Be Brave Make Change this National Reconciliation Week

At Yarrabilba, we acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land and pay our respect to them and their Elders – both past and present. Yarrabilba is located on Yugambeh country.

Each year from 27 May to 3 June, Australia acknowledges National Reconciliation Week. This is a time for all Australians to pause, reflect and learn about the history and culture of First Nations peoples, and explore ways we can continue to shape Australia into a reconciled nation. It is a time when our community is encouraged to come together and join in conversations as we strive for a more just, equitable nation in an environment of unity and respect.

The dates that booked National Reconciliation Week commemorate two significant milestones in the reconciliation journey – the successful 1967 referendum (on 27 May, 1967), and the High Court Mabo decision (on 3 June, 1992).

The theme for National Reconciliation Week 2022 is Be Brave. Make Change. This theme calls on all Australians to make change beginning with brave actions in our daily lives – where we live, work, play and socialise.

Walk for Reconciliation

In recognition towards reconciliation, we are inviting our Lendlease employees and community partners to take their own reflective walk during the week of 27 May- 3 June.

Taking a stroll through Neumann Park provides an opportunity to explore two of SEQ’s culturally significant ground level rock shelters, located right here in Yarrabilba.

You can use Google Maps or Whereis.com to measure the km’s walked between your home and the return journey to the Dryander St end of Neumann Park. Make the pledge to walk for reconciliation and complete the online form to log your family’s kilometres with the Yarrabilba community tally.

To the local Aboriginal people, ancient keepers of the land, this valley is Yarrabilba, place of song

(Information can be found in the Yarrabilba: Place of Song handbook)

Archaeological work within Yarrabilba over recent years has uncovered evidence of Aboriginal occupation, enriching the growing database of Indigenous artefacts and sites discovered within the region.

These include open campsites, rock shelters, Bora rings, burial caves and corroboree grounds.

A preliminary site investigation conducted in 2001 confirmed historical Aboriginal occupation of Yarrabilba. The site once offered a rich and reliable food source, evidenced by the presence of a Bora ring nearby. (Ceremonies associated with Bora rings generally attracted large gatherings requiring easy access to good food sources.)

Yarrabilba also linked diverse environmental landscapes, and their associated foods, with paths connecting sandstone outcrops and woodlands to river flats, swamps and flowing waterways.

Scatters of flaked stone artefacts, the most common type of Aboriginal site in the region, offer rich insights into Indigenous interactions with the landscape. They are highly valued. Scarred trees whose bark has been removed for implements or taking possums and honey, middens where shells and other refuse was dumped and axe-grinding grooves in sandstone rocks on creeks afford similar understandings. All have been found in the region.

Further surface investigations and archaeological digs conducted in 2011 unearthed Aboriginal artefacts along ridge tops, creek margins and adjacent to rock overhangs within northern sections of Yarrabilba.

Most of the stone artefacts were relatively small, with the largest flakes found along the creek margins. Where the grassy plain changes to dramatic sandstone outcrops in the north-eastern section of the site, three rock shelters show evidence of being Aboriginal occupation sites.

The largest shelter is about five metres across and three metres deep with a roof height of 1.7 metres. These sites will be protected for future generations. Under the Queensland Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act, it is an offence to harm, excavate, relocate, take away, or be in unlawful possession of Aboriginal heritage items.

For more information about National Reconciliation Week, the 2022 theme, and for additional ideas on how to celebrate the week visit: https://www.reconciliation.org.au/our-work/national-reconciliation-week/

To see a map of language, tribal or nation groups for First Nations People, visit the AIATIS Map of Indigenous Australia.