South Coast NSW Aboriginal Elders are dedicated to rebuilding, replanting & regenerating their Country, which sits between Wollongong & Eden on the beautiful but now fire-ravaged south coast of NSW in Australia.
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South Coast NSW Aboriginal Elders incorporated as an association in September 2019 with the express purpose of creating employment for Koori and at-risk youth, by funding local elders to train and mentor them in regeneration works, including cultural burning, revegetation and traditional knowledge.
Since we organised our structure, bushfire has devastated our Country and now the need for Aboriginal Care for Country is more pressing than ever. However, in the current context, our immediate aim is now to assist the Aboriginal communities along the south coast to rebuild and to take care of each other, especially the elders and children.
Aboriginal communities are the most disadvantaged in Australia, often suffering much poorer health outcomes, employment opportunities and life expectancies than the rest of the population. They are also often too shy to ask for help from the non-indigenous community and find official application processes for aid difficult.
Therefore, SCAE have opened up their books for your donations. Your money will go to Aboriginal families along the south coast as they try to cope with the horrific extent of the damage done to their traditional lands, sea, rivers, forests and wildlife, and to the projects that ensure a more flourishing future for them and our shared Country.
WHAT WE DO:
CULTURAL BURNING
Since the devastating bushfires across New Years 2020, there has been a lot of conversation about what is the best way to ensure this level of catastrophe doesn’t happen again. Many commentators have noted that traditional Aboriginal burning of the land is the most intelligent way to take care of it, but many people don’t yet know what ‘cultural burning’ actually looks like. It’s quite different from modern ‘back burning’ or other fuel reduction techniques, for instance, in that cultural burning operates only at ground level and is thoroughly supervised. Flames are not allowed to run up the trunks of trees and risk getting out of control, they are managed by groups under the tutelage of knowledgable elders. Small tracts of land are burnt at a time in a mosaic fashion each season, so that each patch is given the chance to regenerate in turn. Traditionally, as each patch was burnt, hunting could take place as the animals escaped. Nowadays, our focus is on supporting struggling populations of animals, who return to find the new shoots of green growth that follow a cultural burn, as the land begins to flourish again.
Since the devastating bushfires across New Years 2020, there has been a lot of conversation about what is the best way to ensure this level of catastrophe doesn’t happen again. Many commentators have noted that traditional Aboriginal burning of the land is the most intelligent way to take care of it, but many people don’t yet know what ‘cultural burning’ actually looks like. It’s quite different from modern ‘back burning’ or other fuel reduction techniques, for instance, in that cultural burning operates only at ground level and is thoroughly supervised. Flames are not allowed to run up the trunks of trees and risk getting out of control, they are managed by groups under the tutelage of knowledgable elders. Small tracts of land are burnt at a time in a mosaic fashion each season, so that each patch is given the chance to regenerate in turn. Traditionally, as each patch was burnt, hunting could take place as the animals escaped. Nowadays, our focus is on supporting struggling populations of animals, who return to find the new shoots of green growth that follow a cultural burn, as the land begins to flourish again.
REGENERATION WORKS
There is going to need to be massive replanting across the south coast and everywhere affected by these terrible fires. Elders who are local, traditional custodians of their Country guide new generations to plant endemic species, which are drought-hardy and promote the repopulation of native species of birds and animals, in the right places, at the right time. SCAE funds will go directly to this vitally important, ongoing work.
CULTURAL PROJECTS
Spending time in nature, or on Country, is the best way to get to know it better. Doing so in the company of local Aboriginal elders, artists and craftspeople, storytellers, singers and dancers makes the experience much deeper and more satisfying. It also gives you the tools to go out and be a part of the change we all want to see, in a healthier, happier Australia. SCAE invite you to spend time with local Walbunja elders and others on their Country and we’re setting up campsites in select positions that will enable this teaching and sharing to take place. We’ll be building campfire circles and huts, bringing along kayaks and tools, weaving local grasses and painting, enjoying time honoured hunting and gathering techniques, and sharing culture with you as soon as possible. Come and share in the Dreaming and Songlines of this place in the company of those who know it best.
*NB: Many thanks to Raymond Carriage for the original artwork used on this site.
