Learning on Country
So, what is Learning on Country?
Learning on Country in Bulman-Weemol communities is an important and culturally focused teaching program facilitated by local Indigenous Elders and Mimal rangers.
We are a proudly independent program, supported by the Mimal Board and Karrkad Kanjdji Trust, and developed in collaboration with Bulman School.
We deliver strong two-way learning opportunities for daku / wurrud (kids) of Bulman-Weemol and bring Rembarrnga and Dalabon culture and language into the curriculum.
What do we do in Learning on Country?
We offer Learning on Country activities to all students at Bulman School from pre-school to high school. The activities are based on the seasonal calendar and include:
Traditional knowledge about water, fire, earth and sky
Indigenous languages (Dalabon and Rembarrnga)
Kinship and identity
Seasonal cycles, bush tuckers and bush medicines
Traditional hunting, preparation and cooking
Traditional arts, crafts, song and dance
Traditional tools and implements
Rock art
Caring for Country and land management
Being on Country and learning stories of place
We also practice two-way learning, job skills and land management for older students with the Mimal rangers
LOC is Valuable
The Bulman-Weemol LOC program is based on 12 core values -
Respect malibat, culture and country. Talk good way.
Strong Culture and Sharing Knowledge gamannowh. We gada helpim mijelf bla kultur and langgus. Teaching cultural activities, kinship, identity, belonging, and being on country.
Two-way Knowledge we gada savvy dubala language. Student pathways for a brighter future, towards work experience and graduation.
Caring for Country we gada meindimbat country – old bala wai and new bala wai.
Strong Voice nomo shame shame. Talk together. Share your story gada mela.
Leadership we gada meikim rangers and biganini strong. Empowering kids and rangers to take leadership
Safety we meindimbat meijelf. We take care of each other good way.
Proud Of Our Work mela proud gada mela work. We feel good about what we do and our team.
We All Here mela iya la Bulman-Weemol gada ranger mob and gada we community mob. We helpimbat mijelf la LOC work. Everyone working together. Community-led program
Our values underpin our MOU and form the basis for our monitoring and evaluation of the program.
What are we doing?
Music Project
The strength of the music program continues to grow with kids singing in Dalabon and Rembarrnga. See below to listen!
Seasonal Calendar
The LOC team continues to work with Mimal rangers and Bush Heritage to build the online seasonal calendar.
LOC Activities
Teaching kids about bush medicine, bush tucker, bush string, paperbark, spears, traditional tools and crafts - and more!
Work Experience
We’re thinking about youth pathways and developing a “junior ranger program” as part of LOC for the senior class. They do fire, fencing, mechanics and more!
Bird Workshop
We’re exploring the stories and language of birds: then developing resources and running camps to share this with the kids.
Collecting and Creating Educational Resources
Educational videos, worksheets, language cards – we’ve put a lot of time into developing teaching resources to support LOC and the school.
Camps
This year we have planned camps across the Mimal IPA as well as exchanges planned with other LOC programs.
VET
We are looking to integrate LOC with the curriculum and generate outcomes for students towards their High School Certificate
LoC TV
LOC doesn’t happen without the passion and dedication of Elders, Mimal rangers, Bulmans School staff and community support.
Thank you mob for learning the kids bla culture and language and growing the program together
Find Out More
If you would like to see more of what we do on Mimal LOC, head to our Instagram @mimaland or Facebook @MimalLand
If you have questions or would like to collaborate, please reach out.
Our email is: loc@mimal.org.au
