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Warami Mittigar:

A cultural partnership built on respect

LGNSW Tourism Conference

Tuesday 19 March 2019

Justine Dowd & Sasa Kennedy

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Strategic context and background

Parramatta – always was,

always will be, a gathering

place

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Community Strategic PlanWe celebrate culture and diversity – past present and future

Culture and Our CityAlways was, always will be, a gathering place

Destination Management PlanEnhanced quality and meaningful visitor experiences

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Cultural Heritage

• Identify unique experiences

• Link and promote experiences to grow the visitor economy

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Stretch

Reconciliation

Action PlanDocument Title Section Title 00.00.2018 5

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The Journey

Development of the cultural

partnership between Council

and the Darug community

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2015 – EOIs for Aboriginal presenters sent

2017 – Darug Interpretation Workshop was born

2018 – Developed and implemented protocols for

cultural content of Darug cultural tours

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How the partnership was built

• Time

• Humility

• Flexibility

• Goodwill

• Honesty

• Trust

• Willingness to share

RESPECT

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Our partnership

Darug partners

• Darug cultural

knowledge

• Traditional

teaching skills

Council staff

• Planning skills

• Interpretation and

guiding skills

RESPECT

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Planning Goals

Darug:

✓ Access to land for traditional practice

✓ Cultural immersion training

✓ People to feel welcome on Country

✓ Meaningful interpretation of their culture

✓ To provide content and share their cultural

knowledge

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Warami Mittigar:

an Aboriginal

Cultural Walk

was born…

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Planning Goals

Council:

✓ Site-specific content so visitors

can relate to what is here.

✓ Parramatta-specific Darug story

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Warami Mittigar:

an Aboriginal

Cultural Walk

was born…

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Develop outline for an Aboriginal Cultural Walk.

A recce and content agreement from Darug

partners.

A draft tour plan created by Council for feedback,

training and trials.

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Actions

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The Process

• Warami Mittigar Aboriginal Cultural Tour was

proposed, drafted, discussed and modified

• The pilot was trialled during History Week

2018

• Soft launch during Heritage Near Me West

Fest in Oct 2018

• Target Markets – residents, students,

inbound visitors and Visiting Friends &

Relatives (VFR)

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The Process

• 2019 – Two tours per month + special event

tours eg Senior’s Festival, Sorry Week,

National Heritage Festival

• Tour is listed on Australian Tourism Data

Warehouse (ATDW) and TripAdvisor

• Tour is bookable through Eventbrite and

www.discoverparramatta.com

• Now mapped to the school syllabus and

bookable for excursions through Council’s

Cultural Heritage Education Program 14

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What we asked, what we learnt and what we heard…

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from our Darug partners

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Action: Council developed an EOI to learn what the Aboriginal community would like to contribute

Result: A poor response.

Why?

• Language is important egknowledge-holder, not expert

• Catching attention is difficult

How did we know?

We asked!

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What

Council

learnt…

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Individual voices not seen as representative

• Seek a range of voices

Demands on elders’ time are great

• Cultural requirements

• Community support

• Skills building

Managing participation is difficult

• Understand demands on their time

• Ask how to engage most effectively

• Apply multiple methods

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Challenges

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Darug elders sharing their experience

What has been the most rewarding aspect of developing this partnership with Council?

AND

What would like you to share with the audience here today who are considering partnership with Aboriginal communities Aboriginal tourism projects?

Document Title Section Title 00.00.2018 18

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Uncle Chris Tobin

Darug Elder

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Aunty Leanne King

Darug elder

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Uncle Lex Dadd

Darug Elder

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OUTCOMES:

Darug goals met

Council goals met

A niche tourism experience is born!

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Thank you

Justine Dowd

jdowd@cityofparramatta.gov.au

Sasa Kennedy

skennedy@cityofparramatta.nsw.gov.au

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QUESTIONS?

Document Title Section Title 00.00.2018 24