Making connections, healing Country
Looking at the gully system – brushpacks are placed throughout the gully floor with native plantings along the banks.
Over a weekend in early May 2022, the Mulloon Institute (TMI) and Back to Country (BTC) held a workshop as part of ‘The Mulloon Institute – Back to Country Co-Educational Project’ to share knowledge of landscape rehydration and cultural awareness between the organisations.
Back to Country is an Aboriginal Corporation established under the guidance of the late Yuin Elder Uncle Max Harrison to deliver projects and activities that pass on knowledge and connection to environment and country. Their vision is to heal Country and people by providing opportunities for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples to learn about traditional Yuin culture. They provide activities, programs and events centred around passing on traditional knowledge and learnings, such as cultural camps, tours, ceremonies and land management.
Native trees were planted as part of the workshop.
The co-educational project aims to bring about on-the-ground changes for the ecological health of the Mulloon catchment in southern NSW via workshop activities and further develop key partnerships between the organisationsand with local landholders. A key component of the cultural education is understanding that caring for Country is about giving back. Caring for Country provides a relationship to the living world, informing purpose, belonging, meaning and identity.
Hosted at Tom Gordon and Martina Shelley’s property ‘Birkenburn’ near Bungendore in NSW, the weekend involved hands-on, on-ground works to increase ecological health, and cultural activities which strengthened partnerships between participants.
‘The Mulloon Institute – Back to Country Co-educational Project’ is generously supported by funding from the Capricorn Foundation. This project forms part of the broader Mulloon Rehydration Initiative, which is jointly funded through the Mulloon Institute and the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program, with support from the NSW Government’s Environmental Trust.
Reflections on the co-educational workshop
Greg Smart
(Back to Country – Senior Knowledge Holder)
L-R: Greg Smart (BTC) with Paris Capell (TMI)
What a wonderful opportunity it was for people to come together. To initiate further progress toward the healing of Country and people. The damage has been done, we can see it and feel it and the game is up, no longer is complacency an option.
Back to Country and the Mulloon institute met to further the story line of remembering, responsibility and repair. It is in the healing of Country that we are also healed. We can have a balance between food and water and resources for the human species while honouring and incorporating the important living elements of country.
We were met on arrival to Birkenburn by a massive flock of crows, maybe close to 200, I have never seen a bigger group. I remarked to the men present that this is not a murder but a massacre of crows. We have to witness and acknowledge the damage done to the Country and people before we can repair and heal.
Sunrise at Birkenburn.
The spirit of the gathering was so real, we were led by the wombat, that ancient carer of country. Both in the correct way to move through country in silence and respect. Also, wombat’s important role in connecting deeply into country and water.
The very respectful period of silence we held before commencing was to reflect on the old people of this country. Uncle Max in particular, for the time is short, to remember our individual and collective roles and responsibilities, to bring some hopefulness back to the Country and its people.
The silence of our reflection was punctuated by sounds of the black cockatoo and children’s laughter. It is only by being attentive to the timeless messages, such as from that old water bird, can we be more confident of a future time to come, where the children will once again connect to life and Country, without fear but with joy.
As Richard Swain (BTC) said, when asked what advice does he have for children, he replied, “to hold the adults to account”. If we allow the Country to continue to bleed away the water reserves, we are all in trouble. The weekend was a message of hope. That many people do care and need direction from the likes of the Mulloon Institute and Back to Country. Through the mother.
Working together to plant native trees and shrubs along the banks of the gully floor.
My personal reflection of healing
Penny Cooper
(Mulloon Institute – Trainee Director of On-ground Works)
Penny Cooper (right) with her daughter Grace (centre) and TMI CEO Carolyn Hall (left).
As a non-Indigenous primary school student in a small country town, I was taught about Aboriginal Australians in history lessons. We learnt about Aboriginal foods, tools and types of shelter. We also learnt that Aboriginal Australians hunted and gathered from the land in one place and then moved on to another area to hunt and gather there. Little was taught about the impact on Aboriginals when the ships of the First Fleet arrived. We were taught that there was conflict and Aboriginal and British people lost lives, but the main message was one of discovery, pioneering and exploration of a new land. Not a story of massacre, dispossession, displacement, greed and ignorance.
