At Birdwings Forest School we enjoy many types of storytelling, but mostly we use oral storytelling to share our knowledge and experiences. We tell stories of our own experience, Kombumerri and other Aboriginal dreaming stories, stories about seasonal learning and our own play. Sometimes we use props, sometimes we use actions, but for this kind of storytelling we don’t often use books. We sit together and call the story in with our story song and let the story come. 

It comes a little differently each time, so we like to tell our stories many times and to hear our stories from different storytellers of all ages in our group. This way we see how the story grows, and what new things we can learn from each other. At the moment we are using a special felted mat that we made to show children where they live on Kombumerri Country (Gold Coast). From the mountains, down the rivers, to the sea, we all live here together – and there are many stories to share about this land. 

Felted map of Kombumerri Country. Image by Birdwings Forest School.

The story we have been telling this week had called to us from a tree that we love to play in with our WildPlay Adventurers Playgroup. This is a HUGE fig tree!! We love to sit under it, to climb it and be cradled in its branches. We love to be brave and shimmy out as far as we can on the strong, thick limbs, and to throw ropes over those limbs to make swings. We look at it and wonder how old it is – surely it was here before there were houses and roads and parks and farms. Surely this old tree has seen a lot of life come and go over the years it has been standing there. Maybe it was a sapling when it was just the Kombumerri and Bullongin people coming past to meet and trade with each other on the Coomera River. This old tree has many stories to tell, and we listened and wondered while we played.

Connecting to Country with WIldPlay Adventurers Playgroups. Photo by Birdwings Forest School.

It’s National Reconciliation Week starting next Wednesday 27 May, and maybe you will like this story too, because Reconciliation Week is all about celebrating shared histories and having honest conversations with children and the community. We’ve had many thoughtful discussions with our Little Birdwings Forest Kindy friends about colonisation, and we’ve explored questions from the children such as: When the white people come, did they put the Aboriginal people on ships and send them away? What did Aboriginal people wear before white people brought clothes like ours? Why did some of the Aboriginal people go away when the white people came? Why did some die? Did white people die too? Who made the world before the Aboriginal people lived here? We’ve continued these conversions during our storytimes, while we walk in the bush, over our craft times, making some felt bag tags in the colours of the Aboriginal Flag. As we explored the significance of the flag colours, elements of the story came to mind for the children, and so we talked. 

Yarning about Country and Colonisation with our Little Birdwings. Photo by Birdwings Forest School

THE TREE GROWS STRONG

Written by Narell Neville and Jennifer McCormack, May 2019

Long long ago, a little seed floated down the Coomera River. It came from the rainforest and got wedged in the sand, the mud and the silt on a corner of the river. The little seed thought this was a good spot to stay, and so it grew. The wind and rain and sun made it grow, and grow strong. It grew so big that over time its branches stretched far along the river, up to sky and across the grass.

And the tree grew strong.

It saw many things, this tree. It saw the Kombumerri people go up and down the river: catching fish, eating, living, farming, playing. It saw the Kombumerri families meeting and trading with the Bullongin clan who lived north of the river. Together, they took care of the land. Children from both tribes played in the branches of this tree.

The tree watched and listened, and the tree grew strong.

One day the white people came. They walked differently on the land, and spoke a different language. They started to farm as well, but to do so, they cut down the trees to make pastures and fields. They brought some strange looking beasts called cattle and horses. The white people told the Kombumerri and the Bullogin people that they could not farm, or live, or pass through this area any more. This was confusing. What did they mean? The white people said they would live here now. There were some struggles between the Aboriginal people and the settlers. Some people died, some went away and some stayed. Now, only the children of the white people came to play in this tree.

The tree watched and listened, and the tree grew strong.

After the struggles there were no more Bullongin people, but many of the Kombumerri stayed. Kombumerri and other Aboriginal people began to live among the settlers, together. They did their best to keep their language and care for the land, but it was never the same again. The tree saw houses built upon the farmlands, and roads. New families came to live there. The land was still cared for, but differently now.

The tree watched and listened, and the tree grew strong.

Today, children from many different families and from many different places play in this tree together. And today, the tree is as big as you can see and always children will play here. They can hear the tree’s stories and the tree has told them how to look after the land carefully, as the Kombumerri people still do. The tree remembers everything that has happened since it was a tiny seed – and it shares its story with you. Do you hear it?

And the tree grows strong.

Under the big fig tree

You, and me

We are playing happily

Under the big fig tree

Birdwings Forest School offer training in Ecological Storytelling. We are very happy to come to your service and work with your educators, or you can come to us and learn on site at our Forest School. See our training page for details.

Photo by Birdwings Forest School