Sharing Boandik culture at Mount Burr Swamp Restoration Reserve

Nature Glenelg Trust is proud to announce a cultural learning area at Mt Burr Swamp Restoration Reserve. A site overlooking the wetland is progressively being created to facilitate story-telling and learning about cultural heritage on Boandik country. The descendants of Annie Brice, a Boandik woman featured in an inspiring children’s book titled ‘Annie’s Story’, travelled from far and wide to attend a gathering in December 2019 at Mt Burr Swamp – to celebrate in their cultural heritage and to create a learning space for future generations.

A recent article in the local ‘Lifestyle1’ magazine (see below) nicely highlighted this event and all the fun activities held on the day. The aim for the day was to construct a camp and shelter area like ancestors once did, helping maintain the long and rich Boandik history – giving the younger generation a taste of Boandik life before Europeans arrived, and to encourage further involvement in cultural activities at Mount Burr Swamp in the future.

The article appearing in the February-March 2020 issue of Lifestyle1 Magazine, highlighting the celebration and gathering of Boandik family at Mount Burr Swamp.

The main activities on the day were boomerang throwing, constructing a Wurla (Boandik housing made from Sheoak timber), and creating ceremonial and yarning circles.

I had the pleasure of being present for this event and was delighted to see all the family interacting and engaging in all activities (including the story telling, dancing & singing), but overall having fun and learning about their family’s heritage in the beautiful surrounds of Mount Burr Swamp. A descendant of Annie Brice and I prepared the site in readiness for the day, which we captured in the short video below.

NGT is proud of cultural engagement and learning on Mount Burr Swamp and looks forward in the future to creating similar opportunities on other NGT Reserves.

Bryan Haywood