Aboriginal Catholic Ministry in collaboration with Amberley Centre, invite you to experience and explore Aboriginal spirituality and connection to land by walking with Mutthi Mutthi woman Vicki Clark in the footsteps of her ancestors at Lake Mungo and Balranald.
Yingadi Mutthi Mutthi Country
Yingadi is a Mutthi Mutthi word meaning come.
Yingadi is an invitation to come and be with Vicki and her family on Mutthi Mutthi Country, to listen and learn from them and to experience the sacredness of the lands we are travelling to.
The Yingadi Immersion experience contains two key experiences; being at Lake Mungo and being at Balranald.
Lake Mungo is an ancient lake that was once one of seventeen lakes in the Willandra Lakes region of New South Wales. Three Aboriginal nations belong to this region, the Barkindji, Nyiampaa and Mutthi Mutthi peoples. Vicki’s Grandma Alice Kelly said that Lake Mungo is “the most cultured place for the Mutthi Mutthi people” and is a significant place for all Australians.
The moving sands at Mungo are constantly revealing ancient campfires, footprints, tools and children’s toys, as well as the skeletons of ancient Australian mega-fauna preserved by the desert landscape. The experience at Lake Mungo will leave us with the strong sense that wherever we walk in Australia we are walking on land that has been walked on for thousands of generations.
Balranald is a small town on the Murrumbidgee River about two hours from Lake Mungo. Balranald is the home of members of Vicki’s family who are inviting us to listen to some of their stories of life in Balranald. We will visit a number of places in and around Balranald significant to Vicki’s family and we will experience the contemporary cultures at Balranald. We will be invited by our experiences of contemporary Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal culture in Balranald to critically reflect upon our own cultural narratives.
A big part of Yingadi an experience of life at a different pace and we will be getting up early for the sunrise whilst at Lake Mungo, during the day we will have plenty of time to wander and explore the places we are visiting and at the end of the day we will have some time for sharing stories around the campfire at night.
Yingadi, mund wanabi gima gini dani.
Come, the heart of the fire is in this place.
Event Details
Program: Yingadi Immersion – Fire
Dates: Sunday 25 to Thursday 29 September
Cost: $1100 all inclusive (transport, accommodation, meals)
Expression of Interest and Application: Peter Hay – Director: peter@amberley.org.au and Karen Mahoney – Yingadi Immersion Coordinator: karen@amberley.org.au Phone: 9439 8282
A partnership between Aboriginal Catholic Ministry and Edmund Rice Centre Amberley
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