Young First Nations Leaders: baring djuwima

Did You Know? The season has changed!

This term, we have moved from Murna (Yam Daisy) and Ngerri (Black Duck) time to Wai-kalk (Golden Wattle) and Datim-datim (Boomerang) time. This season generally lasts from May to June, and during this time, you will notice wattle starting to bloom as well as an abundance of frogs and fungi!

Changing of the Season Excursion

On Monday, the 4th of May, students attended the 'Changing of the Season' event in Bendigo Mall. As part of welcoming the new season, students participated in a traditional smoking ceremony, experiencing the cleansing smoke created from eucalypt and ballart trees. For many of our students, this was their first opportunity to take part in a smoking ceremony, providing a meaningful and memorable cultural learning experience. Throughout the day, students also visited several sites of cultural significance within the Bendigo CBD, deepening their understanding of local First Nations history, culture and connection to Country.

See below what students learned about their cultural experience:

Smoking Ceremony:

-Datim datim is a boomerang and we walked through smoke to cleanse the negative energy away (Delilah)

-Also, this season is for golden wattle and datim datim. Djarra country has 6 seasons instead of 4 (Elli).

Scar tree at Ulumbarra Theatre: I learned that people carve out trees to make baby carriers, canoes and shields (Abigail)

Ancestor Tree Artwork 'Marti Gulli Galki' at Gov Hub (Artist: Rebecca Phillips): I learned about the grandma and grand father tree and how they watch over country.

If you are interested in learning about the next season Wanyarra (water) and Gurri (Kangaroo), the next ceremony will be held in the Hargreaves Mall on July 1st. See flyer below for details.

Bush Tucker Garden Update

This term, the students have been keeping the Mountain Pepper and Lilli Pilli alive by watering them throughout the week. We have noticed the Lilli Pilli has started to flower but we have not seen any berries yet. If you have a Lilli Pilli growing on your property, you might notice the berries starting to grow.

Bush Tucker Learning...

We have continued to learn about Bush Tucker this term and have used our knowledge of the plants to put together another page for our Bush Tucker Guide. Students researched saltbush and recorded their learning. We then used this learning to make some saltbush chips from the saltbush growing in the bush block (with the help of some 3/4 and 5/6 classes in Green STEM). These were shared at a conference Mrs Ladd, Mrs Fullard, Mrs Whyte and Miss Aburrow attended- they were a hit!