Unravelling colonial threads: Stories behind the fishing net: Sitting with the aunties

Abstract

This manuscript highlights the voices of Bundjalung elders in northeastern New South Wales, focusing on the impacts of colonization, such as the continued (un)raveling of cultural practices. The authors explore how colonialism perpetuates the exclusion of Indigenous worldviews and knowledge. Nonetheless, Indigenous peoples continue to strongly demand and advocate for meaningful recognition and protection of their cultural property and heritage, rooted in their own systems of law and lore. Through a project embedded in the Bundjalung nation, they examine the value of “cultural property and rights and question whether culture can be governed or regulated. The “Stories behind the fishing net: Sitting with the aunties” initiative at Gnibi College, Southern Cross University, recorded oral histories and traditional net-weaving techniques, fostering community connection and cultural governance. The project highlighted the important roles that cultural practice and objects play in building community and culture between and among Indigenous clans within the Bunjalung nation.