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years of Working on Country, frog,

bird and fish species returned

to the land and waters

. 29

Those

involved say it makes them ‘who

they are’, since as with language,

regaining country is a means

of reinforcing identity. Derek is

motivated by changes in young

people’s perceptions of their future:

Over time, the imprint of

Ngarrindjeri on the landscape

has been fading, but we’re

trying to reinvigorate that.

You can tell the difference: we

now see people taking much

more care of country, hunting,

doing things they wouldn’t

otherwise have done.

We see a change in character.

If you put time into it, young

people take this up and grow.

You get a lot of satisfaction

from that, there’s no doubt

about it. There’s some

rascals, no doubt about that!

But reinvigorating connection

to country is good for

anybody. When they know

who they are, and where

they’re from, it opens up a

whole realm of possibility for

who they want to be.

Derek sees Kevin Kropinyeri

Junior, a Jawun Emerging Leaders

program participant in 2017,

reaching for a brighter future:

Kevin was a city boy doing all

the city things. He could have

drifted into being a rascal but

he came the other way. He

came back home and got back

involved. Now he manages

our nurseries and is growing in

confidence and knowledge and

understanding. We’re keen to

marry culture with science and

technical know-how, for things

like propagation. Kev took

the opportunity to learn and

develop. He now has a Diploma

of Conservation and Land

Management, and I suspect he’ll

go on to study environmental

science. He’s a good lad.

Kevin himself is excited about his

work and what it means:

This job means a whole lot

to me—it gives me direction,

and is an opportunity not just

for me but for all the other

guys on the ground.

The vision of a lot of people

has led to this. The support of

a lot of people, including the

men I work with and leaders

and mentors like Derek, has

paved the way for this.

When I think about it, it’s a

big thing I’m doing but it’s

doing what I know and what

I’m passionate about and

love. Culture will always be

important. We know who we

are and where we come from.

We speak our language,

we have plans as a nation

and a building nation. So

we put things in place like

commercialisation, to create

sustainability. We know it

takes hard work and success

doesn’t come overnight, but

we’re very prepared for that.

I want my children to be

working alongside me. I

want to show them what

I’ve learned. I want to teach

them about people like

Uncle Derek, to pass that

knowledge and those stories

down. We don’t know where

we’re going until we know

where we’ve come from.

Jawun will continue to support

Kevin through Emerging Leaders,

and Ngopamuldi and the

Ngarrindjeri Nation through its

secondment program and other

opportunities to build capacity

and connections. Through this,

Derek says, Ngopamuldi hopes to

further advance an Indigenous-led

empowerment agenda:

Jawun secondees have

enabled real growth—in our

staff and for Kevin. We’ve

been very fortunate, it’s

gold for us. They’re also

good people. We hope they

get something out of it

too—like a benefit to them

professionally, the chance to

understand, the connection—

and we understand they do.

It gets quite emotional on

both sides, there can be a

few tears on both sides.

Derek has his eye on the future

for successive generations of

Ngarrindjeri people. He hopes

eventually to retire to an advisory

role, to let young people like Kevin

grow into leadership positions and

set the course for the organisation

and the Ngarrindjeri Nation.

Kevin Kropinyeri.

Photo: Sally Knight

3. ACCELERATING INDIGENOUS-LED ENTERPRISE 45