Mudjingaalbaraga Fire Sticks Project

In south-eastern Australia, cultural knowledge about burning has been eroded due to longer-periods of colonisation. Furthermore, older generations with the 'know how' of how to implement and monitor cultural burning continue to pass away before knowledge can be meaningfully transferred the younger generations.

This presentation will explore the outcomes of an Indigenous Fire Workshop held in Nowra in May 2017. This workshop provided the opportunity to perform a cultural burn on the NSW south-coast while re-teaching local community members to understand and engage with fire in their Country. 

This workshop was a joint partnership between the NSW Local Lands Services, National Parks and Wildlife Services, Nowra Local Aboriginal Land Councils, Rural Fire Services and Djuwin Mudjingaalbaraga Men’s Group. It is hoped that by reflecting on the outcomes of this workshop, similar training and educational initiatives can be designed and implemented in Aboriginal communities throughout south-eastern Australia where access to and management of Country is often less prevalent than in parts of northern and central Australia. 

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