Bangadyi Nawi: Making a Canoe was a collaborative community engagement project between Hawkesbury Regional Museum, the Dharug community, and Brewongle Environmental Education Centre. The project provided the opportunity for local Aboriginal high school students to create a nawi (the Dharug word for tied bark canoe) during an Elder-led camp in Sackville North, along Dyarubbin / The Hawkesbury River. This nawi now forms the centrepiece of a new display at the entrance to the Hawkesbury Regional Museum, along with a short film documenting its creation and the significance of the project.
To view the film, or to learn more about the Bangadyi Nawi project, explore the pages below.
Awards for Bangadyi Nawi:
IMAGinE Awards 2023 - Winner of Engagement Programs Award (Small Organisation)
Local Government Week Awards 2024 - Leo Kelly OAM Arts & Culture Award (Division B, population between 30,000 - 100,000 people)
The Film
The short film 'Bangadyi Nawi (Making a Canoe)' was commissioned as part of the Bangadyi Nawi project. It follows the journey and process of canoe making during the Elder-led camp at Brewongle Environmental Education Centre. In doing so, the film provides insight into the transfer of cultural knowledge from one generation to another and highlights the significance of the project from the point of view of the camp participants.
Music maker, sound designer, writer and producer, Oonagh Sherrard, was videographer and composer for the film. The film has a run time of 06 minutes and 46 seconds.
About the Project
The Bangadyi Nawi community engagement project was developed with a Dharug curatorium. It was planned in three stages, with three multi-faceted goals identified.
These were:
- An Elder-led canoe-making camp for local Aboriginal students.
- A short film documenting the making of the nawi.
- The acquisition of the nawi by the Hawkesbury Regional Museum for a new permanent display.
Learn more about each of these stages below.
Stage One
For the first phase of the project, local high schools were invited to nominate middle and senior Aboriginal students to attend Warrawi Yana Nura (Stand Tall Walk Tall on Country), an Aboriginal student leadership program at Brewongle Environmental Education Centre in Sackville North. Students from four local schools participated, attending a three-day canoe-making camp in May of 2023.
The intergenerational camp was led by Uncle Dean Kelly (Yuin/Wailwan Elder) and Uncle David Payne (boatbuilder and Honorary Research Associate, Australian National Maritime Museum), along with Erin Wilkins (Aboriginal Cultural Educator and Dharug Knowledge Holder). It provided the opportunity for students to connect with Elders and Country, gain and apply cultural knowledge, and build leadership skills.
For those who attended the camp, it was a profound and meaningful experience. Describing the camp, student Blake stated, “I don’t think I could experience this anywhere [else] with Uncle David and Uncle Dean, to see our practise of our ancestors." For Erin, Aboriginal Cultural Educator, “Being able to bring back making those canoes the traditional way, it makes my heart sing." Elder, Uncle Dean Kelly, summed up the significance of the Bangadyi Nawi project, stating that, “Teaching young people, you hope they grow and spread that as well so that long after I’m gone, this culture lives and survives”.
Stage Two
Stage two of the project involved documenting the Warrawi Yana Nura camp. This provided a record of the canoe-making process that could be passed on and would also be displayed at the Hawkesbury Regional Museum to educate visitors. Composer, sound-designer, and producer, Oonagh Sherrard, was commissioned as a videographer to create the short film, titled ‘Bangadyi Nawi (Making of a Canoe)’.
The film follows the journey of nawi making, emphasises the connection and respect between Elders and students, and provides insight into the transfer of cultural knowledge from one generation to another. It also highlights the significance of the project, particularly in terms of strengthening cultural identity, from the point of view of the camp participants.
Film still, title screen
Film still, smoking ceremony
Film still, working nawi materials
Film still, Elder Dean Kelly educating students
Film still, teaching with models
Film still, tying the canoe
Film still, sailing the canoe on Dyarubbin
Stage Three
Following the completion of the canoe-making camp, the nawi was acquired by the Hawkesbury Regional Museum. Here, it became the centrepiece of a new permanent display, titled ‘Bangadyi Nawi’. The exhibition was launched at the Museum in November 2023.
The display showcases the nawi on a raised platform, in front of a large photograph of Dyarubbin / the Hawkesbury River and a prominent Acknowledgement of Country. The short film ‘Bangadyi Nawi (Making of a Canoe)’ is shown alongside the nawi and forms an important part of the display. It ensures that Aboriginal voices are centred in how the nawi story is communicated to museum visitors and, in contrast to the didactic labels traditionally used in museum displays, highlights Aboriginal methods of knowledge-sharing, including the use of oral traditions.
The exhibition is part of continuing efforts to increase the representation of local Aboriginal perspectives and stories within the Museum. It emphasises that Dharug culture is a living culture and a part of the contemporary Hawkesbury community. Our hope is that it will provide ongoing learning opportunities for our Museum visitors.
We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the Hawkesbury, the Dharug and Darkinjung peoples, and their continuing connections to land, sea, culture and community. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present.
Banner image source: sv1ambo, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic
Page ID: 250405