Australia is home to the world’s oldest continuous living culture.
There are many opportunities to reflect on our First Nations peoples and to learn about and connect with our local Indigenous communities.
One way is to learn about Traditional place names and the Traditional Owners of the areas we live in.
Why should we learn about our local Traditional Country?
Educating ourselves about where we live, and about the Traditional Owners and place names is a way of showing respect towards our First Nations peoples.
It allows us to acknowledge the local Indigenous community, and to learn about and connect with the land and waters that we use.
Connecting with the local Traditional Owners also makes it easier to discover and engage with local cultural events on offer throughout the year.
Identifying local Traditional Owners in some regions of Australia is easy as they are well known.
In other regions, the Traditional Owners are less clear and may require some effort and research.
Five ways to identify the Traditional Custodians in your area
1. Councils
Get in touch with the metropolitan or regional council in your town or city to find out who the local Traditional Owners are.
You can check your local council website for any acknowledgements to the Traditional Owners or other relevant information on the local First Nations peoples.
Local Indigenous organisations in your town or city can also provide information.
2. AIATSIS Map of Indigenous Australia
The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) provides an excellent online resource to help you match the Traditional Owners to your location.
The AIATSIS map of Indigenous Australia displays Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander language groups, social or nation groups and boundaries.
AIATSIS’ easy resource offers alternative spellings of place names and links to a languages database. It also provides a list of Australian land councils.
3. Community events
Get amongst the oldest living culture on the planet by supporting local Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander community events throughout the year.
There are many significant days on the Indigenous Australian calendar that you can engage with on Country.
These include NAIDOC Week (3–10 July 2022), National Reconciliation Week (27 May–3 June 2022) and Mabo Day (3 June 2022).
4. Government websites
Educate yourself and stay informed about what it means to be walking on the land of the local Traditional Custodians.
You can find information online, or by engaging with your local or state library for both historical and up-to-date information on Indigenous Australian groups.
In addition to local council websites, state and territory government websites can provide details of Traditional Owners in their jurisdictions.
They may also promote local Indigenous community events in your area for you to engage with.
5. Check the mail
Try using a Traditional place name when sending your next parcel.
Australia Post has recently updated its addressing guidelines to allow for the inclusion of Traditional place names on packaging address panels.
Not all regions of Australia can be matched but if you are sending to a major city, why not try to match the postcode with its Traditional name?