Dennis Foley – Festival Ambassador, Elder and Knowledge Holder
His matrilineal connection is Gai-mariagal of Northern Sydney, and his patrilineal connection is to the Wiradjuri people of the Turon River region. He is active within the Indigenous community and Indigenous business associations. He has also received several ministerial appointments to state and federal Advisory Committees and currently researches in Canada, Ireland and across Aboriginal Australia.
Dennis teaches the stories of his Grandmother country, Gai-mariagal Country: Matriarchal country which today is known as the Northern Sydney region of Sydney, Australia.
As men and women, we share this Country, we live on this landscape. Our collective wellbeing relies upon our collective strength, resilience and respect; as men and women, supporting and empowering each other.
PROFESSOR DENNIS FOLEY, member of the Business Government and Law Faculty at the University of Canberra. Working at the university since January 2018. His main research focus is towards the emerging discipline of Indigenous enterprise and entrepreneurship. Dennis’ career within the tertiary education sector began researching an Indigenous Career and Employment strategy at Griffith University followed by the establishment of the first Australian Indigenous Degree program in Contemporary Australian Indigenous Art. Several teaching appointments followed including teaching MBA, Indigenous Land-Use Management Practice at the University of Queensland, Business and Management courses at the Australian Catholic University, and teaching Humanities, Education and the Arts at the Universities of Queensland, Sydney, Queensland University of Technology and the University of Hawaii, as well as Financial and Strategic Management at Swinburne University.
Prior to joining the tertiary education sector, Dennis held middle to senior management positions within the banking and finance sector. Professor Foley is a Fulbright Scholar and dual Endeavour Fellow. His publications focus on social inclusion and cross disciples such as Indigenous Literature, Indigenous History, Indigenous Studies, Business Management (Entrepreneurship) and Indigenous Epistemology and Pedagogy.
Dennis has written numerous academic articles through his career as well as two books, “Repossession of Our Spirit” and recently “What the Colonist Never Knew”
What the Colonists Never Knew: paints a vivid picture of what it was like to grow up Aboriginal in Sydney, alongside the colonists, from 1788 to the present. Peter Read’s exploration of the history of Aboriginal Sydney is interwoven with Dennis Foley’s memories of his own Gai-mariagal country, taking readers on a journey through the region’s past. This book offers an honest account of the disappointment, pain and terror experienced by Sydney’s First Peoples, and celebrates the survival of their spirit and their culture.
Repossession of our Spirit: “Aboriginal people were still living in their traditional country in the 1950’s – right in the middle of Sydney. This extraordinary story tells how Dennis Foley, a Gai-mariagal (northern Sydney) man grew up with his grandmother and uncles. He learned the traditional stories of Manly, Narrabeen, Crows Nest and Forty Baskets Beach. After you’ve read this story, your Sydney can never be the same again.”
We pay our respects to Dennis, and his incredible generosity and knowledge in teaching us the stories of his Grandmother, matriarchal stories, story of Gai-mariagal lands.
