.For many Indigenous people in Australia, yarning is a way to transfer culture and develop knowledge.It fosters respectful relationships among yarners and with country, which can be understood as a place that is woven together with its living creatures and belief systems. 2 For Lynore Geia, Barbara Hayes and Kim Usher, yarning is collective and dynamic: 'The stories remain in our conscious state like a thread 1