Remote Northern Territory students are preserving their cultural cooking methods one page at a time.
STEPS Skills for Education and Employment (SEE) students in Gunbalanya are sharing indigenous stories through a book writing project.
The budding authors are excited to see their book, which is about fishing, hunting and bush tucker in the local region, starting to come together.
The initiative fosters literacy, numeracy and project management skills which will help with future workplace and learning tasks, while also nurturing the local indigenous culture.
SEE trainer Cecily Petherick said the project has helped some students who were quite shy to come out of their shell.
“It’s something that’s relevant to them,” she said.
Cecily said the idea for the book was inspired by the students’ love for sharing their way of life, local recipes and knowledge of the region with the greater community.
“We like to share our stories about what we do,” one of the students said. “It makes us happy.”
Once finished, the book’s chapters will describe many local plants and animals, where they are found, Kunwinjku language translations and stories about the flora and fauna.
STEPS provides training in collaboration with the Remote Jobs and Communities Program (RJCP). The Skills for Education and Employment (SEE) program is funded by the Australian Government Department of Education and Training.
