Caring for country - Northern and Yorke Natural Resources ...

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Caring for country
Aboriginal Dreaming is a complex
concept that traces the journeys
and actions of ancestors and their
relationship with the natural world.
Trevor Gill reports.
Dreaming stories link the past with the present in the
land or country to which an Aboriginal person belongs.
The significance of what Aboriginal people call
“country” – embracing its land and waters – is central
to all aspects of their lives and those of their forebears.
There are places that are meaningful and treasured
for their association with birth, social interaction,
ceremonies, hunting, gathering, travelling and death.
They may be ancient camps or burial sites, stone
quarries, hunting grounds and fish traps, paintings
or engravings or land forms that help shape the
Dreaming stories.
History, laws and consequence belong in these places.
You can see it in the eyes of people like Aboriginal
Elder Lindsay Sansbury. It is a look into the long ago.
Uncle Tinto, as he is known among his people, lives
at Point Pearce and his spiritual links with the land
and sea in this northern region of Yorke Peninsula are
strong and deep.
Across the Northern and Yorke region there are various
nations of Aboriginal people, each with heritage values
that go back through countless generations. In each
of these places, Aboriginal people are being engaged
in structured natural resource actions that respect and
support key aspects of their traditional country.
So there is a fascinating and fruitful interface between
the custodial values of Indigenous people that are
passed from one generation to another with broader
conservation values.
Indeed, natural resource management seeks to protect
and maintain many of the natural features that are
embodied in the Dreaming stories and the way of life
of Aboriginal people today.
“It is about reviving the country to a state that
resembles the way it was in the past,” says Aboriginal
Landcare Coordinator, Roger Rigney. “Areas of the
country are looking tired and sick. Aboriginal people
believe that healthy country means healthy people.”
Uncle Tinto is among a group of people at Point Pearce
that has been working on boxthorn removal and
fencing in sand dunes as part of an NYNRM Boardfunded
program to restore degraded country.
“Many of our Dreaming stories that we pass on to
younger people today are about the natural birds and
animals of our region,” he said. “But seeing
is believing.
“We have to help the country get back to the healthy
way it was so that the birds and animals will return.
If we don’t, future generations will miss out on the
comings and goings of the natural world.
“That’s why it is so important to have natural resource
management programs like the boxthorn removal at
Point Pearce.”
The Aboriginal groups in the Northern and Yorke
region are the Narrungga, Nukunu, Ngadjuri,
Adnyamathanha, Pitjantjatara and Yankuntjatara.
The NYNRM Board’s engagement with the Indigenous
communities in the region is through the Aboriginal
Lands Trust (ALT), which holds land in trust for
Indigenous people. With NYNRM Board funding,
the ALT employs people to carry out natural
resource projects.
Chris Rains, the Trust’s Landcare Coordinator, said:
“The Indigenous people are paid for their work as an
investment not only in NYNRM outcomes, but also in
developing work skills.
“This engagement also involves people in the
management of their country in line with their cultural
heritage values. For example, the Wadgedin Scrub
area at Point Pearce is a very special place for the
local people, however it has been subjected to illegal
dumping threatening vegetation and habitat.
“Through an NYNRM project, the Wadgedin Scrub is
being revegetated and restored to its natural state.
There is also a major box thorn removal program at
Point Pearce.”
Other recent NRM projects on Aboriginal lands include
pest management at Yapala, Point Pearce and Baroota,
fencing off sand dunes at Point Pearce to prevent
vehicle access and subsequent revegetation with local
native species, and training programs including use of
machinery and safe chemical handling.
“We have also run a feral cat control program on
Wardang Island to protect fairy penguins that inhabit
the island,” Chris said.
“The activities are carefully supervised with outcomes
reported in detail to the Board, which funds the onground
projects. The outcomes are measured in terms
of hectares of land subjected to pest plant or animal
control and revegetation, kilometres of fencing erected
or restored, and numbers of people participating in
NRM related training programs.”
Darcy Evans, an Elder of the Nukunu people, said
natural resource management training had positive
benefits for community members in terms of
developing work skills that could lead to employment.
“Also, it is rewarding that the Board provides such
opportunities because when we work on our land it
lifts mental and spiritual health.”
Above: Community members take part in a
Reefwatch program at Point Pearce.
Right: Tom Wanganeen (left) and Carlo
Sansbury plant trees for a revegetation
program at Point Pearce.
Photos: Dragi Markovic
20 Northern and Yorke Natural Resources Management Board