Moonbahlene Local Aboriginal Land Council has received a $10,000 discretionary grant from Aboriginal Affairs NSW to pursue more cultural programs for younger indigenous residents, after a successful foray into ‘in country’ excursions.
Aboriginal Affairs minister Sarah Mitchell joined MP Thomas George at the Land Council office on Monday, November 26 to announce the funding.
Mr George said he had contacted the minister with the Land Council’s request for support, and she was keen to find out more about what the council members planned.
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Helen Duroux said a recent trip of seven or eight boys along with men out to a rural property owned by the Land Council had proven very successful, despite the unpleasant weather at the time.
The group got busy cutting boomerangs, looking for suitable timber for didgeridoos and making clapping sticks. They even caught a wild pig and cooked it for dinner.
The feedback from the adventure was very positive.
“They said to me, ‘Aunty, we had the best time’,” Helen reported.
“We need to be doing more of that stuff, but Land Council funds are limited. We want to empower more men and boys, and women and girls, and we need to upskill some young ones.”
Helen said the Land Council hopes to create education packages to teach kids about their ancestry, inform them of the truth about colonisation and how to deal with intergenerational trauma.
Ms Mitchell said she welcomed the opportunity to hear first-hand about the work being done.
“This will be money spent well and invested back into the community,” she said.
