Closing the gap – with a single fence

Dear Editor,

Hay Inc Rural Training group recently completed its second block of the training program with a fencing day on March 8.

This year we decided to do a community fencing job near Carrathool that involved fencing off Indigenous ovens that had been identified as a significant camping site of First Australians in a previous era.

Upon discovering the ovens on his property Mick Cattanach along with local Waradgery man, John ‘Gubba’ Woods decided to fence off approximately six acres of land to protect it from stock degradation and to make it a private reserve for the generations to come.

What happened next is an example of how everyday Australians can voluntarily help the ‘Close the Gap’ initiative with practical and sustainable outcomes, with the use of volunteer labour. It was a four-way collaboration between:

• The Cattanach family (preserving the cultural site)
• Gubba Woods using his indigenous expertise to plan the reserve
• Hay Inc training group for providing the labour to fence off the site
• Two corporate citizens in Elders Hay and Waratah Fencing to supply the fencing materials for fencing off the reserve.

It was a somewhat historic day for the Hay Inc program (and very hot as well) with the erection of the fence followed by a talk from Gubba on the past First Nations customs and way of life of the tribes that inhabited the area long ago.

This was another spin off from the training day, in that it gave the students an insight into how previous First Nations Australians lived, their beliefs and their traditions and how all these things should be respected and preserved for future generations.

We would like to thank the Cattanach family for the generosity and foresight in preserving the site, Elders and Waratah for their generous support with the materials and John ‘Gubba’ Woods for his time in passing on his knowledge of the culture and customs of our First Australians.

The students found it fascinating and were proud to be a part of it.

Your sincerely, Sandy Symons, Hay Inc Committee Member and Trainer.

This article appeared in The Riverine Grazier, 10 April 2024.