Learning and Teaching Investment Fund final report

The place of ecology in cultural heritage management of Indigenous Protected Areas: Building resources for student engagement in an Indigenous Protected Area (IPA) through an on-Country experience Rick Ryan Science Engineering and Health

27 February 2015

Strategic objectives addressed: • Engaging with each city’s Indigenous and immigrant communities, their aspirations and experiences is an essential part of our mission and plan (RMIT University Strategic Plan - Urban Priority 1). • Show understanding of the social and cultural heritage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia through active engagement with individuals and communities (RMIT Graduate Attribute 1). • Respect for Indigenous cultures is reflected in our work (RMIT University Value – Fair).

Internal order number: 360438

Project team members: • Professor Barry Judd RMIT Indigenous Specialisation School of Global, Urban and Social Studies • Bruce Partland Teacher, School of Vocational Health and Sciences • Patricia Newstead Deputy Head - Learning & Teaching, School of Vocational Health and Sciences • Uncle Mick Edwards Aboriginal Liaison Officer, School of Vocational Health and Sciences

Funding scheme LTIF contestable X

Program Development Fund

RMIT Vietnam Program Development Fund The place of ecology in cultural heritage management of Indigenous Protected Areas: Building resources for student engagement in an Indigenous Protected Area (IPA) through an on- Country experience.

1 Executive summary In 2014 SEH College developed an Indigenous Specialisation elective that gives students an ‘on- Country’ experience in South Eastern Australia. In this elective students develop an understanding of the interrelationship between cultural and historical aspects and the ecology of the site while on- Country and through engagement with Aboriginal Elders and community. LTIF funds were sought and used to successfully develop culturally sensitive and appropriate curriculum materials for students and staff engaged in this and other Indigenous Specialisation electives. Consequently, this project set out to build a resource with the primary source being Aboriginal people and organisations. The materials developed are housed in a Google site “Environment and Culture: Ecological and Aboriginal Understandings of Country” accessible to the RMIT community and although these materials focus on the localities listed below they are essentially case studies of relevance to any staff or student engaged in Indigenous studies. The outcomes of this LTIF thus have wider, ongoing impacts across all three Colleges at RMIT. In addition to curriculum materials, this project also set out to expand the number of destinations available to RMIT students for on-Country experiences. The project enhanced and expanded existing relationships with the Gunditjmara people of Lake Condah, Western Victoria, and new relationships were established with Yorta Yorta of the Murray-Goulburn region /Barmah National Park of Northern Victoria and the Barkindji, Mutthi Mutthi and Ngiyampaa who are the traditional owners of the Country that takes in Lake Mungo and the larger Willandra Lakes World Heritage Area of South Western New South Wales. The Indigenous community groups as well as representatives of governmental bodies such as Parks Victoria & NSW and World Heritage as well as non-Indigenous people with long standing connections to these locations were consulted and their role and contribution to the ongoing delivery of Indigenous Specialisation courses explored. Engagement with Elders of the Wurundjeri (greater Melbourne area) was also enhanced and a local (Melbourne) on-Country experience established as a foundation learning activity of the course. These existing and new relationships provide the opportunity for further expansion of Indigenous Specialisation courses at RMIT and, although tentative, can provide useful springboards for future expansion of RMIT’s cultural understandings and engagement with Aboriginal communities in South Eastern Australia. The targeted use of LTIF funding to promote improved learning for students (and staff) across all disciplines and attainment of graduate attributes in cultural understanding demonstrates the vision of the university in engaging (and sometime challenging) historic and contemporary conceptions of Aboriginal Australia as part of the mainstream curriculum. Such vision has resulted in the development of creative, relevant and appropriate resources and relationships and has thus opened new windows of opportunities that can be further capitalised upon into the future.

Barmah-Millewa National Park and the Murray-Goulburn region (Yorta Yorta)

