High Country Life

Immerse yourself in Aboriginal culture to gain insight into one of the oldest living civilizations on Earth. Feel the connection to Country on an educational tour through Australia’s remote communities and wilderness regions.

Studies of Indigenous-language immersion schools have demonstrated superior academic results, an enhanced sense of cultural pride and knowledge, reduced incidents of alcohol consumption, drug use, gang involvement, and suicide (Stiles 1997). Yet they may still face numerous hurdles and challenges.

Learn the Language

Indigenous Australians possess an incredibly rich culture dating back over 60,000 years. Unfortunately, due to colonisation and dispossession, many aspects have been lost due to colonization. Immersing yourself in Indigenous culture is an incredible way to help preserve it while connecting it to its people; engaging with local communities will enable you to see Australia through one of the oldest living cultures on the planet.

Learning a language is integral to maintaining Indigenous cultures and passing them down to future generations. Although classes for Indigenous languages have become more widespread, studies show that real proficiency lies with immersion from an early age. Immersion programs like Wicoie Nandagikendan and Four Directions child care have proven highly successful at increasing both Native fluency as well as cultural awareness and identity among their participants.

Initiatives of this nature need support from all levels of government, education districts and both Indigenous and non-Indigenous community members alike in order to be successful. Such support will ensure the community has enough resources at its disposal to continue implementing programs while continuing their development for future success.

Indigenous communities across the nation rely on volunteers for assistance with various projects and tasks, such as building new classrooms and buildings, organizing food drives and teaching children about traditional plants and ways of life. Grants and scholarships may also provide support. Volunteerism plays an essential role for indigenous communities across America – these efforts take form both financially and through voluntary contributions of time and services rendered.

Indigenous peoples need the opportunity to pursue their dreams and live the lives they envision for themselves, but this can be challenging without a sustainable development strategy to equip them with tools needed for accomplishing this. These include access to healthcare, housing and employment opportunities that maintain culture while respecting environmental integrity.

Educators must recognize their own biases and assumptions when teaching Indigenous culture, so classroom displays and bulletin boards do not reinforce stereotypes of Indigenous people. Furthermore, educators should encourage their students to explore various cultures so they may gain a full understanding of humanity’s diversity – this will allow them to become informed citizens who make a difference in society.

Experience the Culture

Implementing cultural immersion experiences into the learning environment is an effective way to encourage student participation in and understanding of Aboriginal culture. This may involve having them interact with community members through activities like smoking ceremonies, speaking the Indigenous language or listening to creation stories on-country. Many programs have also found that providing access to literature written in that Indigenous language helps ensure success with this form of immersion experience.

Australia offers an abundance of cultural immersion experiences for students looking for authentic Indigenous experiences. Dig for mud crabs on Dampier Peninsula with Bardi Jawi Rangers; learn about bush medicine at Limilngan-Wulna in Northern Territory; taste witchetty grub at Luritja and Pertame people of Central Australia cultural presentations – these experiences await!

Indigenous culture centers around family, with chosen family being especially important for people displaced and separated from their extended clan. Stolen Generation participants frequently used chosen family as a way of creating connections and healing from trauma; many still practice it today by maintaining close ties to both families and communities as adults.

Exploring Aboriginal culture within its natural environments is a profoundly healing and transformative experience, and one integral to holistic education. Reconnecting with country and creating place-based attachment are fundamental parts of this experience, and form part of our cultural immersion offerings. The findings of this study underscored sensory-led experiences on country for older urban Aboriginal people as part of holistic education, while corroborate prior evidence of its therapeutic value reconnection to an Aboriginal culture minimally affected by colonisation. Policies and resources supporting grassroots initiatives like cultural camps must provide access to essential opportunities for reconnection.

Get Involved

As part of their learning journey, students should become involved with local communities to forge stronger links to Country and the oldest continuous culture on earth. Engaging with Indigenous communities directly enables students to form deeper personal bonds while broadening their perspective of themselves and life in general.

Attending Indigenous cultural sites – like rock art sites – is one way to gain more insight into traditional ways of life. You might hear traditional storytelling or witness ceremonial dance performances at these sites.

The Jatbula Trail, for instance, offers hikers an exceptional Aboriginal escarpment and stone country hike replete with Dreamtime story crossroads and spectacular escarpment views. It was named in honour of Peter Jatbula – a community leader who battled hard for return of this area back to local Aboriginals – by local Aboriginals themselves.

Visit Yeddonba Aboriginal Cultural Site in Chiltern-Mt Pilot National Park is another way for students to gain more insight into traditional forms of living. A guided walk through the bush reveals how indigenous people used natural resources of the area for food, hunting and gathering as well as tool creation; you might even come across some ancient tools found during archaeological excavation.

Immersive experiences like this offer students a wonderful way to grasp how innately connected indigenous communities are with their environment. You will learn about Aboriginal culture and history from an Indigenous guide while enjoying its splendorous surroundings.

Start exploring Kakadu’s East Alligator River by going on the Guluyambi Cultural Cruise – it will give you an inside view into how Aboriginal guides use their expertise of the region to teach visitors more. Also enjoy hearing their tales of local fauna like saltwater crocodiles living among you!

As experienced local guides, they will be able to share stories about their connections to the land. They can show you wetlands, Fern Gully and Australian Forest Walk where native plants and wildlife were once an essential component of Indigenous diets.

Help the Community

Since time immemorial, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities have relied on their land as an essential element in life. Not simply a physical space but something much closer to family; their country includes more than just physical features – it encompasses seasons, creation spirits and heritage that they all hold close. All Aboriginal people cherish and revere it deeply.

Indigenous culture is an integral component of Australian life, and we can all do our part in supporting and celebrating it. From adding key dates into the calendar to booking cultural immersion experiences – there are endless opportunities for you to make a difference.

As young Aboriginal people grow into adults, ensuring they remain connected to their culture is of vital importance. Many reports and inquiries have demonstrated the detrimental impacts of disconnection on young Aboriginal people – this is especially important for children in out of home care who may experience greater risks due to disconnection including drug and alcohol abuse, unwelcome sexual contact, or engaging in other harmful behavior (Commission for Children and Young People CCYP 2018).

At such a crucial juncture, it is of vital importance that young Aboriginal people have access to opportunities that enable them to stay connected with their cultures and heritages, including offering quality, holistic education that considers Aboriginal perspectives and history. Furthermore, it should allow them to be part of local communities, learning about language, culture and traditions from them as they immerse themselves.

Benefits of community participation for youth can be numerous, from strengthening networks to improving wellbeing. Such was the experience for a group of Narrun Yana youth – a program intended to give Yr 5-10 year olds from Benalla an opportunity to live and learn within their families and elders as part of Narrun Yana – including visiting Karajarri bush camps, tasting damper and bush honey by fireside while singing and dancing around it, singing songs of traditional hunter gathering techniques, as well as taking part in traditional hunting techniques themselves!