Cross-Cultural Learning
Dynamic insights and skills for working with First Nations Peoples and other Indigenous Minorities
Why Warriors’ Cross-Cultural Learning Platform offers a fresh, comprehensive look at cross-cultural learning for individuals and organisations. Our aim is to help students develop dharaŋanawuy — a deep mutual respect and understanding — with First Nations Peoples, other ethnic minorities and cultural groups.
This Platform offers online learning resources developed by Richard and Timothy Trudgen, in partnership with Yolngu colleagues, across 40 years’ experience living and working in north-east Arnhem Land.
Our Featured courses
Click through to explore our first courses, developed over the last few years, with many more to come!
We are so proud to be able to offer you these deep insights into Yolngu culture, and maybe even yourself.
Worldview Course
Understanding worldview is like learning a new language, and it is essential for effective and productive cross-cultural communication.
The full Worldview Course includes:
Chapter 1 introduces the new language of understanding ‘worldview’, essential for effective and productive cross-cultural communication.
Chapter 2 explores the strange and unexpected differences in people’s worldviews. We learn historical examples and develop techniques to recognise and understand them.
When you are competent in the language of worldview, you will have a deeper and broader understanding of the nuances inherent in communicating with persons from a different cultural group to your own.
Richard Trudgen shares his 40 years of cross-cultural experience to guide us through Introduction to Worldview.
$ 37
Kinship Course
The Kinship chapters explore the complex and unusual kinship structure of the Yolngu people of north-east Arnhem Land.
The full Kinship Course includes:
Chapter 1 introduces the Yolngu kinship system and its terms, rules and naming protocols.
Chapter 2 details Kinship Connection relationships.
Chapter 3 explores the reasons behind Kinship Avoidances.
You will also be given downloadable Kinship charts from both a male and female perspective, in A3 and A4 formats.
Understanding the Yolngu kinship structure is integral to comprehending the basis of the Yolngu economic, legal and social systems, as well as engaging in successful cross-cultural communications.
The importance of learning kinship structures when working with other indigenous groups is highlighted in the content of these courses.
$47
Why Learn about Yolngu Culture?
Australia’s First Nations peoples are one of the oldest continuous surviving groups in the world, known to have existed for at least 60,000 years — before the end of the last ice age. Yolngu people are one of the most traditional of these groups, who still live by their original law and language.
By learning about Yolngu culture, you can learn about, and in effect protect, the original Australian culture in its true form.
Learning about cross-cultural and cross-language differences between Yolngu and non-Yolngu people will also empower you with information and skills to help you understand human dynamics in other cross-cultural settings.
In developing these courses, Richard Trudgen builds on his wealth of experience teaching Yolngu culture in seminars across every major city in Australia, as well as in small communities — from Weipa, in northern Qld, to Broome in WA.
Thanks to Richard’s hard-earned insights, Why Warriors’ Cross-Cultural Learning courses can equip you to be more culturally competent and be able to work in a more culturally safe way, with a wide range of cultural groups.
Learning outcomes include:
- an understanding of the original Australian (Aboriginal) culture from a Yolngu perspective
- cross-cultural skills and knowledge
- a deeper understanding of the different cultural protocols that can exist within any particular group
- increased self-awareness of unconscious bias
- greater self-confidence when engaging with different cross-cultural, cross-language groups
- deeper cultural knowledge that usually takes many years of living in an Aboriginal community to acquire
- the human development and human dynamic skills necessary to build productive teams.
Hi, I'm Richard Trudgen, your Cross-Cultural Learning Mentor
I have lived and worked with the Yolngu people of Arnhem Land for over 40 years.
Learning their language and way of life has provided me with a unique hands-on, cross-cultural learning experience. Much of this has come from the elders and their ancient wisdom, which they have requested I share with you.
I helped them; build their own small town, develop their homeland villages, build media services, and provide cross-cultural training for English first language people.
We can all be future changers just by helping someone. At times that means learning new things about ourselves. Walking in the footprints of another group of people can do that. So please join me in a life-changing experience as we share much with you.
Hi, I'm Richard Trudgen, your Cross-Cultural Learning Mentor
I have lived and worked with the Yolngu people of Arnhem Land for over 40 years.
Learning their language and way of life has provided me with a unique hands-on, cross-cultural learning experience. Much of this experience has come from the elders and their ancient wisdom, which they have requested I share with you.
I helped them build their own small town, develop their homeland villages, build media services, and provide cross-cultural training for English first language people.
We can all be future-changers just by helping someone. At times that means learning new things about ourselves, and walking in the footprints of another group of people can do that.
So please, join me in a life-changing experience as we share with you.
What my students say
