Indigenous

The topic I want to raise is one that in the last few decades has grown to become an Australian norm, performed at major and minor cultural, political, and sporting events. Unfortunately, this new norm is at risk of being overused by zealot government bureaucrats, attempting to force reconciliation through repetition, instead of accepting slow community adoption.

A mural depicting the history of fishing on the Fraser Coast has been painted on the side wall of the Urangan Fisheries cold store which faces Fishermans Park ... “It links the Butchulla and European history of fishing in the region,” Councillor Zane O’Keefe said ... Watch the video.

I was unexpectedly, and in the end pleasantly, surprised to find a story that is as much about 1950s and 1960s Australia as it is about one young woman’s experiences. It is the north-west Western Australia of Aboriginal missions, of cultural clashes, of extremes in temperature and of distance, of hardships tempered by moments of joy, of connections made and still treasured more than half a century later.

After the release of OBE Organic's Sustainability Report 2022 earlier this year, Australian Rural & Regional News found out a little more about what's involved in farming organic beef in the vast Channel Country and how it came to be Australia's oldest organic beef company from OBE Organic's Managing Director, Dalene Wray.

The Department of Planning and Environment has had more than 100 interactions with First Nations people on environmental water, including Wiradjuri elder Michael Lyons, of Narrandera. Mr Lyons said one per cent of water in the Murrumbidgee River was allocated to Aboriginal people for cultural or environmental use and there needed to be improved communication about where that allocated water ended up.

Samuel Davis. The legacy of one of Cape York’s most controversial figures is being revisited following a major land handback to traditional owners. Premier Annastacia Palaszcuk returned more than 362,000 hectares to the Gudang/Yadhaykenu, Atambaya and Angkamuthi (Seven Rivers) peoples at Injinoo last week. As part of the agreement, Jardine River National Park has been renamed Apudthama National Park.

Sarah Martin. Glastonbury, Burning Man and Woodford have nothing on the special vibes of Wallaby Creek Festival, according to international didgeridoo and dance music phenomenon Ganga Giri, who is one of the headline acts at the event. The quietly-spoken musician credits his success to energy, his mum, and a dream as a kid.

Four Deadly Darwin comedians are travelling down the guts of the Territory stopping in Tennant Creek next Wednesday to bring “blak humour to change blak minds”. The Deadly Darwin Goes Walkabout Tour will bring its hilarious show and free stand up comedy workshop to town with the mission of spreading healing through humour.

An Aboriginal owned and operated company dedicated to representing the voice of the Doomadgee community has been established after 15 years in the making. Goonawoona Jungai Ltd, which is a community-controlled organisation, will play a role between governments and service providers in Doomadgee.

Climate change threatens our forests, but it is not necessarily an existential threat, according to a leading Australian scientist. “It’s not necessarily the case that we will be wiped out by wildfire. The existential threat of fire can be mitigated, but we must use ALL knowledge,” Mark Adams, Professor of Bioscience and Innovation at Swinburne University of Technology ... This included indigenous people’s use of fire as a management tool.

The installation of a series of colourful storyboards in parks at Boonah and Beaudesert has marked  a new chapter for Scenic Rim libraries ... the Story Walks at Springleigh Park, Boonah, and Jubilee Park, Beaudesert, aim to encourage children’s early literacy through play while strengthening family connections and the Scenic Rim’s links to its Indigenous heritage.

Samuel Davis. “Excuse me brotha, can you help me?” A gentle hand touched my arm and a man with a pained expression met my eyes as I turned. Standing with a credit card in one hand and a sheet of paper in the other, he stood next to an ATM inside a Cairns shopping centre ... The only problem was Caleb’s new credit card wouldn’t work. Reluctantly, I leaned in to see if I could help.

Tom Zaunmayr, National Indigenous Times (NIT). A Pilbara Aboriginal firm has lauded a long-term Fortescue Metals Group contract which it says will lead to training for Traditional Owners and one day help build a standalone mining services company.

Ten Territory nurses will spend the next 12 months building their skills and providing services to remote communities under the Transition to Remote Practice Program. This year is the first time the program recruited a second cohort of participants. They will join the 12 nurses who commenced the program at the beginning of 2022.

Narrandera High School finally celebrated NAIDOC Day, its first in three years, with the Welcome to Country and Didgeridoo welcome setting the scene for a day of inclusivity and education. The highlight of the day was the final event - the commissioning of the Stewart James mural.

Artworks from three Indigenous artists are featured in the latest exhibition, Our Stories, Our Culture, Our Country, which is on display at Crows Nest Gallery until September 18, 2022. The exhibition explores narratives relating to spiritual connectivity, place-making, traditional knowledge, healing and teachings of the participating artists, Cheryl Moggs (from the Bigambul First Nation people), Barbara Walker (from the Wiradjuri First Nation people) and Aaron Blades (from the Mandandanji First Nation people).

Samuel Davis. Cape York mayor Patricia Yusia doesn’t want to talk about the Indigenous Voice to parliament. Not while a desperate housing crisis is crippling her communities in the Northern Peninsula Area. So, when Cr Yusia met with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Horn Island last Thursday, the discussion was to the point.

Dorrobbee Grass Reserve is a beautiful reserve that surrounds the large concrete water tank on the hill just north of Dunoon. It is a special place of great cultural significance to the traditional custodians, the Widjabul Wia-bal people. The reserve is a traditional Aboriginal camping and travelling route maintained through cultural land-management practices, including cultural burning. The reserve is also a remnant ‘island’ of fire-dependent grassland and one of the last intact grassland ecosystems within the Big Scrub bioregion .

A Traditional Owner group in South East Queensland have used drones with thermal imaging cameras to undertake a major prescribed burn while avoiding endangering wildlife ... the Quandamooka Yoolooburrabee Aboriginal Corporation burned off excess vegetation along 440 hectares of swamp at Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island) to refresh wildlife habitat and facilitate the regrowth of rare flora species.

Ten juniors from Canteen Creek and five from Arlparra travelled to Darwin last week for the third National Indigenous Tennis Carnival. The children were treated to an unforgettable experience, which included a first plane ride and a use of an escalator for some of the children.