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Paper short abstract:

In 2019/2020 bushfires raged across the country. In Duduroa country, Victoria, in an act of Indigenous resurgence, Traditional Custodians have partnered with State Government to heal country, and heal people. This presentation is an account from a young Duduroa academic

Paper long abstract:

In 2019/2020 bushfires raged across the country. In the Upper Murray district in north eastern Victoria, those fires ravaged over 2,700 sq km, devastating communities and ecological health of the region. The traditional custodians of those lands, the Duduroa peoples, are a strong and vibrant peoples. Colonial settlement has meant that Duduroa access to land has been reduced in the recent past, and cultural fire and Indigenous management of land has been minimal as a consequence. When the fires burned a significant portion of Duduroa traditional lands, the community were concerned about the health of the land, and about damage to cultural sites and storylines. When the smoke had cleared and recovery began, funding was announced by the State Government for bushfire recovery. The Duduroa Dhargal Aboriginal Corporation (DDAC) were awarded a grant under the Victorian Bushfire Biodiversity Relief and Recovery (BBRR) program. DDAC’s project, the ‘Reading and Healing Country’ Project, allowed them to heal through reading Country and to applying ecological knowledge. In an act of resurgence, the project supported DDAC members to reconnect with Country, map and identify culturally significant species and biodiversity values and the impact of fires. This in turn informed on-ground actions to heal Country and support recovery. The project utilized both western science and Indigenous Research Methodologies, and is an example of the synthesis of different world views, that has meaningful change to heal Country, but also importantly, heal people. This presentation is an account of this project from a young Duduroa academic