Culture on the Move

Aboriginal people of Australia have been sharing their stories and traditions for over 60,000 years but because this knowledge is mostly shared orally it is at risk of being lost. Ronnie Jordan, a proud Kalkadoon woman, is helping to ensure that these traditions and culture are passed onto the next generation, running workshops that share her knowledge of coil weaving, traditional games, animal and doll making and bush tucker plants. But getting to this place has been a journey. It hasn’t all been plain sailing and it is definitely not over yet.

Ronnie runs her small business, Culture on the Move, from the regional town of Bungendore (Ngarigo country) in NSW. Bungendore is just a stone’s throw from the Nation’s Capital, Canberra (Ngunnawal/Ngambri country) where many of Ronnie’s workshops take place. Ronnie says the business name came about because “I teach culture, and I'm always on the move, teaching people from different communities, connecting communities and coming together”. Over the years she has taught her approach to culture and weaving to a wide range of people from children to the elderly, Indigenous and non-Indigenous.

Ronnie had to think outside the basket, “so I made a weaving guide, I didn't really want to do that because that's my intellectual property…but it's actually worked out because a lot of people in in the lockdown needed something to connect to”.

Another solution was to take the traditional art of weaving online, “delivering culture through Zoom, would you believe it? Which I didn't think would work. It's still a little bit different because I don't get to connect to people face to face, but I was still connected to them through culture. I package up all the materials they need, send out the packs to them and then we all get online and weave together. So it's actually really good, it's worked well” Ronnie said.

The simple step of developing the weaving guide and offering online courses opens up the business, enabling Ronnie to teach anywhere around Australia or even overseas.

But as the popularity of her courses grows, so do the number of people participating. While this is what every business hopes for, it does come with some challenges. Ronnie says “for me, it's hard to collect fibres for that many people every time.” The impact of COVID didn’t help. Ronnie looked to buy weaving supplies like reed and raffia, which come from overseas, but with minimal shipping, there was nothing available for six months.

Ronnie is now looking for farms or properties in the region that can farm the particular reeds and different materials.

Culturally she sees a greater openness to learning and really understanding. “I've been going to schools now for about eight years, and I've even seen the cultural change in the schools about how they're learning more, how they're bringing, embedding our culture into everyday learning, not just once a week and reconciliation week.

You know, you can celebrate our culture and learn from us any time of the year. So I think it's important that people understand that, too. And having these workshops here, like at the Botanic Gardens, it brings people together in a safe space where they can ask questions about cultural things.” Ronnie said.

So what advice would Ronnie give other businesses? “I'd really recommend if you can, connect with AusIndustry and have someone there helping you network your business. It's always great to have someone there to yarn to.”