Bundjalung (Arakwal) Elders, Tallow Creek, Byron Bay, 2004
Image: © DECC/N. Graham

Caring for Country

We want to see Country how it used to be. We want to continue to look after Country and want it to look after us. We want our people to be back on Country, caring for and using Country like we always have. We want to share parts of our culture with the wider community so they learn about and respect Country like we do. We want everybody to work together to keep Country clean and healthy.

Bundjalung of Byron Bay (Arakwal) Elders Linda Vidler, Lorna Kelly and Dulcie Nicholls, 2003

We practiced conservation of our country for, you know, through eternity. And it wasn’t us that messed it up. So it’s about getting back to those practices, about letting the environment be the environment. But clean it up where it needs to be cleaned up. Restore it where it needs to be restored. Protect it where it needs to be protected.

Yvonne Stewart, Arakwal representative, interviewed by Heather Goodall, from Transforming Cultures eJournal