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2 Outcomes This project developed culturally sensitive and appropriate curriculum materials relevant to students and staff engaged in courses that engages in Indigenous studies, particularly RMIT Indigenous Specialisation courses. By drawing on learning experiences from AERS1003 Environment and Culture: Ecological and Aboriginal understandings of Country a Google site was created which focuses on four locations in south eastern Australia. The project commenced in RMIT’s ‘back yard’ with an introduction from an Elder of the Wurundjeri clan of the Kulin Nation who are acknowledged by RMIT University as the traditional owners of the land on which the University stands. Visitors to the Google site are then able to branch out and engage with the: • Gunditjmara people of Lake Condah/ Portland region of south western Victoria. • Yorta Yorta people of the Murray-Goulburn region /Barmah National Park region of northern Victoria. • Barkindji, Mutthi Mutthi and Ngiyampaa peoples who are the traditional owners of the Country that takes in Lake Mungo and the larger Willandra Lakes World Heritage Area of south western New South Wales. Staff and students will also utilise the Google site to gain an understanding, form an Indigenous perspective of: • Indigenous ecological knowledge (IEK) • The concept of country and custodianship • Belief (Dreaming), Identity & Lore (Law) • Heritage • Traditional knowledge, Intellectual property & Genetic resources • Protocols: Consultation & Acknowledgement Through meeting, listening to and respectful interactions with Elders the project team has established (or enhanced) relationships with Aboriginal people and organisations from the above named areas. The outcome of these interactions is that in 2015 RMIT has been granted to take students from disciplines such as Design, Conservation and Land management, Planning, Fine Arts, Engineering, Economics, Environmental Science, and others to visit, listen and learn from Wurundjeri, Gunditjmara, Barkindji, Mutthi Mutthi and Ngiyampaa Elders and community. These students will have a unique opportunity to reflect on their experience with the focus being how their future professional practice will be informed by their experiences on-Country. This is an outstanding outcome for RMIT and one that will endure well beyond the initial funding. 3 Project outcomes and impacts 3.1 A range of culturally appropriate and sensitive resources built around an on country experience in an Indigenous Protected Area

The project achieved this outcome via the creation of a Google site “Environment and Culture: Ecological and Aboriginal Understandings of Country” which focuses on the four regions of south eastern Australia that we engaged with. In addition, the resources are founded on reference materials specifically chosen because the authors are Aboriginal organisations, communities or individuals. It is important to note that each area has different status/ recognition afforded them by state, national and international organisations:

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• Lake Mungo and the Willandra Lakes region (Barkindji, Mutthi Mutthi and Ngiyampaa) National Park (listed April 1979) • Willandra Lakes World Heritage Area (listed 1981) • Mungo National Park Joint Management Agreement (ratified March 24, 2001) • National Heritage List (listed 21 May 2007) • Mungo State Conservation Area (listed January 2011) • China & Japan Migratory Birds Agreement (listed 1974) • Barmah Moira Lakes, protected under Ramsar Convention (Barmah listed in 1982, Millewa listed in 2003) • Cultural Heritage Agreement (Victoria) signed under the Aboriginal Heritage Act 2006 (ratified 2009) • Barmah-Millewa National Park (Barmah listed 2010, Millewa listed) • Traditional Owner Land Management Agreement (TOLMA) between Victoria and the Yorta Yorta people establishs the Yorta Yorta Traditional Owner Land Management Board for Barmah National Park (October 2010) Lake Condah/ Heywood region (Gunditjmara) • Budj Bim National Heritage Landscape (Included in the National Heritage List on 20 July 2004) • Native Title: Federal Court of Australia makes two consent determinations over almost 140,000 hectares north-west of Warrnambool, recognising the Gunditjmara People’s native title rights over the majority of the area (30 March 2007) • Lake Condah Indigenous Protected Area, Heywood, Victoria (Declared in April 2010) Greater Melbourne (Wurundjeri) • Wurundjeri Tribe Land and Compensation Cultural Heritage Council, established in 1985

3.2 Sufficient evidence to support an ongoing and sustainable relationship between RMIT and the indigenous community and other relevant stakeholders in the project. Increased opportunities for on-going relationships between RMIT and IPAs Over the course of this project the project team established relationships with representatives of various Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal organisations as well as individuals of standing in their respective communities, including: Greater Melbourne (Wurundjeri): • Uncle Bill Nicholson (Education Manager: Wurundjeri Tribe Land and Compensation Cultural Heritage Council) • Uncle Colin Walker (Yorta Yorta Council of Elders) from the Yenbena Training Centre • Mick Caldwell (Parks Victoria, Ranger Team Leader) • Aunty Eileen Alberts and Uncle Kenny Saunders (Gunditjmara Elders) • Matthew Butt (Land Management Coordinator, Winda-Mara Aboriginal Corporation)

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Figure 1: Wurundjeri Elder, Uncle Bill Nicholson shares the stories of his people, past and present with RMIT students on- Country. Photo: Bruce Partland

Figure 2: Mick Caldwell explains to RMIT students Figure 3: (Left to right) Uncle Colin Walker and Mick Edwards how his family have been cattleman and loggers in the examine a scar tree at the Yenbena Training Centre, Barmah. Barmah- Millewa region for generations and the Photo: Bruce Partland impact of changes due to water, logging and other regulations. Photo: Rick RyanLake Condah/ Heywood region (Gunditjmara)

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Figure 4: Uncle Kenny Saunders explains to RMIT students what archaeologists have described as the remains of semi- circular stone-walled houses and fish traps near Lake Condah. Photo: Bruce Partland

