On Thursday 2nd May, Stage 2 had an Aboriginal Experiences incursion. The day was absolutely sensational and contained lots of interesting information presented by our three Gumaraa rangers who travelled from Dharawal country.
Stage 2 started the day with an ochre and smoking ceremony which was intended to cleanse the area of any bad spirits. The variety of symbols drawn in ochre on students’ faces represent different things, such as those who were knowledgeable, those who were warriors and the locations of where people came from (such as waterways). The students then split into groups to rotate through three fantastic activities.
In the hall, they learned about bush tucker and the different uses of Australian native plants with Ranger Tallara. Did you know that coastal wattle can be used as soap and when crushed and put into water it can stun fish to make them easy to capture?
Did you know that the dianella plant can be used as a whistle to mimic an injured bird in order to capture snakes? Or that the she-oak tree can deter snakes from the area and be used as a weaving needle once it’s been dried? We learned about plants that can be used as medicine, energy boosters, paintbrushes and food. Did you know the seeds from the lomandra bush can be crushed to make flour?
On the green playground, the students learned the correct technique to throw a boomerang. We had a few that even managed to throw theirs and have it return in nearly a full circle! This activity was a favourite for many students. Ranger Jake even showed us how he could throw 4 boomerangs at once. These skills were commonly used with this style of boomerang to hunt birds.
On the courts, we hunted emus and kangaroos by developing our spear throwing skills with Ranger Drew. She taught them the words buru (kangaroo) and biraban (emu).
Stage 2 came together towards the end of the incursion to learn 4 different types of traditional dances which told stories of native Australian animals travelling through the bush. They learned about traditional tools such as hunting boomerangs, coolamons, woomeras and shields and listened as Ranger Jake used a didgeridoo to mimic animal sounds.
The previous edition of the Dural Public School story: Dural Public School Raises Nearly $12,000 for Leukaemia Foundation in World’s Greatest Shave Event
