Insight into the Oldest Culture in the World
For only 4 days in January 2015 (Jan 3, 10, 17 and 24), visitors to Jenolan Caves, in Australia’s Blue Mountains, have the opportunity to gain important insights into the local ancient Aboriginal culture, first hand.
Aboriginal people came to Jenolan Caves long before the caves were discovered by Europeans. They bathed their sick in the waters that lie in the base of the limestone mountain, calling them the Nadjung. Crystal was used in ceremonies, and the tips of crystal features sharpened, grooved and heat treated, to be made into spear tips. Highly prized, these were traded right across the continent, as far as the home lands of the Pitjantjatjara in the Great Western and Gibson Deserts.
Now the Gundungurra Tribal Council and Muggadah Tours have formed a partnership with Jenolan Caves, to create a cultural walk to share traditional knowledge – “Yangoo Binomea Yadagee – Today’s Knowledge Thank You.”
The cultural walk starts with a Numbuk Yabbun, or traditional smoking ceremony. Then, members of the Gundungurra language nation, lead a small group of visitors over the spectacular Carlotta Arch track, identifying plants and their traditional uses, both for bush tucker and in indigenous medicine, the uses of ochre, the role that bird calls and bird behavior play and the importance of totems. Totems can be a bird, flower, animal or rock and are an essential element in Aboriginal identity. Then, the walk descends into the Devil’s Coach House cave, and onto the shores of the Blue Lake.
The ‘Yangoo Binomea Yadagee’ is a unique opportunity, especially for international visitors, to have a meaningful experience of the Aboriginal culture of the Jenolan Caves area, and have it explained by members of the nation, in whose ancestral lands the caves are located.
Full details are on Jenolan Caves website.
