![]() The Federal Government recently announced that September 30 is a federal statutory holiday – the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. September 30: National Day for Truth and Reconciliation While there is much left to do, all Canadians should be committed to working towards resolving the harm and traumas of Indigenous peoples and communities by listening, learning and working together to take meaningful action. To the Gundungurra people, however these sites, and those that indicated the transition between tribal areas, are clear to see.In recent years, Canadians have begun working towards Truth and Reconciliation with First Nation, Inuit and Métis (FNIM) communities for past injustices and crimes. Once again, many heritage sights are not at first apparent to the untrained eye. Thirty-six different features are found across these sites, including scarred trees used as ngullamurri or route markers to make bark stretchers, ceremonial rings, stone arrangements, pulla or burial sites, rock art and cave painting, and the grooved stones mentioned earlier as evidence of tool making. There are approximately 2,500 Heritage sites associated with Gundungurra People in the Greater Blue Mountains area, as recorded by the National Parks and Wildlife service, with 30 in the Oberon area alone. Only those who needed to continue on the track down to the caves and the nadyung would do so. Here, clan groups would rest after their journey to the nadyung. The sloping ground around it makes a natural bowl or amphitheatre with shelter from the wind. The land might have been cleared by canbee. The large open space at Jenolan, known as ‘The Old Sports Ground’ was once a traditional camp ground. Since these three explorers and their party made only one contact with the Gundungurra people, and that was accidental, it might be presumed that the fires Blaxland and his companions saw were signalling the Europeans’ presence. When Blaxland, Wentworth and Lawson were traversing the ridges of the upper Blue Mountains, from Katoomba to Mount Victoria, they could see the camp fires of Aboriginal families in the valley below, moving ahead of them. This avoided the wild fires, or bush fires that would devastate the landscape.ĭaily camp fires were lit for cooking and warmth. As late as the 1950’s in South Australia the Pintupi people burned in a jigsaw pattern of varying sizes. Many of these fires may have been deliberately lit.Īboriginal people made extensive use of canbee, but at a low level of burning, somewhat similar to the controlled burn offs of today.Ĭanbee was used to drive game towards hunters, to drive snakes away, to encourage rejuvenation or re-growth of grass, to attract kangaroos and wallabies and to clear a path through dense undergrowth.Įarly European explorers noted how skilfully and frequently the Aboriginal people used fire. The darker coloration often seen in sections of Jenolan’s caves, close to natural entrances, is the result of smoke from bushfires over many thousands of years. Numbuk is also part of general ceremonial purposes, both for nain and ngowal. This burning also pays respect to country, the old people and the Burriniliing. By burning the leaves of Boreen, specifically the acacia, they perform a cleansing ceremony. When entering or leaving country they hold a numbuk yabun. Numbuk yabbun, are very important to Aboriginal culture. ![]()
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