Background
This project was funded by the NSW State Government via the former Greater Cities Commission. The goal of the project was to map places and stories that hold cultural and historical significance for Aboriginal people in the Newcastle region – that is Muloobinba and surrounds, on Awabakal and Worimi Country. It was also a pilot in contracting projects in collaboration with Indigenous communities where the outcomes are owned by the community.
Co-Design With Community
There were no constraints placed on the outcome, only that it should be co-designed with community members and that it should be mutually beneficial for both the client and community. It was important to understand from community members, the scope of knowledges and stories to be mapped for the area, and the way in which those knowledges should be documented.
Discussions
Based on the discussions with community members, many questions were raised including: where would the stories live, would they be physical or digital (or both), and whether there would be control over the stories being shared. Community members also discussed a desire to include more contemporary stories. In terms of physical representation of the stories, stakeholders did not express any specific preferences but felt positive about the potential for signage or artwork.
Bringing Ideas Together
Bringing together the ideas from stakeholders it was proposed that the project document oral histories. Community members were able to decide what stories they wished to share and how much of their recordings were made public consistent with the University ICIP protocol. The recordings utilised are an extract of the longer story sharing sessions from each stakeholder. Also see Cultural Mapping Project | Living Histories
Artwork By Gavin Kelly
Based on these stories, an artwork was commissioned and completed by Worimi man, Gavin Kelly. In addition, each story is featured on a sign placed around Muloobinba (Newcastle) in a location that is connected to the story.
View Interviews here :-
Saretta Fielding (2024)
Trish Neal (2024)
Nathan Towney (2024)
John Heath and Paul Gordon (2024)
Joe Griffin (2024)
Artist Statement
“The painting has Muloobinba (Newcastle) represented as a circle with people sitting down around it showing people coming together and connecting there. Inside the circle are two people sitting together: a representation of people coming to learn but also of someone teaching and passing on knowledge to others. The Indigenous University Games and a corroboree are also shown.
From Muloobinba there are paths leading there from the west, north west, south west, north and south showing that people have travelled from every direction to come to the area. When they have come here they have all worked together and supported each other. The black lines in the background show the paths that people have walked before. It is the paths that these people (family/community) have walked before that have helped or guided others to come into the Newcastle community.
In the background is represented people who have come into Newcastle for all different reasons: to work, to compete in the University Games, for teaching, learning and dancing. The animals on the Country where theses paths cross show that people came into Newcastle from all different Countries but when they got here all worked together and had a close community.” Gavin Kelly (Worimi man) 2024
Many thanks to the following team members for their contributions to the project:
- Heather Kember (Project Lead)
- Dave Newham (Project Lead)
- Kate Timmins
- Zoey Mackey-Craig
- Courtney Eckert
- Ann Hardy
- Bethany Mooney
- Gillean Shaw
- Ayden Seis
- Carole Mandicourt-Jones
- Alina Schadel
This collection of oral histories was funded by the NSW State Government (via the former Greater Cities Commission).
