Abstract
In this chapter, we reflect on ways in which we yanama budyari gumada, “walk with good spirit”, at Yarramundi, a Darug place at the edge of western Sydney’s intense residential development. Though heavily colonised, Darug Ngurra, Darug Country is, and always has been, a place of immense connection and meaning to its Aboriginal custodians, the Darug people. Sharing our learning through yarning and dance circles, we invite the reader to listen in to our personal reflections on what it means to try to embody, model, and advocate intercultural more-than-human environmental stewardship. Documenting how Darug Ngurra actively shapes research methods as she teaches, we share what we encounter through these more-than-human relationships, the joyful ways we co-emerge together as well as the challenges and mistakes made. In “walking our dreaming together now” (Uncle Lex Dadd) we are trying to listen carefully to Darug Ngurra, to begin to heal ourselves and Country.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Bawaka Country including Suchet-Pearson, S., Wright, S., Lloyd, K., Burarrwanga, L., & Bawaka Country. (2013). Caring as country: Towards an ontology of cobecoming in natural resource management. Asia Pacific Viewpoint, 54(2), 185–197.
Bawaka Country including Wright, S., Suchet-Pearson, S., Lloyd, K., Burarrwanga, L., Ganambarr, R., Ganambarr-Stubbs, M., Ganambarr, B., Maymuru, D., & Sweeney, J. (2016). Co-becoming Bawaka: Towards a relational understanding of place/space. Progress in Human Geography, 40(4), 455–475.
Bell, S. J., Instone, L., & Mee, K. J. (2018). Engaged witnessing: Researching with the more-than human. Area, 50(1), 136–144.
Darug Country including Dadd, L., Glass, P., Scott, R., Graham, M., Judge, S., Hodge, P., & Suchet-Pearson, S. (2019). Yanama budyari gumada – Reframing the urban to care as Darug Country in western Sydney. Australian Geographer. https://doi.org/10.1080/00049182.2019.1601150
Ens, E., Finlayson, M., Preuss, K., Jackson, S., & Holcombe, S. (2012). Australian approaches for managing “country” using Indigenous and non-Indigenous knowledge. Ecological Management and Restoration, 13(1), 100–107.
Lloyd, K., Wright, S., Suchet-Pearson, S., Burarrwanga, L., & Bawaka Country. (2012). Reframing development through collaboration: Towards a relational ontology of connection in Bawaka, North East Arnhem Land. Third World Quarterly, 33(6), 1075–1094.
Plumwood, V. (1995). Human vulnerability and the experiences of being prey. Quadrant, 39(3), 29–34.
Rose, D. B. (1996). Nourishing terrains: Australian Aboriginal views of landscape and wilderness. Canberra: Australian Heritage Commission.
Rose, D., van Dooren, T., Chrulew, S., Cooke, S., Kearnes, M., & O’Gorman, E. (2012). Thinking through the environment, unsettling the humanities. Environmental Humanities, 1, 1–5.
Scott, R. (2017). Yanana Budjari Gumada: ‘Walk with good spirit’, Caring as Country at Yellomundee, Western Sydney. Unpublished Honours manuscript. University of Newcastle, Australia.
Acknowledgement
This chapter is shaped by, and an intimate part of, Darug Ngurra and we acknowledge and thank Ngurra for nurturing and enabling this work. This includes our broader mudjin, our wonderful and supportive family—our partners and children, parents and friends—always an integral part of our yanama budyari gumada. We’d also like to acknowledge and thank other Countries which we live on, travel through, work on, and which are also a critical part of our walking. This project has been assisted by the New South Wales Government through its Environmental Trust.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Ngurra, D. et al. (2020). Yanama Budyari Gumada, Walk with Good Spirit as Method: Co-creating Local Environmental Stewards on/with/as Darug Ngurra. In: Campbell, A., Duffy, M., Edmondson, B. (eds) Located Research. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-32-9694-7_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-32-9694-7_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-32-9693-0
Online ISBN: 978-981-32-9694-7
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)