Water project identifies job need
Aneed to create more cultural and natural-resource career opportunities for young people was a strong message from a new water project documenting Wimmera Aboriginal history.
Traditional Owners, Aboriginal groups, community groups, historical societies and local and state government representatives travelled from Horsham to Lake Albacutya earlier this month as part of a ‘Community Gathering – River Yarns’ event.
Wimmera Catchment Management Authority community-delivery manager Joel Boyd said River Yarns represented the start of groups working closely to document cultural values, stories, memories and the Aboriginal community’s connection to the Wimmera River.
He said among the feedback from River Yarns was a strong interest from the community in more support to create career and economic opportunities for young people.
“A lot more younger people in the Aboriginal community are showing an interest in cultural and natural-resource careers, which really came through in our conversations last week,” Mr Boyd said. “The community put forward lots of great ideas. We’ve got a lot of momentum now to do what we can to create these opportunities through projects that benefit the river and the local environment. Our focus now is to get those project ideas funded and get things happening.”
Mr Boyd said there was a lot of enthusiasm from participants.
“We heard a lot of really great cultural stories and everyone was really keen to talk and share. We ran out of time at every site we visited because people were so engrossed in their conversations.
“We had fantastic feedback from everyone involved. It’s really just the start of ongoing discussions with the local community, building partnerships and working together to create opportunities.”
Group endeavour
Wimmera CMA and Barengi Gadjin Land Council coordinated River Yarns in partnership with the Murray Lower Darling Rivers Indigenous Nations.
The event started in Horsham then followed the Wimmera River to Dimboola, Antwerp and Jeparit before continuing to Lake Hindmarsh, Outlet Creek and Lake Albacutya. The group visited historical sites and recorded cultural use of plants and bush medicine.
It was part of the Wimmera River Aboriginal Water Project, which is bringing together groups and individuals to officially document cultural information in the region using an Aboriginal Waterway Assessment tool. Ben Muir and Brett Harrison are leading the project. SCHUBERTS PEST SERVICES Ph: 5382 7484