Indigenous weaving workshop for women
How hosting an Indigenous weaving workshop led to greater understanding and expanded partnerships and opportunities.
Capacity building - LEP 23-014 SEL 06
The issue
The Landcare Enabling Program encourages Landcare groups to form partnerships with Aboriginal communities with the long-term aim of improving their understanding of Aboriginal cultural values. Many Australians, farmers included, have never met an Aboriginal person and/or may know little about traditional Aboriginal land management or cultural values.
The solution
HCLG has been slowly moving to overcome this and in late 2025 we were excited to be offered the opportunity to partner with Mel Wiya Cultural Connections, facilitated by Suzannah Cowley, film maker from Nviromedia to run an Indigenous land management and weaving workshop for rural women in our group. The workshop was tailored for women, as weaving is traditionally a female occupation. It was run by Arakwal Bundjalung woman Mel Wiya supported by Wiradjuri weaving artist Jessika Spencer. We learned about Aboriginal cultural heritage and land management as well as learning the practical skills involved in weaving baskets. The biggest learning curve for us all, however, came while listening to Mel telling the story of how her family and her community were affected by the Australian Government’s Stolen Generation policies. Her moving account helped us to move from understanding the impact of the policies at an intellectual level to a better understanding of her and others' pain at an emotional level.
The impact
The immediate impact has been a strengthening of partnerships, with a follow-up planning weekend held to discuss further workshops on the same property. Potential topics include art, more weaving, plant identification, telling cultural stories and doing cultural burning. The less overt outcomes relate to empowerment and changing perceptions that can happen within a small group of women in a safe place exploring differences and similarities between cultural groups. And we had a lot of fun too.
Learnings
It is important to create a safe place for this kind of workshop by having a good location, sympathetic host, excellent food and participants who are willing to learn and to be sympathetic to vulnerability.
A single event can create wider-reaching opportunities as well as shaping our perceptions.
Key facts
- HCLG hosted an Indigenous weaving workshop for women
- The learning was both practical and emotional
- The workshop opened up a range of opportunities for better partnerships