First Nations Trainees Learn The Ways Of The Bindal And Juru People

The Burdekin region has a rich Indigenous history and has been home to the Bindal and Juru Aboriginal people for centuries.

This week, 10 Townsville-based trainees visited the region to learn about the history and culture of its Traditional Owners as part of a traineeship with the Gudjuda Reference Group Aboriginal Corporation.

The traineeship, funded through the Skilling Queenslanders for Work Program, is a full-time, paid traineeship opportunity for First Nations participants aged between 17 and 21.

“We are training young First Nations people around land and sea management activities and exposing them to opportunities in the workplace around becoming land and sea rangers,” said Gudjuda Reference Group Aboriginal Corporation Project Manager Leah Saltner.

While in the Burdekin, the trainees interacted with Gudjuda Reference Group’s rangers across a number of projects on country.

They were also guided through the Juru Walk where Bindal Traditional Owner and Gudjuda Reference Group Ranger Eddie Smallwood guided them on a cultural tour of the native plant life.

“I just assist in teaching the younger fellas about bush tucker and what the medicines are for,” Mr Smallwood said.

“Our people have been using medicines for thousands of years so it’s good to see these young people learning about our culture.”

As the trainees learn about trees and vegetation, they’ll move onto reading the landscape and controlling cultural burning.

In the next two weeks, the trainees will then learn about turtle nesting where they will get the opportunity to camp with the rangers at Wunjunga, watch turtles come to the beach to lay their eggs and assist rangers to relocate the eggs away from predators.

They will also complete training and certification in Conservation and Ecosystem Management, scuba diving, cultural fire burning, boat and drone operation and seagrass monitoring throughout the program.

“It’s giving them work experience but it’s also creating a culturally safe space where they can learn and see whether this type of ranger work suits them or not,” said Ms Saltner.

“We’re also giving them opportunities to talk to other employers to see what fits, what they like, what they don’t like, and supporting them in whatever that career choice is going to be.”

“We want to get them career ready, so if they want to look after country, there might be opportunities for ranger jobs as not only Indigenous rangers but non-Indigenous rangers, so we’re looking at trying to skill them up to give them better opportunity in the workforce,” added Mr Smallwood.

“Our elders passed on a lot of stuff to me so it’s important for me to pass it on to our younger generation.”

Gudjuda Reference Group Aboriginal Corporation was established in 1999 to support Traditional Owner groups, becoming a not-for-profit Indigenous social enterprise with a focus on education, employment and training.

The Reference Group run a number of education and land and sea management programs, and Mr Smallwood urges everyone to get involved.

“You don’t have to be a traditional owner to learn all this, you can be a non-Indigenous person too, to work together and learn about what’s out there, what the bush tucker means to us as Indigenous people and what sorts of medicines it is for our people,” he said.

“Try and have a listen and go and have a look around your own backyard.

“Everything’s got a purpose and everything’s got something to say, so just listen to the trees.”

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A group of 10 First Nations Trainees visited the Burdekin this week

Eddie Smallwood of Gudjuda Reference Group Aboriginal Corporation guided a ‘Bush Tukka Tour’ at Juru Walk. Photo credit: Sam Gillespie