ATSI NEWS
Week 4, Term 1 2023
Tucker Trail Project
Last year a group of students participated in sessions that were part of an ongoing project to research and plan a Tucker trail and indigenous plant area around the oval. In term 4 the school was successful in a grant from Green Adelaide towards creating the Tucker Trail. From last year’s sessions, year 3-6 students, both Indigenous and non-indigenous, have formed a focus group to investigate native plants that classes can plant.
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On Friday 24TH February, the group was going to the Adelaide Botanic Gardens to attend a session on Aboriginal plant usage led by plant expert Trent Hill. Unfortunately, due to the hot weather the excursion was cancelled, however, Trent was able to come to our school instead.
At the site of the proposed Tucker trail and Garden, Trent spoke to us about the native plants we already have and suggested some of the trees we have researched that would fit into our garden plan. He told the students how some of our current plants and trees would have been used by the Kaurna people. The students were very engaged and interested in this information. Some student comments were:
- August and Koan – The leaves of the eucalyptus trees could be used for medication.
- Lola- If you rub the eucalyptus leaves together it smells like Vicks.
- Jaxon – Gum tree leaves can clear your sinuses.
- Ayva – Different parts of the trees can be used for medicine.
- Alexis – One of the trees had sap that you could lick, but you can’t bite it as if will stick to your teeth.
- Savannah – Possums would be caught to eat and their fur used for clothing.
- Elijah – Eucalyptus leaves smell good and is medicine. You can make returning and hunting boomerangs.
- Damien – Boys clothes could be made from kangaroo skin.
- Akeisha – You can use seeds for beads. The Kaurna people would move when the flowers turned yellow and then went fishing on the coast.
- Marsha – People used to use bark from the trees to hold stuff like water or food.
Check in future newsletters for more information about the Tucker Trail and Garden. Thank you to Green Adelaide for the grant. https://www.greenadelaide.sa.gov.au/
