Welcoming & Warming the Wallaby Creek Festival Folk

For 10 years, in about September every year, once a year, up to 3000 people or more have descended into a richly rainforested part of Nyungkalwarra country, heading up the Wallaby Creek (a tributary of the Annan River), into the late Ruby Friday (Marilyn's mum) and others estate area (known to Nyungkalwarra as Jirrandaku).    Once a year for three days, up to 3000 people have arrived to camp, sing, dance and participate in the Wallaby Creek Festival.

Over the last 3 years  Bana Yarralji cultural enterpreneurs, Marilyn Wallace and family have been working to make all of these visitors to Nyunkalwarra country aware that they are, in fact, deep within Nyungkalwarra country; surrounded by Nyungkalwarra forests; and surrounded by the spirits of generations of Nyungkalwarra 'old people'.

Over the last three years Bana Yarralji have been working to teach all who arrive that they are in Nyungkalwarra Country in need of being welcomed, warmed, and hosted by Nyungkalwarra

With the cooperation and support of the Wallaby Creek Festival organising committee Bana Yarralji have, for the last three years, collected quantities of Cooktown iron wood leaves, collected quantaties of paper bark, painted up Nyungkalwarra youth, played the digeridoo..

..and actively assumed the role of Nyungkal hosts welcoming all arrivals to the festival, calling out to the old people,  and arranging mass warming (smoking) of people introducing them to Country in accordance with Nyungkal lore and custom

This year the whole exercise was performed at about mid-morning on the Saturday, 24 September 2011, with Bana Yarralji cultural entreprenuer Marilyn Wallace supported by other Nyungalwarra elders calling out, and Bana Yarralji rangers organising the mass warming/smoking

.. and Bana Yarrlji rangers bringing Nyungkalwarra youth to the event for the occasion, painted up and performing for all

As cultural entreprenuers seeking to move increasingly into hosting whole range of activities on country; also trying to make an enterprise out of all of this; Bana Yarralji entreprenuers:

i.   have these last few years expressed an ambition to be able to organise and arrange to play an increasingly prominent role hosting this Wallaby Creek festival, and all of these 1000's of annual visitors to Nyungkalwarra Country

ii.  have already this year expressed strong interest in increasing the amount of cultural activities occuring at Wallaby Creek festivals, for which some income might be derived (with good cultural dividend) .. even imagining Bana Yarralji or other Jirrandaku families potentially bidding for the ultimate purchase of the Wallaby Creek venue (Home Rule)

This year, at the end of the Wallaby Creek festival, the organisers expressed weariness after 10 years organising these festivals; calling for others to please step up and take up the baton!   

Marilyn Wallace and Peter Wallace are not short on vision, and, who knows, they may step up and seek to play some greater part, accepting the baton, and potentially playing a much increased role hosting next years Wallaby Creek festival in the Nyunkalwarra forests  (especially if their might be some profit in it, with good cultural dividends?) ?!

Cultural Landscape, Cultural Experience, Cultural Dividends!!

One of Bana Yarralji's core objectives, in seeking to apply sustainable business principles and establish themselves as a cultural enterprise, is to see Aboriginal Lore restored to Country, and the local landscape better recognised and respected as a cultural landscape.

Back in October, then, Bana Yarralji cultural entreprenuers (Marilyn and Peter Wallace) and Bana Yarralji anthropologist (Bruce White) undertook some cultural landscape work with the Bana Yarralji rangers Working on Country plus the larger group of local Aboriginal rangers currently receiving Conservation and Land Management training on Nyungkal Country (hosted by Bana Yarralji of course!)

