The Wreck Bay community recently marked the 30th anniversary of the return of Booderee National Park during a celebratory event held at Green Patch in Jervis Bay. This milestone was accompanied by the launch of a new oral history book titled “Bugiya, Nhaway, Buraadja,” which translates to “yesterday, today, and tomorrow.” <\/p>\n
Significantly, the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community Council has announced that it will assume full management of the national park starting in May 2028, operating independently from Parks Australia.<\/p>\n
Booderee National Park, located in New South Wales, is one of only three Aboriginal-owned and jointly managed Commonwealth parks in Australia, alongside Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park and Kakadu National Park. Joint management involves collaboration between the traditional owners and Parks Australia in the stewardship of these lands.<\/p>\n
During the anniversary celebrations, Beverley Ardler, chair of the Joint Board for Booderee, announced the transition to sole management, highlighting that Wreck Bay will be the first among the three parks to achieve this milestone. “We as Wreck Bay people are going, enough’s enough, we’re not waiting another 60 years, we’re taking it right here, right now,” she stated, affirming the community\u2019s readiness to manage the park autonomously within the next two years.<\/p>\n
Ardler, who is also a member of the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community Council, pointed out that the three jointly managed parks have 99-year lease agreements with the government, which were initially established to allow time for a smooth transition to independent management. “But we’ve progressed as parks and built the capacity within our own community to manage our land solely,” she remarked.<\/p>\n
Parks Australia acknowledged its commitment to collaborating with the Wreck Bay community to facilitate this transition, with park manager George Brown, a member of the Wreck Bay community, expressing respect for the elders who have contributed to the community’s journey. Brown recalled his experiences witnessing the land’s return in the 1990s, emphasizing the significance of cultural resilience and determination in achieving their rights.<\/p>\n
He urged attendees to draw lessons from the past as they move toward sole management and reiterated that the event was fundamentally about identity, self-determination, and intergenerational knowledge transfer. “Let’s keep putting culture, country, and our community first in every decision we make together as we transition to sole management,” he encouraged.<\/p>\n
Ricky Archer, the Director of Parks Australia and a Djungan man, reiterated the department’s support for the community’s aspirations. “I just wanted to reiterate Parks Australia’s strong support towards working with the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community Council to realize what sole management looks like and developing a strong pathway to get there,” he stated.<\/p>\n
The festivities at Green Patch featured vibrant cultural expressions, including a smoking ceremony, traditional performances by the Doonoch Dancers, choir performances, and live music. The launch of the oral history book was a highlight, with community cultural heritage officer commenting on the significance of releasing it during such a pivotal anniversary. <\/p>\n
Mr. Ardler initiated the oral history project three years prior, aiming to capture the voices of both elders and youth. “There are personal stories in there from elders and children, and it’s our first-ever book that we’ve written in the community. We’re hoping for more to come after this edition,” he shared.<\/p>\n
Dr. Paul Collis, who teaches Indigenous Studies at the University of Canberra, collaborated with the Wreck Bay community on the book project. He described the experience as joyful, encompassing a range of emotions from sadness to discovery. “I think the book is an amazing amalgam of different voices of this community in a very historic moment,” he noted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Wreck Bay community recently marked the 30th anniversary of the return of Booderee National Park during a celebratory event held at Green Patch in Jervis Bay. This milestone was accompanied by the launch of a new oral history book titled “Bugiya, Nhaway, Buraadja,” which translates to “yesterday, today, and tomorrow.” Significantly, the Wreck Bay […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8314,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[43,427,1088],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8315","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-australia","category-au-indigenous-australians","category-au-national-parks"],"yoast_head":"\n