The post-doctoral work follows from Jo’s doctoral thesis, (Rey, J. (2019) Country Tracking Voices: Dharug women’s perspectives on presences, places, and practices. The thesis led to the development and delivery by Macquarie University of the first undergraduate unit to be developed by a traditional custodian focused on teaching and learning through Country, not simply about Country. The unit, ‘Dharug Country: Presences, Places and People’ has grown from an initial intake of 20 students, to more than 130 students 3 years later. The website contains some of the Dharug knowledges received from the learning journey covering the Doctoral project, the undergraduate Indigenous Studies unit development and the post-doctoral work.
The project involves collecting and sharing Dharug knowledges through a variety of methods. These include yarning sessions, and active, experiential learning and sharing-times-tellings through Dharug Ngurra/Country initially across three activated Dharug sites, though these may expand in the future. They include:
- Shaw’s Creek Aboriginal Place, located at the foot of the Blue Mountains in far western Sydney
- Blacktown Native Institution site, located at Oakhurst, in central western Sydney
- Brown’s Waterhole, Lane Cove National Park, northern Sydney
More details about each of these sites is available within their specifically linked portals.