Bana Yarralji's hope, and Bana Yarralji's plan is that Bana Yarralji rangers will play a role into the long term future promoting awareness of the nature of the Nyungkalwarra cultural landscape that runs up, down, and around the whole Upper Annan River catchment.   Arising out of Marilyn Wallace and Peter Wallace's past efforts over many years, Bana Yarralji has been very fortunate in being able to obtain and host an on-line Nyungkalwarra Cultural Information System for this purpose, and Bana Yarralji has been very keen to see this information system used, and used effectively

In October, Bana Yarralji finally found formal opportunity, in association with CALM training,  to discuss, explore, and help improve each Aboriginal ranger's capacity to use the Nyungkal cultural information system, with an eye to making good use of Queensland's Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act plus regulations to see places of most significance (eg Yrrmbal - sacred places)  recorded, databased, registered, and protected in Lore and Law

Bana Yarralji, Bana Yarralji Rangers Working on Country, plus TAFE Conservation and Land Management students all went out into the Nyungkal cultural landscape together to formally record, database and potentially register places that, on first glance, may not look particularly significant but, on further investigation have had long associations and hold plenty of significance in local Nyungkalwarra Lore

At each place visited Marilyn Walllace 'revealed' unexpected significances such as the otherwise 'hidden' location of Aboriginal rock art known within local mythology and stories telling of the non-Aboriginal invasion of Nyungkalwarra Country; or the almost sacred, local religious value of rocks laid in a trail along the ground a long time ago, by the Nyungkalwarra's rainbow serpent (at the junction of three rivers - Bangalnarran)

Photos were taken, global postioning system (gps) location reading were taken, forms were completed to be uploaded into the Nyungkalwarra system, and much interest generated in the rangers themsevles seeing these places databased, possibly registered, managed, and protected into the long term future, including some potentially significant visitor management arrangments to be implemented around the Bangalnarran sites

As an emerging cultural enterprise Bana Yarralji wishes to obtain cultural dividends of the above kind; Bana Yarralji is keen to see interpretative signs and full ranger involvement in providing a very immediate and real cultural experience to identified areas (teaching respect for Lore to future visitors); and Bana Yarralji needs to be able to work out how to generate some income out of all of this,  possibly in the form of some kind of user pays visitor permitting system or guide service   .. all to be further explored in an effort to see sustainable business practices applied to achieving desired cultural dividends.

Hosting Planners, Land Use Planning, and Securing Role within Land Use Plans

Bana Yarralji has just this week co-authored a proposed article for the Queensland Planner (December edition) entitled "On the Ground - Planning on Eastern Kuku Yalanji Country" in which Nyungkalwarra Country (in the northern most portion of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area) was described as follows:

[It].. is a rich bioculturally diverse landscape interwoven with extensive networks of Aboriginal 'highways' that were once heavily used (MacCracken 1989), filled with large numbers of living areas that were once densely occupied (Horsfall & Hall 1990). 

A rough map of this Nyungkalwarra country (courtesy of CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences) at the core of which the Bana Yarralji ranger base sits, within which Bana Yarralji wishes to host whole range of activites bringing work, employment, and cultural dividends to Nyungkalwarra families  is copied below (ie gives general sense of how busy the landscape is with Aboriginal estates, plus sense of proportion of extent of proposed Aboriginal freehold - pink, extent of proposed Aboriginal nature refuge - yellow, and proposed new National Park - lighter green):

The Queensland Planner article in which Nyungkalwarra Country is described as a cultural landscape arises out of cultural entreprenuer (Marilyn Wallace) and Bana Yarralji's efforts to:

i.   partner with James Cook University's School of Earth and Environmental Sciences to encourage the Australian Institute of Planning to certify a proposed remote indigenous community planning course for up and coming town planners, and

ii.  partner with James Cook University's School of Earth and Environmental Sciences to see up and comming town planners undertake indigenous community field work in Nyungkalwarra Country, hosted by Bana Yarralji (of course!)

Marilyn Wallace was a sole Aboriginal voice addressing a workshop of the Planning Institute of Australia, in Cairns, on Friday, 19 August 2011 and, while the Planning Institute of Australia itself may not have been ready to see emerging planners undertaking coursework in the field working with Aboriginal groups like Bana Yarralji, the editor of the Queensland Planner was sufficiently inspired as to produce an edition of the Queensland Planner all about the whole field, and strong social justice need for indigenous community planning expertise and training.

