indigenousheritageofCERRA

INDIGENOUS CULTURAL HERITAGE

Australia's first peoples, the Aboriginals, have inhabited the Australian landscape for 100,000 years or more. The area that makes up CERRA is of significant cultural value to indigenous Australians.

People have been as an integral a part of the environment as the plants and animals and the Aboriginal people have experienced a very coexistent relationship with their land around them. They depended on these forests for survival, with their needs of food, medicine, shelter and clothing being met from their environment. Before attempting the activities below, search the web for more insights into the amazing culture of Australia's first peoples.

Within the CERRA reserves there exists many places of significant importance to Aboriginal people, these are referred to as sacred sites. Many sites in NSW are registered with the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) so take a look and see what you can learn. Check out the dreamtime stories and learn more about the importance and significance of the areas in the Clarence Valley (Casino to Evans Head), then go ahead and try out the activites below!

Activity a. Indigenous people experience a symbiotic relationship with their environment, meeting their own needs without overexploiting the land around them. This relationship has been built up over thousands and thousands of years, and a deep spiritual connection to their land (known as Country) is the result. The dense rainforests of CERRA provided an excellent resource of many different kinds of foods, from berries to possum and tubers to bats.


Lily pilly fruit	Xanthorrhea Tree Spike	Macadamia nuts

Your task is to check out some of the bush food that has been eaten in Australia for millennia. The following websites will give you an excellent start and there are loads of links from each site:

Now with the knowledge that you have now gained on the types of rainforests and plants that are found in CERRA and what kind of animals live there, find a food that the local people would have enjoyed from that area.

Activity b. There are over 200 different languages spoken by Indigenous people in this country. The majority of these languages are no longer used and are under considerable threat of just disappearing, never to be spoken again. This represents a great loss in Australia�s rich cultural heritage. Fortunately there are many programs out there that where indigenous languages are being taught back to the community. Maybe at school you are learning some local words from the local aboriginals who come in to teach you�.if you don�t, ask your teacher to try and organise someone to come in if possible, if not find some books and info online.

The Gumbaynggir language belongs to the people who are from the land that starts near Grafton up north, runs out west to Guyra and South to Scotts Head. Search here to learn more about their language and try and find the Gumbaynggir word for:

� Wallaby

� North

� Fire

A certain Gumbaynggir man was a prominent politician, find out who is he and what political party did he belong to? (Hint: he was a senator).

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