IN FOCUS: THE PATH AHEAD FOR ABORIGINAL TOURISM IN TASMANIA

Photo credit: Rob Burnett

The power of “walking on country” is transforming the lives of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Tasmanians as the state embraces the concept and drives demand for more Aboriginal tourism ventures.

But while there is a growing, genuine support for growth in the sector, those at the heart of established enterprises say the process can’t and won’t be rushed.

The much-celebrated wukalina Walk was awarded gold in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Tourism award category at the recent Tasmanian Tourism Awards – an achievement well over a decade in the making. “I don’t think we thought we would be as excited as we were to have the recognition that Aboriginal people deserve and stand up amongst the best in the state – we were taken aback by how emotional we were,” reflects wukalina Walk General Manager Gill Parssey. The walk through wukalina (Mt William National Park) and larapuna (Bay of Fires) has been in operation since January 2018, attracting around 240 people a year – an ideal number for a delicate environment.

It employs a 20-strong team of Aboriginal employees, with Gill the only non-Aboriginal person working in the business. “We are steadfast in our commitment to make sure staff are Aboriginal people and they are the ones interacting with guests and telling their stories,” Gill said.

The power of being on your country can never be underestimated and they are absolutely transformed by that. It is a very spiritual place, a visceral experience where you can feel the old spirits there – once you stand on that land with them, you understand how important it is.

Gill says the recognition of wukalina Walk as a tourism venture is a credit to the Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania, especially members Clyde Mansell and Graeme Gardner. “They had the vision long before we got it up and running – they started consulting with the community in 2008 about what the best model would be, how to bring nonAboriginal people onto country and return Aboriginal people back onto country to tell their stories on their cultural homeland,” Gill says. “We need to really pay credit to Clyde and Graeme and the Aboriginal elders that helped along the way with interpretation and mapping out the interpretation plan along the journey, including the more difficult stories and taking into consideration everyone’s pathways to learning and making sure it enriches all audiences.” Gill says the potential to grow more Aboriginal tourism experiences is huge. “Aboriginal people hold land across the state where experiences could be developed for people to come into under the care and community of Aboriginal people with interpretation by Aboriginal people using new technology to allow touch points at sites, which would help with the goal of greater employment for the Aboriginal community,” Gill says. Rodney Dillon works with Amnesty International as an advocate aiming to keep young Aboriginal kids out of prison. He says the more cultural tourism projects on offer, the greater the opportunity for the Indigenous population to find meaningful employment. “We want to be part of society and don’t want to be welfare driven,” Rodney says. “More tourism ventures would help create employment, show caring for country and allow us to display the culture we have because people want to come and see it.” He is not surprised by the respect being bestowed on wukalina Walk. “I am not surprised by its success because when I was involved in the green paper in 2000 for national tourism, 90 per cent of international visitors said they wanted an Indigenous experience,” Rodney reflects.

“We need other walks around the state so that there are greater opportunities for different people to have access to an experience where they can walk away with 50-60,000 years of the experience from the people who lived in that area.” With the State Government releasing the Pathway to Truth-Telling and Treaty Report, Aboriginal communities are hopeful the future will be one with reduced racism and greater opportunities for the traditional owners of the land. “When I started, I had to deal with so many racist people in this state and it was tragic to work with people who didn’t get it,” Gill said.

But now to see the conversations and the work that Kate Warner and Tim McCormack have done with the report, in such a genuine, honest and caring way, the conversations have changed – it is like chalk and cheese.

Photo credit: Rob Burnett

That reflection is echoed by Nayri Niara founding director Ruth Langford, a proud Aboriginal woman born in Tasmania/lutrawita, whose mother is a Yorta Yorta woman from Murray River country. Nayri Niara is an Aboriginalowned and operated social enterprise based on Hobart’s waterfront at the Long House. It reaches 20,000 people a year globally through its creative programs, wellbeing practitioners, mentoring/ internship programs and events. “We don’t silo ourselves into Indigenous tourism but align ourselves with cultural values of passing medicine on and enhancing the wellbeing and good spirit of people,” Ruth explains. The enterprise is perhaps best known for its Nayri Niara Good Spirit Festival – a bi-annual gathering of music, ceremony, knowledge sharing and arts, held at lunawunna alonnah, Bruny Island, Tasmania – the next event is scheduled for April 22-25, 2022.

Ruth says the first festival was held at Cloudy Bay in 2009 with 150 people in her front yard “because there had been a significant shift and Aboriginal elders felt more comfortable and confident in sharing their knowledge”. She says she has gladly witnessed a significant expansion in the willingness of people wanting to learn and understand more about Aboriginal history and culture.

“We want to respond to the expanding willingness and goodwill of people wanting to support Aboriginal tourism but there needs to be an investment in infrastructure and business development and we have been working hard over 20 years to develop enterprise but Tasmania is 20 years behind other states in investment in Aboriginal tourism development. “My vision is to grow our enterprise hub at the Long House to support emerging businesses, expand our internship program for more cultural training and to teach transferrable skills across hospitality, creative arts and tourism.

We see costeffective, impactful progress that supports the broader community and it is worth investing in.

Photo credit: Rob Burnett All three community leaders agree that the process of further growth needs to be carefully managed and any new experience needs to be developed organically. “We as non-Aboriginals can be quite demanding and want things done quickly. The government processes and the grant processes have very high expectations and the way we communicate and expect

Clyde Mansell. Photo credit: Rob Burnett

wukalina Walk. Photo credit Rob Burnett

outcomes immediately is the exact opposite for Aboriginal people. “Everything is circular and it takes a long time for them to trust people so we have to be patient and let the experience be organic,” Gill says. Rodney adds: “You have got to make sure we are totally involved in the process and we have a sense of control so that our heritage is respected. People think we are always negative and complaining but we just need to have greater protections under the Heritage Act for Aboriginal culture.” A culture that survived against the odds may just be about to enjoy a prosperous new era. “I know of four Aboriginal businesses in tourism and cultural sharing that would like to co-home but don’t have the infrastructure so now is the time to support people who are passionate, willing and capable,” Ruth says. “We need to go beyond the words.”

It seems fitting for Clyde Mansell to have the final say. The wukalina Walk is a showcase for what is possible for my community when we are able to access our country, while being given both the autonomy and the support required to realise our long-held dream of providing employment for our people.