Cultural Connections

Indigenous Garden Update

On Tuesday 22 October we had the pleasure of having Ross Alison a Kaurna artist and landscaper come into our Indigenous Garden site and work with our cultural connections students on cutting a traditional Kaurna shield out from one of our gumtrees located in the garden shield. 

Ross first of talked us through the process of cutting the shield drawing out an outline to proceed with the cutting, using hand tools such as chisels, hammers and axes, Ross started the process by chiseling the bark and then the group one by one had a go using traditional methods to gradually cut out the shield. 

This process took about 40 minutes in all with the climax being Ross levering one side of the shield off and the bark popping and then the shield coming straight of the side of the tree. Leaving a shield shape in the old gum tree that will be there for generations to come for all to enjoy and also the actual shield which Ross will be drying out and shaping and painting with a traditional design. The painted shield will be displayed within the school.

All students were engaged and amazed by the process of the shield cutting and felt privileged to be involved in the process, asking questions along the way and showing a genuine interest in this once in a lifetime cultural experience.  

Thus far we have:

• Engaged a Kaurna elder Uncle Tamaru, to undertake a session with the students and at the same time do a smoking ceremony in the garden 
• Worked weekly with the students to hear their ideas for creating a space that reflects Culture in an inclusive way and that represents a sense of place for all students 
• Workshopped ideas around art in the garden space and how it can represent culture and inclusion 
• Engaged Kaurna artist and landscaper Ross Alison to undertake a session with the students on what the garden could look like via their ideas 

The students have also come up with a design and you may have seen the beginning of the shaping the garden space. 

From here Ross Alison, Kaurna landscape will provide a quote to install paths, a yarning circle, and rocks for seating.