Transcript of BushfireConf2015 - 29. Blue Mountains Fire Sticks
- 1. BLUE MOUNTAINS FIRE STICKS NCCs 10th Biennial Bushfire
Conference Tuesday 26th and Wednesday 27th May 2015, Surry Hills,
Sydney
- 2. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are advised
that the following presentation may contain images of deceased
people as well as artefacts, Aboriginal sites and other culturally
sensitive images. BLUE MOUNTAINS FIRE STICKS
- 3. BLUE MOUNTAINS FIRE STICKS I Acknowledge Country and pay my
respect to Elders past and present, Our Sky Father creator, the
good Ancestral Spirits and Mother Earth.
- 4. Introducing BLUE MOUNTAINS FIRE STICKS BLUE MOUNTAINS FIRE
STICKS
- 5. Dennis (Den) Barber Wiradjuri Blue Mountains Fire Sticks
Holder / Coordinator NSW NPWS Aboriginal Co-Management Officer
& Fire Crew Member Who am I? Which hat am I wearing? BLUE
MOUNTAINS FIRE STICKS
- 6. What is Aboriginal Cultural Fire? What does it mean to
me?
- 7. 7 Cultural Fire = Cultural Practice Corroboree fire, Bents
Basin Culture Camp, 2011
- 8. 8 Fire helps to cleans me and keep me safe.. Smoking
Ceremony Fire
- 9. 9 Fire provides light, keeps me warm and cooks my food Camp
Fire
- 10. 10 Fire brings my family together and helps us to talk and
share. Family Fire
- 11. 11 Fire cleans Country and brings new life. Country needs
Fire!
- 12. BLUE MOUNTAINS FIRE STICKS Speed Talk: CONFERENCE THEME:
Where do we go from here? To answer this question, I believe we
need to look to the past; where we are now; and indeed where do we
go from here?
- 13. BLUE MOUNTAINS FIRE STICKS The Past
- 14. A timeline of significant seasons fire events recorded for
the Blue Mountains: 1957 Leura fire (600 left homeless). 1968-69
Lower Mountains fires (3 lives lost and 123 buildings). 1977-78 (3
lives lost and 49 buildings destroyed). 1993-94 800 separate fires
across NSW. Grose valley re-burnt after 1977- 78. 2001-02 Over
744,000 ha burnt and 109 houses destroyed. (Sydney Water catchments
highly impacted). 2002-03 Extensive fires across NSW with Section
44 invoked for 151 days continuously. (1,500,000 ha burnt and 3
lives lost) 2006 Grose Valley fire with significant impact on
ecologically sensitive areas. Source: Fire Stories: The Story of
the 1957 Leura Fires a lesson in time. BLUE MOUNTAINS FIRE
STICKS
- 15. And more recently the fires of 2013: Winmalee; Lithgow
(State Mine); Mt Victoria; and Springwood Linksview Fires. More
than 200 homes destroyed or badly damaged. BLUE MOUNTAINS FIRE
STICKS
- 16. BLUE MOUNTAINS FIRE STICKS
- 17. Blue Mountains Thursday 17 October 2013 BLUE MOUNTAINS FIRE
STICKS
- 18. Aboriginal people have been in the Blue Mountains for
thousands of years. BLUE MOUNTAINS FIRE STICKS
- 19. BLUE MOUNTAINS FIRE STICKS Excerpt from Of the Aborigines
T.L MITCHELL, Surveyor General .. Fire, grass, kangaroos, and human
inhabitants, seem all dependent on each other for existence in
Australia; for any one of these being wanting, the others could no
longer continue. Fire is necessary to burn the grass, and form
those open forests, in which we find the large forest- kangaroo;
the native applies that fire to the grass at certain seasons, in
order that a young green crop may subsequently spring up, and so
attract and enable him to kill or take the kangaroo with nets. In
summer, the burning of long grass also discloses vermin, birds
nests, etc., on which the females and children, who chiefly burn
the grass, feed. But for this simple process, the Australian woods
had probably contained as thick a jungle as those of New Zealand or
America, instead of the open forests in which white men now find
grass for their cattle, to the exclusion of the kangaroo, which is
well-known to forsake all those parts of the colony where cattle
run..
- 20. BLUE MOUNTAINS FIRE STICKS
- 21. Traditional Knowledge Revival Pathways Bizant Fire
Management Workshop 2010, held in Lama lama Country, Lakefield
National Park, QLD. Invitation to Aboriginal people of the Blue
Mountains including Darug, Gundungurra and Wiradjuri. NPWS
Co-Management funding provided opportunity for Aboriginal people of
the Blue Mountains to attend. This workshop had a profound affect
on all of the Blue Mountains participants including myself. BLUE
MOUNTAINS FIRE STICKS
- 22. NSW including Blue Mountains Aboriginal participants with
Elders at Bizant Fire Management Workshop in 2010BLUE MOUNTAINS
FIRE STICKS
- 23. We returned home with great enthusiasm, knowledge and
understanding. How could what we learnt be applied in our Country
of the Blue Mountains? BLUE MOUNTAINS FIRE STICKS was born! BLUE
MOUNTAINS FIRE STICKS
- 24. Victor Steffensen of TKRP was invited to visit the Blue
Mountains in August 2010. BLUE MOUNTAINS FIRE STICKS
- 25. The following sites were visited: Kings Tableland within
Blue Mountains National Park; An EEC site in Blue Mountains
National Park near Hazelbrook; and Yellomundee Regional Park
- 26. The following observations were made: Kings Tableland Site
Too many trees. Understorey is dominated by shrubs and saplings.
