The school students walk with their local Indigenous brothers and sisters on local country to understand history and the land through Indigenous eyes. Here are some examples:


Mudgee High

On June the 4th, the Yarnup team went to Mudgee as we walked the country with a beautiful Wiradjeri Woman, Aleisha and the students of Mudgee High.

Aleisha took the girls into a sacred area for women and children and taught us all the importance of listening. Not just listening to one another but listening to all of 'life', the birds, the trees, the wind. We can all learn from each living being. Wadi took the boys into the bush and taught them how to find water. He also ochred up all the boys and taught them about the notion of respect.

It was a very special day, full of wisdom, smoking cermonies and even dance!

The teacher at Mudgee High, Clarissa Mort, said she received lots of positive feedback from her students about the day. Go Yarnup! There's so much each Aussie student can learn from their Indigenous brothers and sisters!












Northern Beaches Christian School, Sydney


Susan Moylan-Coombs (Northern Beaches Aboriginal Community member) gave a great lecture to the students about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture on June 23rd, 2008. She  told the students about her own personal story of growing up with a white family and walking in two worlds all of her life as well. Ian also shared his personal story and inspired us all. We feel so blessed to have Susan and Ian's support on the Yarnup program!















Mercy College, Chatswood

On the evening of June the 17th Mercy College hosted the Yarnup program. We are one of the pilot schools in NSW for the program. On our night three indigenous people joined us; Ian from Darwin, Julie from Stradbroke Island and Wadi from Central Australia, all three now live and work in Sydney. The director of the film, Melanie Hogan and the organiser of the program, Shelley Pederson also came to facilitate the conversation between students and our Indigenous friends to help us to further understand each other's cultures in a deeper way.

During the evening, in a relaxed environment and sharing a light supper we engaged in fascinating conversations and learnt much more than we ever knew about Indigenous culture and the lives of our three new friends.We plan to have more events with members of the Indigenous community as the year goes on at our school.







Brisbane Waters Secondary College Local Management Group

What a wonderful day this was. More than 100 students from the local Woy Woy area went out bush with local Aboriginal teachers. The students saw a cave that was so sacred and beautiful and covered in hand paintings from the Aboriginal people of days gone by. Some of the hand paintings date back to between 7,000 -9,000 years old! Many of the children didn't realise the cave was right in their backyard. They were so excited. The children also wandered through the bush and learnt about what plants you could use for medicine and which fruits could be eaten!

"I would like to thank all who went on the excursion yesterday.  Everyone needs a mention as the whole trip was successful.  The Aboriginal and non- Aboriginal students were fantastic, the bus company is marvellous and very accomodating, the guides were very informative and engaging for the kids.

 It was fantastic to see the community people and parents, aunties, uncles, dads, grandparents come along- as that is our focus behind YarnUp; Getting the Aboriginal community involved with education and educating all Australia about Aboriginal Australia.  Also a special thanks to Melanie Hogan (director of Kanyini) and Wadi Wiriyanjara for making the trip.  They are very excited at what we are doing with YarnUp!
 
The site was very good for the group, as they had a transfer of knowledge of Aboriginal Culture from various leaders being staff, the BWSC Aboriginal Studies group and of course our guides Gabby, Phil & Dave & Wadi!
 
The BWSC Aboriginal Studies student leaders need a special mention as they did a very good job with our primary schools.  We need a lot more opportunities for our Aboriginal students to do this type of leadership with our younger kids".  Steve Collins - teacher, Woy Woy South Public














Loreto Kirribilli, Sydney

Our 'walk the story' part of the Yarnup program turned out to be a cultural cruise around Sydney harbor. During the trip  we learnt about our Indigenous culture and the way the people lived when they inhabited our land before and after white settlement. The cruise took place on 1 June and was a huge success amongst the students who went, their parents and the additional teachers. Together we had an enjoyable day learning and absorbing everything our guide, Terry, told us about harbour life, how Aboriginal people lived and the way they particularly used their land and cared for it. After exploring the sights from Clarke Island we were also lucky enough to experience an authentic cultural performance of dance and music from Terry himself, relaying a personal insight into his own Aboriginal upbringing. It was a beautiful day, which satisfied most expectations and exceeded others! For most of the students, after experiencing such a moving and emotionally awakening film such as 'Kanyini', this cruise provided a perfect way of completing an experience which touched us all and has put us on a completely different level of understanding Aboriginal issues, and culture.

Prior to the cruise, on 29 May, Loreto was also invited to talk at the Lane Cove Children's Voices for Reconciliation festival. Sophie Boffa, Ellouise Tait and myself set out to inform our local community of the Yarnup program we are undertaking and the response we received was outstanding. Joined by various other local schools, we had a great morning of listening and viewing various musical and theatrical performances. Going up to speak about something like Yarnup was something very unique in itself and gave the community information about the program and how we were achieving what we planned. We received some fantastic feedback and got the feeling that a lot of people were highly interested and wanted to know more about it. It was a privilege to be able to share what we are doing at Loreto with the wider community. Yarnup is proving to be ultimately rewarding, informative and a real eye opener for us all!

As the program draws to an end, it is a mutual feeling amongst the whole Yarnup team of how fantastic it would be in the future to be able to see the program integrated into the majority of high schools across New South Wales. If more young people were to learn and share the experience we have had, it would no doubt lead to a greater and deeper understanding of Aboriginal issues and culture amongst our own generation and future generations to come. From our experience with Yarnup, we have gained a deeper understanding of Indigenous people and have become proud of our Indigenous heritage. If this were to be the case amongst all young people it would no doubt lead our country in the right direction to regaining ties with our Indigenous people and lead to a better nation. 
Rebecca Mason (Yr 11 Student)