We acknowledge Wurundjeri Country. We acknowledge the custodianship of its people and the privilege and responsibility to Connect with Country. We acknowledge the inspiration and responsibility to design with Country and her Kin.
Six layers of Country
This master plan is based on the principle of Connection with Country rather than just including it.
Below, the complexity of Country is shared as layers – the master plan seeks to connect and contribute to all of these layers, offering strategies where both Country, and People on Country, are sustained.
Wurru Wurru – Sky Country
Sky Country is a place of spirits and the ancestors and includes knowledge about navigation, the seasons, time and Songlines. It is also an important component of ceremony as it allows engagement with our ancestors and spiritual beings.
Tharangalk Biik – Forest Country
Forest Country fills the senses with colour, smells and sounds, our refuge and that for our kin, the animals. This is where we learn about the connection of all living things and our responsibilities and roles within this web of connections.
Biik-Du – On Country
Is the layer of people and community, where our spirituality is embedded in environmental consciousness. To be on Country is to be a Custodian of Country it is where we record and share our knowledge through story, song, dance and art.
Murnmut Biik – Wind Country
Wind Country carries the messages of seasonal change, the songs and words of our ancestors across Country. Where the landscape and light vibrates to a rhythm, be it the trees and the grass, or the clouds racing across the sky.
Biik Ut – Below Country
Below Country is the most Ancient of connections and one that we honour for the many gifts it shares, such as the greenstone axe, the ochres that we paint with. When we dance we are celebrating and honouring the spiritual beings below our feet and their kin in Sky Country, representing the extent and connection of Country
Baanj Biik – Water Country
Water Country is the connective tissue, the circulatory system, the confluences and paths within and between Country. The meeting of Salt and fresh water, where one drop forms setting a path through Country, connecting with story and landscape.
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