Heal Country!
Originally published in The Nyngan Weekly
Country is inherent to the identity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and the 2021 NAIDOC theme — Heal Country! — calls on all Australians to seek greater protection against exploitation and destruction of lands and cultural sites.
Nyngan Local Aboriginal Land Council (LALC) CEO, Veneta Dutton, said the theme was good and encompassed a large part of Aboriginal culture.
“Healing Country comes in many forms, it’s protecting sites, for me checking on Aboriginal trees and sites and making sure they are okay, that’s part of my healing, but it also comes from people recognising Aboriginal people, that’s part of our healing. Having the Aboriginal flag fly, that’s part of our healing.
“So, we are stepping forward to creating those changes and teaching the younger generation about their culture and about who they are.”
Part of healing for many Aboriginal people across Australia is the repatriation of land, and Ms Dutton is working on the development of a new cultural space on land returned to the Nyngan LALC in 2018 after a title claim was made in 2006.
Ms Dutton is currently working on approximately 200 title claims within the Nyngan LALC’s geographical area.
“There’s a misunderstanding from people and they get scared we want to take their land.
“We don’t. We want to protect what is there and make sure nothing is lost.”
Ms Dutton said the area around Nyngan was filled with scarred trees and cultural sites, and that the LALC was always happy to assist people who had questions about sites or locations on their land. The site, which was returned to traditional owners in 2018, sits next to the Nyngan cemetery and is being developed as a park.
“There’s lots of bush tucker here and three large, scarred trees. We spoke with the board and community to see what to do with it and decided to create a community walk,” said Ms Dutton.
She emphasised the area has been designed to remain as untouched as possible, with the path passing through the park alongside the existing vegetation.
“Untouched is important. I don’t want concrete or straight lines. We don’t work with straight lines.”
The walk has been named Winangali Walk which means “to hear, listen”. Within the park will be a large dance pit, and Ms Dutton hopes the area will serve as a place for community to connect and be together.
“The more we connect to Country, the land, the better we feel. Being outdoors is awesome, it’s a great way for kids to learn and you feel it for yourself.”
Ensuring children have access to their culture and cultural practices is incredibly important Ms Dutton said, emphasising that they need to have the opportunity to claim their identity.
“By them knowing their culture, they can have identity. I always take my kids out on Country so they can know who they are and when they get older, they can take their kids on Country.”
Ms Dutton hopes that having a public space where people from across the Nyngan community can learn about Aboriginal culture will help to continue to progress the relationship between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people.
“By showing people some of the sites, and the more conversation we have about our culture and our people, the better we can open the conversation and stop racism. It brings us together into the conversation, I don’t like the idea of us and them.”
In 2015, the Bogan shire began to fly the Aboriginal flag outside of its council offices and Ms Dutton said it was a turning point.
“The relationship has definitely improved and is getting better,” said Ms Dutton.
NAIDOC Week celebrates the history, culture, and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The celebrations are held each July and are a time to support local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
Ms Dutton said that NAIDOC is an important week for Aboriginal people to connect with each other, Country, and culture.
“Our Country is always our culture.”
NAIDOC 2021 runs from July 6 to July 11.