Connecting with Country
The focus of the Connecting with Country project has been to determine the location and cultural heritage significance of 36 places identified by knowledge holders during the Eurobodalla Aboriginal Heritage Study as potentially containing cultural materials. The multi disciplinary approach primarily involved an archaeologist, Aboriginal sites officers, an anthropologist, Aboriginal knowledge holders and Aboriginal youth who worked together to integrate the oral, archaeological and historical evidence concerning each of the 36 locations and to pass cultural knowledge onto future generations.
The final Connecting with Country report is available for download in four parts:
- Connecting with Country Part A (1MB)
- Connecting with Country Part B (2MB)
- Connecting with Country Part C (2MB)
- Connecting with Country Part D (529 KB)
Although many of these places had not been visited for some time for a variety of reasons (e.g. lack of resources, land tenure and access) they continued to hold cultural heritage values to the Aboriginal community. The project assisted Aboriginal elders and members of younger generations to access and re-visit important Aboriginal cultural heritage places, to facilitate the transmission of intergenerational cultural knowledge and to identify particular conservation and management needs.
The project was made possible with funding from the Commonwealth Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities as part of their Indigenous Heritage Program. This project would not have been possible without the focus and dedication of the Eurobodalla Aboriginal community, the Eurobodalla Aboriginal Advisory Committee and Eurobodalla Shire Council staff.