This week on Streets of Your Town podcast we feature Dale Mundraby, from Mandingalbay Yidinji country in Far North Queensland.
Mandingalbay Yidinji country straddles two great world heritage areas in far north Queensland, the Wet Tropics and the Great Barrier Reef, stretching out to the Coral Sea.
Executive Director Dale Mundraby recalls many stories that have been handed down through the generations, showing their distinct connection to these lands.
“Our connection to country goes back many generations,” Dale tells us on Streets of Your Town. “And today we still continue custom law and tradition, and that’s the respect for land culture and people and with that today we work with like-minded people who look after country, share knowledge and stories about their environment and also their culture.
“It’s strengthening our identity and sharing that with our younger generations and the wider community.”
The small but strong Indigenous community has successfully renewed its sacred country from years of degradation, and is now on the cusp of great success as they invite more tourists to come and see and experience the connection to country themselves through their eyes.
“To prove our connection to country the burden of truth was upon us. We have to show evidence of us being here pre- and post-contact and one part of that evidence was Captain Cook’s journal. He pulled into a little beach around the corner from us near Yarrabah…he had to collect water so they disembarked from the Endeavour to the shore on a little boat.
“The journals did acknowledge that when they landed on the shores of this country, they saw fires and natives on the horizon. That was our people.”
Their Indigenous Ranger Program has ten full-time Indigenous employee rangers undertaking natural resource management on their country, conducting research, rehabilitating degraded country and greatly reducing marine debris and rubbish that was damaging the fragile environment.
While we did our interview and Dale showed me his 3D map of their country and the major landmarks before driving me out to experience it first hand, a goanna watchfully stood by and listened in.
“One of the unique things we have in Far North Queensland is a destination like no other. We have the reef and the rainforest, two World Heritage areas so we promote that quite well. We say beautiful one day, perfect the next, and so what we say the third day, come out and have an Indigenous experience.”
Dale Mundraby says his people have been part of this land for many thousands of years and are now eager to show it to others who come to visit and take part in their Ancient Indigenous Tours.
He describes it as a great privilege showing guests where the salty water of the sea meets the freshwater flowing from the surrounding mountains, and introducing them to the bush pharmacy of food and medicinal plants in the surrounding rainforest.
Since the Federal Court granted Mandingalbay Yidinji native title in 2006, the restoration of these sacred lands has gathered pace.
The Djunbunji Land and Sea Program is wholly owned by Indigenous people, using traditional practices to rejuvenate and nourish the land and run the Ranger program.
“What this really means for us as a key focus—the point of the spear if you like—is developing workforce development. We are the Mandingalbay Yidinji people,” Dale says.
“That’s what links us as a people on Yidinji.
“The country offers so much—land culture and people, the environment, the different types of environments, places that have been rehabilitated, other places that have survived on their own without contact from humans—and with that brings the animals and the plants still thriving today that used to be here many years ago.”
Behind the Scenes
Remember series 2 of Streets of Your Town—The Journo Project? One of the most popular episodes was my interview with ABC investigative journo extraordinaire Mark Willacy. Since our interview he’s won a gold Walkley, and has now released a book! Might be a good time to listen back to our interview again!
And here’s the link to his episode of Streets of Your Town, where Mark goes into detail about how he uncovers and reports on stories such as this, using a mix of old and new journo techniques and equipment, combined with a good streets nous.
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Nance
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