BUDJAAN OF BOODEREE
Some know that Booderee is a Dhurga word meaning ‘bay of plenty'. But fewer know that Budjaan is the south coast Dharawal and Dhurga word for bird. Budjaan is also the title of a young woman's simple but beautiful mission to use language to entwine culture and nature in Booderee National Park.
Story and photographs by Chris Grounds /
Conservation Correspondent, BirdLife Shoalhaven
Allirra Moore is a proud Wodi Wodi - Yuin woman with a goal to “showcase culture and further establish language in educational projects".
As Education and Interpretations Officer at Booderee National Park (BNP), Ms Moore has started bringing her vision to others through The Budjaan Project.
The Budjaan Project is essentially a way to display Booderee's birds as a poster-style illustration and chart used in the BNP Information Office in a large format and as posters for sale to visitors.
Moore's initiative signals a change of direction for budjaan in Booderee that encourages visitors and locals to not only celebrate Indigenous language but also actually use it as they explore the park and spot birds.
The Budjaan chart aims to showcase 20 of the 202 bird species found in Booderee National Park, with each bird's cultural name.
Choosing which species to showcase was a challenge, with the groups of birds selected intended to reflect the birds' variety and biodiversity, including raptors, shorebirds, waterbirds, parrots and cockatoos, marine birds, honeyeaters, and bush birds.
Six of the species are flagged as threatened species. Some particular attention was given to birds that visitors had a reasonable chance of seeing.
The Budjaan Project identification chart promotes the use of two Aboriginal language groups, which are acknowledged and accepted by the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community, Dhurga and Dharawal languages.
Where cultural names are known and can be accurately determined, both the Dhurga and Dharawal Aboriginal language names are used for a species.
Booderee acknowledges the rich culture of the Wreck Bay people and wishes to educate visitors on the history and importance of Aboriginal culture.
Aboriginal languages around Australia were an aspect of many cultural practices denied by impacts of colonisation and government policies.
Today, there are revitalisation processes to enable First Nations people to learn and speak their language again.
BUDJAAN AT THE BOTANIC GARDENS
Another initiative involving budjaan commenced this year at the Booderee Botanic Gardens under the supervision of Julie Percival, Conservator of the Gardens.
The Gardens, like the National Park, are owned by the Wreck Bay community and have been awarded as the only such Aboriginal-owned Gardens in Australia.
The Gardens are an extensive enclave of native plants and thus bring an enticing collection of native birds across annual seasonal variations.
BirdLife Shoalhaven previously featured the Gardens in the Shoalhaven Bird Walks brochure.
Now featured in the Display Board at the car park entrance is a photo display collection of 34 species of birds known in the Gardens - some migratory and a number threatened.
This is proving very popular with visitors, to the delight of staff, as it recognises, presents and enhances the value of one of the great features of the Botanic Gardens.
The plan is to develop the display on a more secure and outdoor-friendly basis.
Recent bird highlights from the Botanic Gardens include a White-throated Gerygone, its nest, and the migratory Black-faced Monarch, which has a very distinctive call. (Click on images to enlarge)
One of Booderee National Park and Botanical Garden's great natural assets and attractions is the rich birdlife and the Aboriginal community has a long association with the budjaan.
The park is home to over 200 recorded bird species, reflecting the distinctive geography and variety of habitats arising from its coastal landscapes and diverse ecology.
This is known to people such as BirdLife Shoalhaven members, but less well known to visitors, with full cultural context often unknown.
The Budjaan Project is changing that, advancing Booderee's cultural profile and promoting a closer relationship with both Aboriginal culture and the area's birds.
SAVING BOODEREE'S BUDJAAN
Booderee shorelines are included in the National Parks and Wildlife Service’s “Saving Our Species” Project.
A team of volunteers who constitute the Bay and Basin team monitor the breeding of several threatened species during the breeding season from August to March.
The principal species involved are the critically endangered Hooded Plover and the Threatened Pied and Sooty Oystercatchers.
Booderee National Park [BNP], including its land and waters, is in every sense a fabulous natural gem, but it is also a cultural icon with the threatened White-bellied Sea Eagle, a symbol and logo of the Park.
Booderee National Park is in a special category of Parks that are Aboriginal-owned and co-managed with the Commonwealth government.
Booderee is in rare company on the Australian mainland with Kakadu and Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Parks, although these two are also World Heritage properties.
Booderee National Park is owned by the “Traditional Owners” of the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community and represented by a Board of Management, which has an Aboriginal majority representing the traditional owners.
In 1995 Jervis Bay National Park and the Jervis Bay Botanic Gardens were conferred on the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community Council to be leased back to the Director of National Parks and jointly managed as a national park and botanic garden.
The Booderee lands were handed back by then Labor Senator Robert Tickner in a 1995 ceremony at Greenpatch and the Park was later declared as Booderee National Park in 1997.
The contemporary Jervis Bay National Park is now an adjoining but separate state-based property managed by the NPWS beyond Booderee's borders.
Booderee is surrounded by three major marine areas: Jervis Bay, Wreck Bay and Bherwerre or St Georges Basin.
More December news from Booderee
