Healing On Country

Join us at the launch event of the Healing On Country program, to be held during NAIDOC week at Jervis Bay Maritime Museum

Currambene Creek is Aboriginal land. The museum champions Caring for Country and all participants will be offered a free ticket (normally $10.50) giving access to their emergent exhibitions : Culunghutti and their Possum Skin Cloak display celebrating this age old traditional practice.

Our day will also include: 

• smoking ceremony, dance and connection 
• presentations by local senior health workers and the Yuin community
• yaaning circles on the current state of health and areas of improvement for people and the natural environment on Yuin country 
• eating together as a community with local produce and bush tucker 
• weaving our collective story of the central purpose of nature based healing, and ultimately 
• establishing a shared, healed Country.

Proposed Agenda:

9.45 am: Arrive

10.00 am: Yuin connection: Smoking Ceremony, Welcome to Country with Jrumpinjinbah, Justine Brown, Jo Brown Mcleod and Alex McLeod .. Ochre and communal dance.

11.00 am: Spotlight on Yuin Country

1. Mayor Amanda Findley - Shoalhaven Council
   
2. The Uluru Statement form the Heart - Yaan Circle member Michelle Heaton and Cate Peterson
3. Lynne Allen - Shoalhaven Historical Society - Why We Need Healing
4. Graham Connolly -  Jerrinja Tribal Council - A Healed Country 
5. Justine Brown -  Delivering speech from Sharon Bloxsome - Board member Illaroo Cooperative Aboriginal Cooperation - Signs Of Hop
   
6. Deborah Shepherd - CEO, SoulAdvisor - Australia and Director, SoulAdvisor Foundation - Our part

12 noon: Lunch - Yarning Circles With Lunch provided by Culunghutti Catering 

• Establishing a shared, long-term vision of a healed Country
• How will we get there?

1.30pm: Wrap Up, Next Steps and Close

Event tickets cover our speakers, facilitators, venue and catering AND museum entry.

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About - Healing On Country Program

Following this launch, we will look to further Cultural Awareness through training, written materials, events based on significant dates and ways to respectfully centralise First Nation understandings within the broader health ecosystem. 

Our pilot program will bring together allied, traditional, complementary and medical practitioners, within the local area to mutually explore traditional approaches to healing. 

In the spirit of reciprocity,  opportunities will be provided for the First Nations community to draw from the rich therapeutic knowledge of SoulAdvisor’s practitioner community through training, workshops and individual consultations in order to support the health of these communities.

The Healing on Country program is based on an understanding that healing in Australia is best informed by those who understand the intricate reciprocity between humanity and the rest of the natural world and that the health of one implies the necessary health of the other. For this reason, the program will therefore create employment opportunities and networks of common focus within the wellness industry inclusive of First Nation community members and the SoulAdvisor practitioner base.  This program will create a leadership role for First Nations involvement in collaboration and co-designing ways to improve social, physical, mental and cultural wellbeing in local areas for all peoples.

This will inform the practice of wellness modalities locally and provide inspiration and a framework of reciprocal healing between water, land, sea and skies and humans. Once successful, we aim to replicate the project in other Countries across Australia,