Malechallengemedia's Blog

In my last post I mentioned my involvement with the Lakota traditions and the Sweat Lodge path in the USA but sad to say, I’ve no experience with Australian Aboriginal traditions and wisdom. So this is a small beginning for me.

Archie Roach (born 1956, Mooroopna, Victoria) is an Australian musician. A singer, songwriter and guitarist, he survived a turbulent upbringing to become a powerful voice for indigenous Australians, a storyteller in the tradition of his ancestors, and a nationally popular and respected artist.

Amazingly, when he was being born, I lived in nearby in Shepparton, just across the Goulburn River. I was ten at the time. We had one Aboriginal boy in my class but I never got to know him. I knew he lived in a ‘shanty town’ across the river. They had encampments by the local rubbish tip and I remember feeling ‘bad’ for them.

I’d like more males to benefit from Aboriginal traditions and wisdom. I’ll be featuring ‘manhood teaching stores from a variety of cultures in coming posts.

Archie was one of the ‘stolen generation’ and his  amazing life story can be found at – http://home.vicnet.net.au/~aar/stolen.htm

The video clip features Archie’s song, ‘All Men Chose the Path they Walk‘ and is from the excellent movie ‘Tracker’.

The theme is consistent of my work of helping boys become good men and helping males to become more conscious. The story of two wolves, featured a few posts ago, tells of the battle inside each of us – the battle between good and evil. The one that wins is the one we feed the most.  We get to choose . The song -‘All Men Choose the Path they Walk’ is therefore very appropriate.

It’s quite simple on one level – be kind to each other – look after the planet. But that said – it’s not easy to achieve – mastering manhood is not for the faint hearted -takes lots of work and lots of courage.

Enjoy!