Very little grass but large amounts of dead and dry fuel. All
mature trees showed scarring to the crown from recent hot fire.
Recommendation to cool burn leaf litter and other dead vegetation
that had accumulated since last hot fire. Endangered Ecological
Community Site Hanging swamp in desperate need of a burn. High
volume of dead grass and fuel loads. Yellomundee Regional Park
Highly weed infested area can be treated with cultural burning.
BLUE MOUNTAINS FIRE STICKS
- 27. BLUE MOUNTAINS FIRE STICKS The Present
- 28. Question Can Cultural Fire be used as part of contemporary
Conservation Land and Fire Management to restore Country? BLUE
MOUNTAINS FIRE STICKS
- 29. 2 types of fire we are used to seeing in the Blue Mountains
BLUE MOUNTAINS FIRE STICKS
- 30. Wildfire BLUE MOUNTAINS FIRE STICKS
- 31. Hazard Reduction Burning BLUE MOUNTAINS FIRE STICKS
- 32. Cultural Fire Yellomundee Firesticks Saturday 14 June 2014,
saw the official return of Cultural burning to the Blue Mountains
to treat Lantana and African Lovegrass. BLUE MOUNTAINS FIRE
STICKS
- 33. The Future Where to from here? BLUE MOUNTAINS FIRE
STICKS
- 34. Who are Blue Mountains Fire Sticks (BMFS)? BMFS is a
community initiative of firesticks in NSW. BMFS practice Cultural
Fire as part of Aboriginal peoples self determination in caring for
Country. BMFS is a collective of Aboriginal and non Aboriginal
people and representatives of various organisations and
institutions who support the use and acceptance of Cultural Fire as
part of contemporary Bushfire Management practices within and
surrounding the Blue Mountains. BMFS is an Aboriginal Cultural
based group and is not owned by or affiliated with any one
individual, group, organisation or institution. BMFS IS OPEN TO
EVERYONE INTERESTED! BLUE MOUNTAINS FIRE STICKS
- 35. BLUE MOUNTAINS FIRE STICKS Fire Mitigation Works at
Aboriginal Archaeological Sites in the Blue Mountains National
Park, 2014 Report produced for: National Parks & Wildlife
Service, Blue Mountains Region Gundungurra Aboriginal Heritage
Association Incorporated DATE: June 2014 Author: Michael
Jackson
- 36. BMFS now continue this work BLUE MOUNTAINS FIRE STICKS
- 37. BLUE MOUNTAINS FIRE STICKS
- 38. BLUE MOUNTAINS FIRE STICKS
- 39. What does Blue Mountains Fire Sticks hope to achieve? Short
Term: Engage community, build relationships, gain support and keep
the conversation going. Medium Term: Engage landowners (Eg. NPWS),
Government Departments and other Fire authorities in considering
the application of cultural fire as part of contemporary bush fire
management. Longer Term: Engage Aboriginal people who are
interested in becoming fire trained in order to participate in
burning activities on Country. Others may wish to be part of
recording and monitoring and work with other partners. Seek support
from land owners (Public and Private) to implement cultural
burning. Right now: Inform, participate, share and learn at forums
just like this one. Thanks to Elders, Communities, Firesticks and
Nature Conservation Council for leading this work in NSW.
- 40. Blue Mountains Fire Sticks Acknowledge the Traditional
Custodians of Country POTENTIAL PARTNERS OF BLUE MOUNTAINS FIRE
STICKS Aboriginal Language Groups and Community of Blue Mountains
Including Darkinjung, Darug, Dharawal, Gundungurra, Wanaruah and
Wiradjuri people Firesticks and TKRP Nature Conservation Council of
NSW University of Technology Sydney NSW National Parks &
Wildlife Service - Blue Mountains Region Office of Environment
& Heritage NSW Rural Fire Service Fire and Rescue NSW
Gundungurra Aboriginal Heritage Association Incorporated The Gully
Traditional Owners Local Aboriginal Land Councils Muru Mittigar
Blue Mountains City Council Greater Sydney Local Land Services
Sydney Catchment Authority University of Western Sydney Private
Land Holders Calling for EOIs for participation in : The BLUE
MOUNTAINS FIRE STICKS CIRCLE (Committee)
- 41. And finally, my personal vision for a firesticks future in
NSW?
- 42. Burning the grass dance (Uncle Geoff Eagar) BLUE MOUNTAINS
FIRE STICKS
- 43. Any questions or comments? Lets talk about it! Lets work
together! For further info, check out BMFS on FacebookBLUE
MOUNTAINS FIRE STICKS