Port Phillip and Westernport Catchment Management Authority | Organisations get involved in indigenous cross cultural awareness

15 May 2017

On Friday 5 May, the PPWCMA hosted an indigenous cross cultural training day in Bacchus Marsh with the Wurundjeri Land Council and Moorabool Shire Council. Participants heard about cultural practices, history, language, artefacts, traditional burning and much more.Elspeth Swan from Victorian Volcanic Plains Conservation Management Network (VVP CMN) has written a wonderful piece about the day. Read the article below and access the full article with more images on the VVP CMN website.
Last Friday Port Phillip & Westernport CMA, Wurundjeri Elders and Moorabool Shire hosted an indigenous cross cultural training day in Bacchus Marsh. In June, there will be another similar day with the Wathaurong. If you ever get the chance to attend one of these events, I recommend it.

It was fascinating to hear about cultural practices, history, language, artefacts, traditional burning and much more. As many of us are aware, not all the stories reflect well on past practices but it is exciting to hear about the current projects that offer opportunities to connect people with their land and traditions.

One of the aims was to remind land managers involved in revegetation or rabbit ripping projects of the value and history of Aboriginal cultural heritage, the need to consider cultural heritage early on in project planning, and the requirement to comply with our obligations under the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 2006.

If you have an interest in having an awareness of what you may find in the landscape you may be interested in these Aboriginal Cultural Heritage mini posters which cover aboriginal surface scatters, quarries, flaked stone tools and scarred trees for example.

The afternoon session involved a walk in the nearby Long Forest Nature Conservation Reserve to look for stone artefacts and scarred trees.