Year 10 Discovering Country Camp
Discovering Country is our Western District Indigenous Studies Camp, now in its fifth year. We had a great time, spending time with one another, connecting as a whole group and being able to explore the Western District. The camp provided a valuable opportunity to be able to listen to Indigenous people, to learn, to respect and to tread lightly on the land. This is such as important way of following through on our commitment to the journey of reconciliation. For the first half of the trip, we stayed in Gariwerd (the Grampians), which is in Jardwadjali and Djab Wurrung Country and then for the second part we stayed in Portland in Gunditjmara Country.
In Gariwerd, as well as outdoor activities such as the flying fox, giant swing and archery, we spent time learning about Jardwardjali culture. With Jardwardjali Elder, Aunty Nerissa, we visited significant cultural sites, such as Bunjil’s Shelter, where she explained the importance of these sites and the Dreaming connected to those areas.
The second part of the camp, we were based in Portland. We took a day trip to visit the Budj Bim Cultural Landscape, which includes Budj Bim National Park, Tae Rak Aquaculture Centre and Kurtonitj. Our Gunditjmara guide, Luke, shared with us about the world’s oldest aquaculture system and everything you would ever need to know about eels.
We also spent time at Tower Hill, with Reuben, where we learnt about bush tucker, medicinal plants, Gunditjmara tools, weapons and musical instruments.
Back in Portland, with Shea, we learnt about the local Portland area, Gunditjmara culture, and in particular, the impacts of colonisation on this area, especially given that Portland was the first permanent European settlement in Victoria. This included the conflict between the whalers and local Gunditjmara people, which involved a massacre of Gunditjmara people at the Convincing Ground in the 1830s. Shea, who has a passion for fossils and artifacts, taught us about shark fossils, showing us a selection of his collection and took us fossicking for fossils on the beach near our campsite.
It was really special for me, to see our students respectfully engaging and seeing the links between what we had been looking at in class and what we learnt and experienced on camp.
Natalie Thomas
Secondary Teacher
Student Reflections
During Year 10 camp, we travelled to the Grampians and Portland. I loved seeing and learning about all of the indigenous sights like Budj Bim. It was so cool learning about how eel traps work and getting to see some of Gunditjmara cultural significant sites.
Some highlights for me were getting to see one of the villages that the Gunditjmara people made, it's mind blowing how they are able to make such cool huts by hand and how detailed their work is. I also loved learning about the land; it's so amazing learning how significant the land is to the Gunditjmara people and how many stories they have to share about it. At Budj Bim I also got to try eel, it was smoky, salty and had a very strong taste, it reminded me of salmon.
And of course, back at our camp. Spending time with friends, having amazing food. At night when we did trivia with questions that were clearly for the teachers, barn dancing and people kept stepping on each other's toes and creating a dance that my group obviously won that was golden.
In reflection, I learnt a lot from Shea, Luke, Reuben and Aunty Nerissa about the land, culture and way of living, and I'm thankful for the time they spent with us.
Kirralee
If you had told me 2 years ago I would be going hours away for 7 days on my own accord, I would have laughed at you, but this experience changed my mind. Visiting the 12 apostles and sitting on the bus watching movies together was a massive highlight. Year 10 camp helped me grow in my knowledge of the aboriginal people and their heritage. In our final 2 days we went to see budj bim and tower hill. At budj bim we got to taste eel and take a long walk around the property learning about the aboriginal smoking trees and the method of how their huts were built. While in tower hill we learnt about the many different tools, weapons and instruments used by gunditjmara people. Along side these two places we also saw a plethora of different significant sights, such as the grandmother and grandfather turtles in halls gap. On the last days after budj bim and tower hill, we all got to go fossicking (looking for bones). I found a shark tooth, and someone even found an entire leg bone. In conclusion I found the camp extremely worth it and had an enjoyable time. I highly suggest going on this camp to grow as a person and learn more about aboriginal culture.
Hunter
