Fire Healing for Country & Culture
With a culture at least 60,000 years old, Aboriginal people developed a sophisticated understanding of how to use fire in the right way to care for Country.
But many of the traditional caretakers of Australia have been taken off Country, unable to practice cultural burning which is an integral part of their connection to the land.
The results have been devastating to plants, animals and people - with the wrong kind of fire practices leading to bushfires and an influx of invasive species damaging the land.
The Firesticks Alliance, the Mudjingaalbaraga Firesticks Team in Nowra NSW, and other cultural fire groups across Australia have been working to reconnect Country and her people by restoring cultural fire practices.
The National Indigenous Fire Workshop evolved from the Awu-Laya Elders fire management project in Cape York that began in 2004. Their work has gone on to inspire communities all over Australia and bring people together through mentorship in Aboriginal fire management.
Recently, the four-day 2018 National Indigenous Fire Workshop was held at Bundanon in Yuin Country to bring the ‘good fire’ back to the NSW south coast.
Community First Development (formerly ICV) community development officer, Ruth, was invited to help with the workshop’s logistics, program, and promotion. Around 500 local and interstate guests attended including Aboriginal Ranger groups, fire services staff, academics and people working in the natural resource management sector.
“The right fire will decide what the right plants are for Country – open it up so the grasses can come back. We are the first ones doing cultural burning here in more than 100 years – it’s a generational job. We need to keep on teaching our young ones to be guardians and custodians. We are so happy to be getting back this knowledge.”
The workshop taught guests how to read Country, animals, trees, seasons, and understand the cultural responsibility of looking after the land. 150 hectares of Yuin Country was treated with ‘good fire’ during and after the workshop.
The Firesticks Alliance also sought support from Community First Development skilled volunteer, Rebecca, to create an evaluation report of the workshop. The report outlines evidence and learnings from the workshop - highlighting the importance of cultural fire practices. Thanks to you, these learnings can be shared with other communities to gather support for more workshops around Australia.
For more information on Firesticks click here
