Cultural burns and returning country to health was the focus of a two-day conference in the Shoalhaven this week.
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Hosted by the Nowra Local Aboriginal Land Council the conference was part of the Mudjingaalbaraga Firesticks Program.
Around 70 participants from numerous local services took part in the program where a number of guest speakers gave presentations on how important cultural burns are and how to undertake them.
That was followed by the staging of a actual cultural burn at Falls Creek.
One of the event coordinators, Noel Webster said cultural burns had been undertaken for thousands of years.
“Cultural burns relate back to Aboriginal communities and societies, about their relationship with country and strengthening a partnership with the country,” he said.
“For many years the connection with country, for whatever reason, was dwindling. They weren’t as strong or interactive. We have introduced the culture back onto country.
“We introduced fire, which is a regenerator of life. It cleanses the country and brings it back to health. It brings it back to condition, a condition where the plants flourish, the animals thrive and the people interact.”
He said the program was about providing knowledge Aboriginal people have known for thousands of years.
A “cool fire” is used to light a small patch of bush.
“We don’t light a big patch of fire and let it roar. We put one drop on the ground and let it burn slowly. It burns in a small circle and then radiates out,” he said.
“That allows the people, animals, even insects to move away from that fire.
“You can go right onto the land straight after the fire and you can feel underneath the ground it is cold. We don’t want to do it [burn] in a destructive way with a wild fire we do it with a culture fire. The right fire it needs.
“That is how we treat country.”
With the help of fire practitioner, Vic Steffensen of Far North Queensland, participants were able to learn the knowledge of cultural burns.
“We were losing the knowledge. It wasn’t being passed down and I was scared about that,” Mr Webster said.
“But after spending a couple of days in the bush, learning about cultural fire and its application, I realised the knowledge was always there. It was held in the landscape. All we had to do was learn how to read it and interpret that landscape.
“The environment tells us what type of fire is needed.
“There were invasive species here after years of neglect and the fire cleanses that area.
“It is a long term commitment we just don’t light the fire and then come back seven years later, if we did it would be in a worse condition.
“So we keep coming back and treating this place with fire. To bring it back to health.”
Earlier this year, eight members of the Djuwin Mudjingaalbaraga Men’s Group undertook fireground training with the Rural Fire Service in preparation for the program.
The long term plan is to form a local firestick team which Mr Webster describes as a “community - people coming together.”
“Fire brings everyone together - the people, the plants, the animals. It’s not just about burning bush. There are social aspirations where people connect, but we need the skills to do that and this is what this program is about.”
Mr Steffensen said cultural burns opens up a healthy landscape again.
“It is the fundamental foundation. Once country gets healthy it opens all the other doors of cultural activities. So when the trees come back, the grasses come back and the medicines and foods come back, then animals and birds – it opens all those doors,” he said.
“But we can’t practice that culture if the country is sick. The fire is just not about burning country or reducing fuel, it’s about many, many layers of knowledge and understanding the landscape, and reading that landscape.
“It is crucial for indigenous people to rebuild their country and their knowledge and crucial for the future survival of many species.
“It is important for non-indigenous people to be part of that culture as well, to learn and understand and to change their ways to give indigenous people more opportunities to lead the way and rebuilding this knowledge into the future.”
He said one of his proudest moments was seeing the next generation , the “young guys” taking the program on.
“It’s only been two days yet here they are taking and showing 70 people what they have learned and reading the landscape,” he said.
Joel Deaves and Adrian Webster are two of the young local men who have taken part in the program.
“This country is not in good health, there is a lot of leaf litter and and a lot of native species that are dominating the area,” Joel said.
“The country is out of balance and it needs to get back to the way it should be so it can provide the resources we need to continue our culture.
“This will be continuous for me. I want to teach my kids about fire and we can hopefully fix up as much country as we can.”
Adrian said the program had helped him build his knowledge.
“It has linked the dots of missing knowledge we don’t have,” he said.
“Vic has shared that knowledge and that’s helped us learn the indicators of when to burn and what fires to put into the country. How to treat different country and how to read and interpret the land.”