For the first time since colonisation, a tree has been scarred - a sacred custom of First Nations people - at the Australian National University campus.
Paul Girrawah House, a Ngambri and Ngunnawal custodian with multiple local Aboriginal ancestries from the Kamberri (Canberra) region, led the ceremony on Wednesday as a part of National Reconciliation Week.
From children sitting on a picnic blanket wrapped in oversized puffer jackets, to older academics, the group watched Mr House as he performed the scarring ceremony, saying it was all about connecting people to Country.
"It's an invitation, an opportunity and an invitation for all people who now live, work and study here at the ANU and in Canberra in general," he said.
The tree carving was marked in the shape of a coolamon, a rectangle with curved ends which Mr House completed using a chisel and mallet, saying the process required "patience and care".
"When the coolamon comes off the tree, it'll slowly start to heal. It'll take generations ... this tree will still be here when the little children here are elderly," he said.
Tree scarring is evidence of Aboriginal statehood, sovereignty and ownership of the landscape. Historically, it took place for multiple reasons such as building canoes and temporary shelters.
"Our identity and belonging comes from here, mine does, my ancestral connection, I was born here in the old Canberra hospital that was just over the ridge," he said.
Mr House is an executive in the First Nations portfolio at the ANU and said the influence of his mother and Ngambri elder Aunty Matilda House has been "a massive inspiration".
"She fought tirelessly all her life to help our people to help build social equity, democratic participation and economic opportunity," he said.
As a part of National Reconciliation Week, Mr House reflected on the theme "Be Brave. Make Change" as a motivation for him to continue educating the community about the land.
"Our ancestors always had that approach on country but in particular during invasion, during colonisation, our people had no choice, they had to be brave and transform, be able to adapt into a new world," Mr House said.
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