Indigenous Immersion

In the first week of term, Year 9 and 10 FIRE Carriers and Student Leaders went on a Indigenous Immersion to ‘Saltbush’ in Balnarring for two nights. In conjunction with St Bede’s College, we participated in many activities ranging from weaving to spear-throwing and learnt a lot about aboriginal culture. The leader of many of these activities was Adam, a Bunurong man who has worked with us at the College many times before.

We started off each day with a smoking ceremony which welcomed us to Bunurong Country and the plants that were used were wattle, manna gum and cherry ballart, which are all native to Bunurong country and have a significant meaning. 

On the first day we were welcomed and split up into boys and girls. The boys went off and painted while we sat around a fire and all weaved bracelets. This was such an amazing and fun experience as we learnt how to make a bracelet out of native plants and we also bonded as a group, talking and laughing together. That night we watched an eye-opening documentary, “In My Blood It Runs”, about a First Nations family who lives in Alice Springs. It discusses the education of Aboriginal children and how in the Northern Territory, at the time of filming, 100% of the children in the detention centres were Aboriginal.

The following day we learnt how to throw spears. Everyone was trying it out and it was such a fun experience as it is something the majority of us had never tried before. We then travelled down to the beach where Adam explained the geology of the area and what Bunurong people would have used the land for. At the beach we also went whale watching, unfortunately not spotting any.

That afternoon we went on a bush walk with a guide named Sean. He pointed out plants along our walk and explained how the Bunurong people would have used the plants, either for cooking or practical purposes. Everyone was also able to try a couple of these plants and eat them as the majority of them were extremely good for you, being high in vitamins and protein. The movie we watched that night was “The Sapphires”, based on a true story of a group of Aboriginal women who went to the Vietnam War and entertained the troops. 

On the final day, we went to Fort Nepean and we were able to explore all of the tunnels that the British had built when they colonised the area. It was so much fun and everyone enjoyed this as we were left on our own to explore the area. 

Overall, the Indigenous Immersion was extremely eye opening and interesting learning so much about Aboriginal and Bunurong culture. It was an experience I don’t think anyone would take back and everyone took something away from.

Emma Stevens
Year 10