So, it came as quite a shock to me when I took a subject at university which required the reading of Dark Emu Black Seeds by Indigenous author Bruce Pascoe. This was quite an awakening read and the shame I felt stung like a slap. I realised just how ignorant I was on the truth of the civilisation that existed before European settlement in Australia. The truth of the sophisticated social, economic, and agricultural structures that existed in a peaceful harmony. The truth of truly ecologically minded people who saw themselves as nothing more than a part of the natural environment. Not as conquerors or dominators, who believe themselves somehow more powerful and cleverer than mother nature herself.
The workshop included formal and informal knowledge sharing between participants.
I had to learn more, so I took another subject on Contemporary Indigenous Australian Realities which educated me on the devastating impact of European settlement and the ongoing, transgenerational trauma. I also learned the meaning of terra nullius and how this concept was wrongly used to justify British occupation. Although I grew up on a farm, my world was devoid of Aboriginal people and although I loved the natural world and would relish lessons on native trees, plants and animals, the lessons lacked something. They lacked the knowledge and wisdom held by Indigenous Australians who know and love the land and its inhabitants, like one knows and loves their mother.
After university, the very rare contact I had with Indigenous Australians left me feeling awkward, ignorant and ashamed. However, I was determined to find a way to connect, show respect and continue my learning. So it was with high expectations, a heavy load of shame and my own personal understanding of the meaning of transgenerational trauma, that I attended the weekend with Back to Country (BTC) and the Mulloon Institute (TMI).
Ross Knight (centre) explains the significance of the red headband in ceremony, with Greg Smart (left) and Ian Scott (right).
It was the Mother’s Day weekend. We gathered around the campfire on a beautiful, crisp autumn afternoon at the property of Birkenburn which has a shared boundary with Duralla, the Mulloon Institute’s Mulloon Creek Natural Farms. Yuin Senior, Greg Smart welcomed the group and shared lessons on respect and tuning in to Mother Earth and all the signs of the natural world around us. Greg referred to wisdom and teachings of the late Uncle Max (Max Dulumunmun Harrison). Uncle Max was the founder of the BTC organisation. He also had a friendship with the late Tony Coote, TMI’s founder. Uncle Max was the key instigator for the very event we were attending.
As we sat and listened, Greg invited others to speak. I was deeply moved when Tasie from BTC spoke of being respectful to women and treating all women with kindness and care as they are or represent mothers. He likened women to the mother (Mother Earth), and in caring for the mother, she cares for us. I was deeply humbled to be recognised by this Indigenous man although I felt ashamed of my ignorance and unworthy of this respect.
Peter Hazell (centre) directs the harvesting of black wattle found onsite at Birkenburn to build brushpacks – a simple and cost effective method of restoration.
Peter Hazell spoke of the relationship between Uncle Max and Tony Coote and the hope they both shared of the two groups (BTC and TMI) coming together to share knowledge and to work together to heal Country. By the end of the weekend, however, I felt that some members of the TMI team had learnt so much more than we were able to impart.
The Mulloon Institute led an exercise on building brush packs which we later took into a gully to add to pre-existing brush pack weirs from a project in 2016. The leaky brush weirs have been trapping sediment and aggrading the system, and the sides of the gully are beginning to naturally batter and grow vegetation. We planted more shrubs in the gully to further contribute to the repair, and throughout this activity, BTC members contributed knowledge and wisdom which complimented our work of healing the gully. There were also lessons to be learned such as the need to find alternatives to plastic tree guards. The long and silent walk down to the gully was also a lesson in patience and awareness of the living environment through which we were passing. An important skill to have when we are attempting to read a landscape and understand where and how the work needs to be done.
Workshop participants sharing a hug following the sunrise ceremony.
We were all very privileged to attend a traditional sunrise ceremony on Sunday morning, welcoming Grandfather Sun. This was led by Tasie from BTC and is a ceremony in which the participants give thanks for the first day of their life, the day of their birth. This was made particularly special as it was Mother’s Day and the gratitude extended to our mothers through which we began our first day. We stood in three rows facing the rising sun and each person took their turn to thank Grandfather Sun for the first day of their life and express other gratitudes. Another lesson in patience and respect. When everyone had spoken, every person hugged one another.
I am feeling the weight of shame and ignorance is lifting, though I have much yet to learn and understand, as do all non-Indigenous Australians. I am so very grateful for being able to attend this weekend and so awed by the humility of the BTC team who guided the TMI team through such special ceremonies and teachings. Through them I have developed a deeper connection to the land upon which I live and work. I also glimpsed the deep, binding, spiritual connection Indigenous Australians have to this amazing country. Thank you to all who attended for making this weekend one of connection, sharing, mutual respect and healing.
Workshop participants preparing the gully for planting.