Lake Mungo and the Willandra Lakes region (Barkindji, Mutthi Mutthi and Ngiyampaa): • Warren Clarke (Executive Officer & Park Ranger: Mungo National Park Joint Management committee, NSW Parks) • Uncle Noel (Elder representing the Mungo National Park Joint Management committee) • Daryl Pappin (Ranger: Willandra Lakes World Heritage Area)

Figure 5: Professor Barry Judd (left) with Warren Clarke at the Lake Mungo site where hundreds of child, adolescent and adult footprints (now protected from the elements) dating back to about 20,000BC were found. This is the oldest in Australia and largest collection of its kind in the world. Photo: Rick Ryan

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Figure 6: (Left to right) Bruce Partland, Warren Clarke, Mick Edwards, Uncle Noel and Barry Judd survey the Lake Mungo Salt Bush covered plains. Photo: Rick Ryan

Testament to the success of engagement during this project is reflected in the fact that cohorts of up to 20 RMIT students and staff have or will be undertaking field trips to the following regions: • Lake Condah/ Heywood region (Gunditjmara) September 2014, May 2015 & August-September 2015 • Barmah-Millewa National Park and the Murray-Goulburn region (Yorta Yorta) September 2014 and 2015 • Lake Mungo and the Willandra Lakes region (Barkindji, Mutthi Mutthi and Ngiyampaa) June-July 2015 • Greater Melbourne (Wurundjeri) September 2014, June-July and August-September 2015

3.3 Improved understandings by RMIT staff and students of indigenous issues as they relate to bio-diversity, conservation and natural resources as it intersects Aboriginal culture and knowledge Students and staff who have or will participate in RMIT Courses that visit the regions this project engaged with will come away with far greater understandings of issues as they relate to biodiversity, conservation and natural resources as it intersects Aboriginal culture and knowledge. In addition, the Google site will remain as (and continue to grow) as a site for learning for any person interested in Aboriginal studies. However, in relation to RMIT staff awareness (specifically) it is apparent that unless RMIT staff are afforded an opportunity to address their own ignorance regarding indigenous worldviews, epistemologies and ontologies by being immersed in the indigenous context, as noted by Howlett 2013, ‘there is a real danger that the inclusion of indigenous knowledge’s as ‘add-ons’ to mainstream courses, without a concomitant acknowledgement of indigenous knowledge as equal knowledge, will therefore be mere tokenism’. The learning required by staff is not possible via books or websites alone but requires professional development that engages with Indigenous perspectives in an Indigenous context led by Indigenous Academics and Education organisations. This assertion is supported by recent studies at Griffith University in Indigenising Environmental Science Curriculum: Developing Strategies for

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Inclusive Practices in Higher Education (Howlett et al., 2013) which concluded that there is a ‘crucial need for professional development prior to any attempts towards Indigenisation of the curriculum’. 4 Dissemination strategies and outputs The critical outcomes from this project are: • The value and importance of relationships that have been developed with the Aboriginal and communities, organisations and individuals (listed above) during the course of this project can’t be underestimated. Without first developing relationships that demonstrate trust and respect, engagement with Aboriginal communities, organisations and individuals would not be possible • The Google site “Environment and Culture: Ecological and Aboriginal Understandings of Country” https://sites.google.com/a/rmit.edu.au/environmentandculture/ (at the time of reporting on this project, this Google site is still under construction) The projects outcomes will be shared via: • Sharing of the Google site with staff involved with RMIT Indigenous Specialisation courses through the Indigenous Specialisation Coordinators meeting • Over time as engagement between RMIT and these Aboriginal groups increase, so does understanding and trust. As a consequence, opportunities to extend and diversify engagement between RMIT and the Aboriginal and communities, organisations and individuals (listed above) are realised. For example, project staff and students from the following courses have (or will in 2015) engage with these communities:

o AERS1003: Lake Condah (Gunditjmara), Greater Melbourne (Wurundjeri) and the o Willandra Lakes region (Barkindji, Mutthi Mutthi and Ngiyampaa) o HUSO2066: Lake Condah (Gunditjmara) o ENVI1048: Greater Melbourne (Wurundjeri) o HUSO5098C: Barmah-Millewa region (Yorta Yorta), Lake Condah (Gunditjmara) and Greater Melbourne (Wurundjeri) 5 Evaluation of project outcomes As at the time of reporting on this project the Google site “Environment and Culture: Ecological and Aboriginal Understandings of Country” is still under construction as a consequence we are unable to report on its impact. This site will be utilised by students in courses delivered in 2015 with feedback sought to inform enhancements as required. The success of engagement with the Aboriginal and communities, organisations and individuals (listed above) is evidenced by the fact that RMIT University staff and students have been invited to return to the regions visited.

