Campfire Gathering & Book recommendations from our team for NAIDOC Week.

Last month three Mid Lachlan Landcare team members joined others in our Central Tablelands network for a Campfire day with our Aboriginal Partnerships leader Den Barber. We met at Ganguddy-Dunns Swamp on the Cudgegong River in Wollemi National Park – Wiradjuri land. I didn’t take many pictures but might be able to picture it if I describe it a little.

Imagine being in a clearing encircled by apple box, white gums and bloodwoods. You can hear Lyrebird song reverberating through the trees and feel ice-cold gusts of wind ruddy up your cheeks and leaves gloveless hands throbbing. Our bones remind us that out here, we’re fragile & vulnerable.

Listen to the river meandering along behind us. It’s full of fresh water muscles – evidence of which was scattered on the banks where platypus and Rakali had feasted. Sense rustling in the acacia groves. Taste eucalyptus oil in the leaves as they ignite. Smell the smoke of our camp fire as it wafts above the orange flames, flames that flicker with opportunity and prommise. Flames that draw us closer together.

Over the day, our thoughts and feelings about our Landcare work, our connection to this country and our dreams for the future flowed out as we huddled in a circle under our blankets and listened to each other and then ourselves.

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NAIDOC week 2025 runs from Sun, 6 to Sun, 13 July.

Let’s celebrate the achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and recognise the rich history and culture that makes our Australian home so special.

We wanted to mark this important week by sharing some of the books & readings that have shaped our approach to caring for this beautiful place we call home.

Wendy Bowman, Mid Lachlan Landcare Chair.

Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe and Gudyarra by Stepen Gapps. 

“I loved both of them and would highly recommend them to others.  The reason I loved these books is because I learn something new and fascinating, I was shocked and greatly sadden by the events in the War of Resistance and equally as shocked and saddened by the knowledge lost that Bruce Pascoe is now trying to find”.

Tracee Burke, Mid Lachlan Landcare Coordinator

The First Astronomers – How Indigenous Elders read the stars by Duane Hamacher with elders & knowledge holders

The skies out here on Wiradjuri land are awe inspiring. This book shows how human culture has been shaped by the stars.

Ken Hutchinson. Billy Goat Hill Appreciation Society.

Dick Roughsey’s Turramulli the Giant Quinkin. 

“We used to read his books to our children – they are set on the cape York peninsula”

Dick’s stories entertain as they teach us about family law & kinship.

Scott Hickman – Mid Lachlan Landcare’s Grazing Group Leader

Billy Griffiths Deep Time Dreaming, Uncovering Ancient Australia.

You can’t work with the soil like we do and not wonder about its history.

Scott also recommended Fire Country – How Indigenous Fire Management Could Help Save Australia

By Victor Steffensen & Black Duck, A Year at Yumburra by Bruce Pascoe.

Marion Mitchell, Mid Lachlan Landcare Committee/ Accounts

Praiseworthy by Alexis Wright

“This book  is set in a fictional Australian town grappling with climate change, Aboriginal sovereignty, and the legacy of colonialism. It’s a story that blends realism with elements of fantasy and Aboriginal cosmology, exploring themes of survival, cultural identity, and the interconnectedness of past, present, and future.”

Edenglassie by Melissa Lucashenko

“A novel that explores the impact of colonialism on Indigenous Australians, particularly in the Brisbane area, through dual timelines. The story interweaves the lives of characters in the 1850s and 2024, highlighting the ongoing consequences of dispossession and resistance.”

“I love her dedication to language both the clan language of old and modern blak language spoken by mob in Brisbane in 2024.”

Amanda Foxon-Hill, Mid Lachlan Landcare Coordinator.

On Track: Searching out the Bundian Way by John Blay.

“I’m very much a non-fiction fan and am also an immersive reader so I read this while hiking in the Snowy Mountains. The book really came alive for me as I walked part of this ancient Aboriginal track that spans some 360km from Targangal (Kosciuszko) to Bilgalera (Fisheries Beach) in Eden on the NSW far south coast. There’s such a great collaborative partnership behind this book and it’s been fascinating to watch this story unfold from the research that went in prior to the 2010 surveying walk to government recognition in 2013 and then this book in 2015. Proof that stories move us in more ways than one. This book also introduced me to ‘Moth Hunterd by Josephine Flood & Emu Dreaming by Ray & Cilla Norris”. You can read more about the Bundian Way here.

The First Scientists by Corey Tutt.

“Corey, founder of Koori Science is a fantastic Kamilaroi young man who I first came across when he was interviewed on the Fizzics Education podcast back in 2019. His book really helped me through my science teaching post-grad course, introducing me and thousands of others, I’m sure, to the many ways Aboriginal & Torres Straight Islander culture is rooted in scientific thinking. I particularly liked the chapter on how Wiradjuri clans created bush ovens in the ground, using clay balls to hold the heat. I’d really love to try that one day!”

Do you have any books you’d add to our NAIDOC reading list? Please feel free to contact us with your suggestions!