Beswick / Barunga
Name of School
Beswick – Wugularr School, Barunga School
Name of Ranger Group
Jawoyn Rangers
What languages do you mainly speak in your community?
Kriol, Jawoyn, Dalabon, Mayali, Rembarnga.
How many people live in your community?
Beswick approx. 500+; Barunga approx. 360+
When did the Learning on Country Program start in your community?
2020
What does the Learning on Country Program mean to your community?
On country and classroom based educational activities that incorporate Cultural knowledge transmission and Conservation and Land Management learning opportunities.
What type of LoC activities happen at your community?
Day excursions (on-country field trips), in class learning and Conservation / Ranger based activities.
LoC has begun to see increasingly informal learning interactions between the students of both Barunga and Beswick school, with cultural advisors, teachers, cultural mentors and the immediate country and its stories.
LoC activities are diverse. Some examples include
- Stringy bark collection and preparation
- Microbiology at the local swimming holes
- Bush Tucker – Sugar bag and damper making
- Bush dyes collection and manufacture of soft fibre arts
- Ever-popular fish spear-making
- Visiting Rock Art sites and creation stories in Nitmiluk Park.
Tell us about the Rangers supporting the LoC Program. What lessons are they teaching the students about your country?
We work with the Jawoyn Rangers to find a way to intertwine LoC activities with Ranger work. For instance, searching for natural resources within the Jawoyn plant world to use in traditional dyeing, weaving, soft fibre art, bead-making and of course bush tucker. These are back dropped against the Jawoyn plant, tree and weed identification knowledge and important weed eradication work on country.
The Jawoyn Rangers are always on hand to assist and facilitate the daytrips into Jawoyn country. The Barunga and Beswick kids love their involvement and inevitably, the family connections are being constantly reaffirmed each time. This aspect is incredibly important to the teenagers, as the Rangers not only represent an achievable pathway to a real job, but their unstated familial pride is almost tangible.
What future training or work opportunities are available in your community for LoC students?
Ranger employment pathways and employment possibilities within various enterprises of the Jawoyn Association.
As well as the primary Rangers and the LoC partnership, the Jawoyn organisation has ongoing interests in Tourism and Hospitality, Information Technology, Civil Construction as well as Housing and Maintenance. Which means, these kids have front row opportunities into a number of potential training & employment pathways that may appeal to them.