Bibliography

Howlett, C., Ferreria, J., Seini, M. & Matthews, C. (2013). Indigenising the Griffith School of Environment Curriculum: Where to From Here? The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 42, pp. 68-74 doi:10.1017/ jie.2013.7 Retrieved from file://ntapprdfs01n02.rmit.internal/eh6/e61766/Configuration/Desktop/90073_1.pdf RMIT University (2014). Strategic Plan 2015: Transforming the Future. Retrieved from http://mams.rmit.edu.au/lwcbqa77mwt01.pdf RMIT University (2015), RMIT University Values. Retrieved from http://www.rmit.edu.au/about/our- strategy/values/

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RMIT University (2015), RMIT University Learning and Teaching, Graduate attributes. Retrieved from http://www1.rmit.edu.au/browse;ID=x559uexupoz

Photographic Acknowledgement Fernando de Sousa, 12 potter's sanctuary, https://www.flickr.com/photos/fernando/5017345981 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic license. Parks Victoria, Great Egret at Barmah Lakes, https://www.flickr.com/photos/parks_victoria/5409631490 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial 2.0 Generic license. Brittgow, Reflections at Lake Condah, https://www.flickr.com/photos/brittgow/9273673855 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial 2.0 Generic license. Jojo, DSC02876[1], https://www.flickr.com/photos/jojof/13935082064 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

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Appendix A Images from the Barham-Millewa region (Yorta Yorta)

Figure 8: Mick Edwards and local Yorta Yorta woman at Yenbena Training Centre Photo: Bruce Partland

Figure 9: Old Man Weed, an important & widely used Figure 7: Rescued Scar tree in the grounds of Yorta Yorta medicinal plant found in damp areas. Photo: Bruce Partland Nation’s offices, Barmah. Photo: Bruce Partland

Figure 10: RMIT students and staff learn from Yorta Yorta Educators about Yorta Yorta cultural practices at the Yenbena Training Centre, Barmah. Photo: Rick Ryan

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Images from the Lake Condah region (Gunditjmara)

Figure 11: As RMIT student s and Mick Edwards listen intently as Aunty Eileen Alberts (centre) explains how the traditional skill of eel basket weaving (for trapping eels) was almost lost due to fears among Figure 12: Students learn about the fish traps indigenous women that passing on such knowledge would result in their built on the lava flows Tyrendarra/ Lake children being taken from them by the authorities Photo: Bruce Partland Condah Photo: Bruce Partland

Figure 13: RMIT Indigenous students teach RMIT non-Indigenous students about their culture. As part of their Conservation and Land Management program, Budj Bim Rangers doing their Cert II & III demonstrate their knowledge and presentation skills as their Elders and Teacher (Bruce Partland) look on at the Winda-Mara Aboriginal Corporation training rooms. Photo: Bruce Partland

Figure 14: Students visit sites west of Portland where they observe middens (food waste pits containing shellfish and other debris), reported by archaeologists as evidence of Aboriginal use dating back at least 11300 years. Photo: Rick Ryan

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Images from the greater Melbourne region (Wurundjeri)

Figure 15: Uncle Bill Nicholson explains to RMIT students that there are Aboriginal sites which contain cultural material from past activities are all around us. Such as this Wurundjeri site on the outskirts of Melbourne which, 'to the inexperienced eye' may easily be mistaken for a vacant block surrounded by residential development. Photo: Bruce Partland

Figure 16: Filming Uncle Bill Nicholson for the Google site produced as a part of this LTIF grant at the confluence of the Merri Creek and Yarra River (Birrarung Marr). Photo: Rick Ryan

Figure 17: During filming, Uncle Bill Nicholson explains Figure 18: Uncle Bill talks with RMIT students about the how at different times of the year fruit from the same bush tribes who lived along the Birrarung Marr and performs was used for food or contraceptive Photo: Bruce Partland. a Smoking Ceremony. Photo: Rick Ryan

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Lake Mungo region (Barkindji, Mutthi Mutthi and Ngiyampaa)

Figure 19: Budj Bim Rangers (Gunditjmara) who are doing Cert III in Conservation and Land Management on a field trip to Lake Mungo where they are hosted by Barkindji, Mutthi Mutthi and Ngiyampaa Rangers. Photo: Bruce Partland

Figure 20: Bruce Partland, Daryl Pappin Figure 21: Mick Edwards and Professor Barry Judd beside a Scar Tree at (Ranger: Willandra Lakes World Heritage the confluence of the Murray and Darling rivers, , Wentworth, NSW. This Area) and Professor Barry Judd walk across location is known as ‘Junction Island’ and is close to the location where the ‘Walls of China’ in the footsteps of a loan a large number of Aborigines, armed with spears and weapons, Emu, who drags its middle toe. threatened Captain Sturt as he sailed down the Murray on his expedition Photo: Rick Ryan to find the inland sea. Students visit this site after Lake Mungo.

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