Kimberley Coastal Tourism Project Update – March, 2011
The Kimberley Coastal Tourism Project is working with Bardi Jawi Traditional Owners to develop a cultural awareness program to inform visitors on Indigenous culture and tradition on the Dampier Peninsula.
Traditional Owners authorised their Indigenous ranger group, the Bardi Jawi Rangers, to develop a cultural awareness talk and deliver information to visitors on how to conduct themselves when visiting Bardi Jawi country to ensure they respect the traditions and customs of the Indigenous people.
The Kimberley Coastal Tourism Project has focused on the development of a one-hour presentation at Kooljaman at Cape Leveque, a resort on the Dampier Peninsula two hours north of Broome. The resort is owned by the Bardi Jawi people and has won many prestigious awards for its high standards in eco and Indigenous tourism.
The one-hour cultural awareness presentation takes place at the resort and is a mixture of interactive and engaging exchanges with the Bardi Jawi Rangers. In these presentations they inform visitors to the region of their seafaring culture and history of the Bardi Jawi people. Rangers also explain their current roles as land managers, looking after country.
The Kimberley Coastal Tourism Project has also been pivotal in developing a workshop for businesses and tourism operators that conduct activities on Bardi Jawi country. This full day cultural experience involves Bardi Jawi rangers and elders engaging the participants in activities on country. This leads participants to gain a better understanding of the Indigenous values of the area.
The success of these two Bardi Jawi cultural presentations has led them to become the model for other Aboriginal groups involved in the project. Knowledge exchanges have been set up between groups to share this information on developing and delivering a successful product.
The Kimberley Coastal Tourism Project is providing ongoing assistance to the Bardi Jawi Rangers to review and improve the group’s cultural awareness products, as well as investigate ways to value-add to their product through producing brochures and other learning tools.
