Awakabal Country | Credit: Saskia Wilson
Communities
Like our approach to managing various Country types, we work in different ways to support communities. There is no one single approach. We provide learning tools for communities so they can lead and determine the best way forward to manage and heal their own Country.
Hunter, NSW
Firesticks has been working with communities in the Hunter region since 2016 when the Biriban Local Aboriginal Land Council collaborated with local groups to return Cultural Fire to land in Morisset for the first time since colonisation. This sparked a pilot program led by four Local Aboriginal Land Councils to engage Firesticks in a series of Cultural Burns over four years. In 2020, the first Firesticks Mentoring Program began in the Hunter region which culminated in the recognition of 22 new Cultural Fire Practitioners in 2023. Throughout their mentorship, practitioners engaged in a series of interactive projects on Country, including the development of an interpretative signage guided tour that showcases their efforts to revive Cultural Fire practice.
“Through the Firesticks Mentoring Program, I’ve learnt about how Cultural Burning regenerates the land, getting rid of all the noxious material and bringing it back to how it was 300 years ago. Doing this fire training is so great. It just brings you back to Mother Earth and the connection that we have.”
Norman Archibald
Gumbaynggirr and Gomeroi Fire Practitioner
Journey of a Cultural Fire Practitioner – Whitney Ridgeway
A Firesticks and Backbone Co-Production filmed on Worimi Country.
