healing country with fire
In April 2020 our bushtekniq team headed South for an Aboriginal Cultural Burn. Our sister Martina and family live on ‘Birkenburn’, a multi-generational farm in the southern tablelands of NSW. They have been on the extraordinary journey of rethinking land management practice with reforestation, regenerative agriculture and Aboriginal cultural burning.
In collaboration with fire practitioners from Koori Country Firesticks and Yarrabin Cultural Connections they began their journey of caring for Country with fire. bushtekniq was invited to participate.. an opportunity we jumped at!
The mountain side had not burnt for 40 years so there was alot of preparation to do. Den Barber of YCC read the country beautifully, determining best approaches and identifying parent trees to protect. In the days leading up to the burn, Jono, Anna and the crew worked tirelessly on rakhos and other tools to establish firebreaks.
The morning of the burn arrived and there was much excitement and anticipation among everyone there. After a safety briefing it was time to put fire back on Country, a truly special moment, rekindling ancient wisdom and practice of caring for Country.
Den and his crew generously shared their knowledge of fire and the qualities of Aboriginal cultural burns. We were surprised by the gentle and peaceful nature of a cool burn indicated by white smoke and the black ash left behind. White smoke is medicine for the trees - believed to help manage parasites and borers. In contrast, hot fires have dark smoke and leave white ash.
Fire is to be respected and can change very quickly with the weather and terrain. In some areas we would sit and watch the fire move slowly through the landscape. In others, if the fire was building in intensity we would be on the rakhos clearing around the big trees uphill to protect them.
We became intimate with the country through the preparation and experience of the burn. At night we camped at the base of the mountain and shared stories, building connection with the land and each other. We believe learning how to care for Country is our collective responsibility. Our own exploration of custodianship has lead us to connect with traditional cultural practice and we continue to deepen our commitment to learning and sharing this ever important work.
Birkenburn Farm sits in Gundungurra Country. Marty and her family had experienced first-hand the devastating impacts of the summer fires of 2019/20 on community and Country. This sharpened their resolve to be a part of the healing. They invited the local community and others to participate in this series of Aboriginal Cultural Burning Workshops, where people from many different places and walks of life came together to learn.
The family “are deeply grateful for the extraordinary journey, and look forward to these continuing in 2021 led by the incredibly talented teacher, mentor and friend, Uncle Den Barber of Yarrabin Cultural Connections, and supported by the wonderful members of Koori Country Firesticks Aboriginal Corporation who travelled here to teach and learn with such generosity, humour & warmth” (Marty) .. bushtekniq will definitely be there!
- by anna, jono & tali