In November 2021, ten young Aboriginal men met on Awabakal land to connect to self, community and culture.
The camp designed by Winanga-y Dreaming, in collaboration with We Care NSW, focussed on empowerment and growth.
The base point for the camp was Glenrock, an important area for Aboriginal people with its abundance of food, on land and in the water.
The area rich in stone and clay, historically helped in the building of tools, as evidenced by the axe-grinding grooves still visible around the place. Other Aboriginal sites of interest included campsites and middens.
The first day started at Yamuloong with various icebreaking activities and team building games to form connections in the group, through the leadership of Roo, Cody and Josh. These activities were held at various locations in Yamuloong, Glenrock and Mt Yengo.
The team-building activities followed by morning tea, created a solid foundation for a demonstration of Aboriginal artefacts and tools. The group then moved onto a hands-on workshop on local native plants in the afternoon. The night ended with a Corroboree, dancing and singing on the beach with a bonfire and having a yarn.
The morning of day two was centred around Mt Yengo on Darginjung country, with visits to significant Aboriginal sites and working on artefacts. Later back on Awabakal land, the group had free time with a mix of swimming, cultural games and activities, yarning, storytelling and further growing the connections already formed.
The final day had a strong cultural connection with Aboriginal language, dance, song, weaving with artwork being a main highlight. Finally, each attendee received assistance to create an Individual Cultural Plan by revising everything that had taken place over the three days. This ensured that everyone had set goals so that they could continue to embody their culture after they had left camp.
We hope to have future camps in the local area focussing on the following:
- Kinship
- Dance and Songs, including a Corroboree
- Language and Identity
- Demonstrations of Aboriginal artefacts and tools
- Discussions
- Workshops – Native plants, Weaving, Artwork
- Tours of significant Aboriginal sites.
