Uncle Warren Foster (right) led the smoking ceremony. Photos: NPWS.
For many Yuin people at the celebration to mark 20 years since the return of the sacred mountains Biamanga and Gulaga to traditional owners it was an emotional day. That was particularly so for those who had been involved in the protracted negotiations and those whose parents were part of the even longer campaign for the mountains’ return.
The sense of pride in those who had fought so hard and in the members of the Biamanga and Gulaga boards of management who followed and continue to care for those culturally and spiritually significant sites was palpable at the celebration held at Tilba Oval on 30 May.
Uncle Bunja Smith and Aunty Roslyn Field, chairs of the respective boards, gave the Welcome to Country as part of their opening addresses and Uncle Warren Foster led the smoking ceremony. There was a panel discussion, plus performances by multigenerational Yuin choir Djinama Yilaga and cultural dancing groups.
Uncle Bunja remembers the elders campaigning. “I was a young fella watching Uncle Percy Mumbler and Uncle Guboo Ted Thomas protecting the sites from logging. That was the catalyst,” Uncle Bunja said. “On 6 May 2006 it was finally handed back to Aboriginal care, custody and control.”
He said it was a watershed moment when he learnt the sites were being handed back because it felt like they had land rights.
“Under the Land Rights Act we still had to claim, but here it had been completed,” he said. “The decision-making and empowerment that gave the people just made me go wow!”
Uncle Bunja Smith, chair of Biamanga Board of Management; Alex Graham, deputy secretary, NSW NPWS; Aunty Roslyn Field, chair of Gulaga Board of Management; and Julie Peterson and Jo Issaverdis of NPWS.
Uncle Warren’s father Merv Penrith was one of the main campaigners.
“He was fighting for land rights from the beginning when it first started back in the 1980s,” Uncle Warren said.
Uncle Merv travelled around towns and communities telling people about the importance of setting up land councils so they could have self-governance of Country.
“He played a big role in that,” Uncle Warren said. “He isn’t mentioned a lot, but he did a lot of work with Percy Mumbler and Guboo Ted Thomas as well.”
Uncle Warren performed with the Gulaga Dancers at the handback ceremony 20 years ago. “It was good to have them dancing again on Saturday, a new generation of dancers. I feel proud to be part of that.”
Aunty Vivienne Mason is one of just three members of the negotiation panel left. They all remain involved.
She was representing Wagonga Local Aboriginal Land Council, one of the lessors. The elders above her represented Country. They had to go through every sentence of the lease. The negotiations took more than two years.
“There was a lot of legislative stuff in the lease that we couldn’t change because the minister insisted on it,” Aunty Vivienne said. “We didn’t agree but we had no choice.”
Gulaga Dancers. They also performed at the handover ceremony in 2006.
However, they successfully negotiated getting a voice for their people. That led them to form the boards of management which enables the joint management of the Biamanga and Gulaga national parks with NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service.
“It took us all that time, but it was worth it and now we have a good working relationship,” she said. Aunty Vivienne also worked on the park’s plan of management that is still used today.
She feels tremendously privileged to have sat on the negotiation panel with the elders and values the knowledge they handed down to her which she has since shared with her community. Those mentors included Aunty Shirley Foster, Ted Guboo Thomas, Johnny Mumbler, Merv Penrith and Keith Stewart, her own uncle.
She vividly remembers the handback.
“I was just proud of my elders and being part of that, of being connected with so many families, the whole Yuin Nation,” Aunty Vivienne said. “On Saturday all those emotions came back, and I feel so proud of the boards for continuing that.”
She only resigned from the Gulaga board in 2023.
Aunty Vivienne, Uncle Bunja and Uncle Warren were particularly moved by seeing photos and a film about the elders, many of whom have passed.
“I just felt overwhelmed seeing all those old people and I thanked them for giving me guidance and the strength,” she said.
“It made me tear up,” Uncle Bunja said. “For me it is now about the next generation and where to from here to ensure custodianship and caring for Country.”
