Curtin Kalgoorlie students recently had the exciting opportunity to immerse themselves in local Aboriginal culture on-Country in Kalgoorlie.
Last month, a group of students, staff, local community groups and industry partners came together for Cultural Awareness Rocks – an event that not only provided students an opportunity to learn more about Aboriginal culture in Kalgoorlie and the Goldfields, but network with Industry.
The day was jam packed with on-Country activities, teachings and yarns with Aboriginal Elders and presentations given by Industry.
First up, students studying mining engineering, geology and surveying had the chance to experience the local culture through a series of on-Country activities, including a walk at Lake Douglas, and heard from local Elders on teachings about artefacts, culture and history.
On returning to campus, students tried delicious bush tucker and learned more about environmental considerations in Mine Feasibility Studies supported by Glencore’s Minara Resources, Evolution Mining and ZiJin Mining.
Finally, students got creative with developing amazing artwork based on the symbols used in Aboriginal culture in collaboration with Industry partners and Aboriginal community members.
All artwork created was submitted to an art competition at the Curtin Kalgoorlie Library, where all Kalgoorlie students had the opportunity to vote on the best artwork throughout October. The winners will be announced shortly.
Overall, all students loved having the opportunity to learn more from local Aboriginal community members about their culture and history. On speaking with a student who participated in the event, Lillian, there was only positive feedback to be shared.
“I thought the event was great. I really enjoyed learning from the Elders who gave the talks. I hope there will be more events like this in the future.”
With the invaluable opportunity to not only learn more about Aboriginal culture in the region, hear from industry about environmental considerations, and bring students, industry and local Aboriginal community members together to create some truly wonderful artwork, it can be said that cultural awareness truly does rock.