In the meantime:

i.   Over the September 10 & 11 2011 weekend, Bana Yarralji Working on Country provided some assistance hosting a meeting of Nyungkalwarra Elders up on Country plus CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences  Dr Ro Hill, to complete drafting of a Caring for Kuku Nyungkal Country Indigenous Protected Area Plan for future management of nature refuges and new National Parks which will very soon encircle the Bana Yarralji ranger/ cultural enterprise base

ii.  Also next weekend (Saturday 19 November 2011) Bana Yarralji has assembled legal representation from P&E law, additional legal support (probono) from Norton Rose, plus policy advice from the Cape York Institute and Balkanu Caring for Country Unit   .. [quite an effort!!] ... to meet with the Aboriginal land trust (Jabalbina Yalanji Aboriginal Corporation) plus Cape York Land Council legal representatives and barristers ..

...where  it is hoped everyone will finally start digging, together, through that complex quagmire of Aboriginal Lore and Australian Law to jointly reveal viable Aboriginal land leasing options, with which to secure Bana Yarralji's assets, place, and role on country .. plus enable Bana Yarralji Cultural Enterprise to obtain tenure sufficient to raise funds and conduct business (ie a cultural enterprise running from Country, being a cultural enterprise hoping to generate cultural divendends for all Nyungkalwarra wishing to live and make a living on Country)

Bana Yarralji Ranger Base 'Opened' for Business

The Bana Yarralji cultural enterprise continues to plough ahead.  The Bana Yarralji cultural entreprenuers, Marilyn and Peter Wallace plus families have not rested in their ceaseless pursuit of cultural dividends for family and friends wishing to live and work on country.   It is only the record of Bana Yarralji's endeavours. within this blog, that has dropped off.

Back in September, for instance (it's now November!) the Bana Yarralji entreprenuers suceeded in recruiting the assistance of local Cooktown event manager and Bana Yarralji partner, Vanessa Gillen; together with project managers, Centre for Appropriate Technolgy to put out press releases, cut many many sandwitches, put up a marquee

.. and on the Friday afternoon (streching into the evening), 9 September 2011, somehow everything came together for Bana Yarralji to give thanks, celebrate, and open the brand new Bana Yarralji ablutions block (Cape York's most expensive loo), office block, caravan, shipping container, phone, power and water   ..opening the whole Bana Yarralji ranger base for business.

The Koori Mail was there (see top portion of the article below), many of the the Nyungkalwarra Elders were there;  engineering firm Aurecon (represented by Aurecons' Trevor Sharrock) was there, CSIRO Tropical Sustainable Ecosystems Ro Hill  was there, Invasive Animals CRC research Kana Koitchi was there, Glamorgan University students, Balkanu Caring for Country Business Manager was there, Department of Environment and Resource Management was there,!!   There were lots of people there to finally have a look at plus try out long envisioned facilities, listen to some speeches, and  celebrate Bana Yarralji achievements to date.

Bana Yarralji's cultural entrepreurs Marilyn Wallace and Peter Wallace took the oppotunity;

-  to welcome everyone including particularly Nyungkalwarra elders to make use of the new facilities; 

-  to eleborate on their vision as a hopeful vision of a healthier people taking up more healthy and rewarding living working on country;

-  to seek the blessing of everyone including particularly the Nyungkalwarra elders to continue to push ahead and show the way for Nyungkalwarra to return to live and make a living on country, and 

-  to ask for their support to obtain a commercial lease needed to secure control over the assetts, obtain possible business loans, and run their enterprise as an enterprise.

Altogether a postive and uplifting occasion for all who participated, but didn't seem the Nyungalwarra elders themselves quite understood just what kind of life energy and effort these basic facilities and ranger base represented; nor did they really seem to know how any one of them might go about supporting plus promoting commercial leases nor any kind of leases for anyone on Country (there are none!), let along supporting Bana Yarralji to get the leases they want.