Many Peaks of Albany

This morning David Guilfoyle and Harley Coyne gave us a presentation on their Restoring Connections program, which involves the preservation of sacred sites through a partnership between the government, the traditional land owners and sometimes current landowners. Harley and David shared a number of examples of projects, showing us pictures and describing the work that was done at each site. Often times it was just simple physical work like putting a fence around a rock outcrop in the middle of a cow pasture to preserve the site, however the collaboration necessary to produce such a basic result was impressive. I left the presentation feeling uplifted at the concreteness of Restoring Connections – that Aboriginal culture can and is being preserved through the collective work of several different groups, and that amidst all of the negative impacts still lingering from the Stolen Generation, there are people working to improve, preserve and conserve.

After the presentation we climbed on the bus and headed out to a site called Many Peaks, one of those sites that Restoring Connections has helped to preserve. Harley had been familiar with the site for many years, and when it was sold to a man who started mining the rock and defaming the site, he stepped up and Restoring Connections became involved.

We were accompanied on our visit by both Harley and David, as well as a number of elders. I was also excited that my little friend Taadjiduk (who I had built sand castles with in Katanning) and David’s son also joined us on the trip. The outlook from the rock outcrop at Many Peaks was really very beautiful, and as we hiked down the hill, Harley and David pointed out a natural amphitheater and a cave where the remnants of a campfire were dated to several thousand years ago.

Many Peaks overlooks a marshy lake, so David and Harley also arranged for two women from the Department of Water to meet us and show us how water is tested and monitored at such locations (though this was not a regularly monitored spot). The lake, though, was dry and so they took a sample of water from a nearby stream to show us. We were able to look at different water organisms under microscopes, as well.

We returned to Albany with quite a bit of the afternoon left so a few of us left to go shopping. There were a lot of great stores to look at and I picked up some more souvenirs for family and friends at home. After window shopping for a few hours found a cute purse for Kim and a pair of red patent leather flats for me.

Ellen asked us to attend her presentation on the Colgate-Carrolup Connections at 630, so we met just down the street from our hotel for her lecture. A number of people in the audience were especially interested in what we had learned so far and how we will use this experience when we go home. It was great to be able to share that this is something that I will be able to bring to my students as a teacher, using the concrete example of sending a postcard to my classes at Hamilton. Some of my students may never leave Central New York, but that I could send a postcard back to them might encourage a few to think beyond what is so close and familiar to them and maybe even start to think and act globally.

After the lecture Danielle and I had dinner at a popular local restaurant called Dylan’s on the Terrace. Good food, which was perfect as we were both very hungry. And even though I am enjoying the trip, it was also nice to have time away from a large group and just have a quiet dinner.