The ‘Dreamy’ Podcast Sends You Off To Sleep With First Nations Storytellers
“I wanted to give people the sense of peacefulness that you can get from being on Country."
This story was originally published on May 26, 2022.
We’re lucky enough in Australia to have access to Dreamy, a podcast that helps connect you to the land you’re on and drifts you off to sleep.
Launched in September 2021, Dreamy includes five sleep stories that are told by First Nations storytellers. “The stars you sleep under tonight are the same stars that First Nations people have told stories beneath for millennia,” reads the podcast’s official website. “These contemporary stories bring an 80,000-year-old oral tradition into the digital space, helping people of all walks of life to quiet their minds, drift into dream, and disconnect from their devices by connecting to Country.”
The podcast series includes five podcast episodes: ‘Bilabang’, ‘Moon Holds Water’, ‘Stardust And Tagai’, ‘Living Echoes’, and ‘Journey To The Centre’. The five First Nations storytellers involved include Arrernte and Jamaican woman Aurora Liddle-Christie, Wiradjuri woman Jazz Money, Bundjalung man Dakota Feirer, Torres Strait Island woman Ghenoa Gela, and Goenpul Yagerabul Minjungbul Bundjalung woman Dr. Romaine Moreton.
Each story also includes its own illustration by Carmen Glynn-Braun.
“I wanted to give people the sense of peacefulness that you can get from being on Country,” storyteller Jazz Money, currently based on Gadigal Land, told triple j. “It was so cool collaborating with different people from all across the continent; salt water, freshwater, desert mob, everyone represented. But for me, I really wanted to reflect who I am and my river homelands.”
The idea for the podcast reportedly came about from research suggesting that while most Australians say it’s important to know Indigenous history, less than 42 percent actually have that knowledge.
It is an initiative of Common Ground, a digital space devoted to sharing the histories and cultures of First Nations people in Australia. Common Ground was founded by Kaytetye woman Rona Glynn-McDonald. Her grandmother, Freda Glynn, was the founder of the first Aboriginal Media Association owned by First Nations people.
Find dreamy at www.dreamysleep.com.au, or podcast places like Spotify and Apple.
Photo credit: Carmen Glynn-Braun, Common Ground