Balaangala Community Group / Brisbane to Bogota

Balaangala Community Group

Balaangala Community Group is a reconciliation group that formed as a result of responding to ‘GetUp!’ (an online independent, grass-roots community advocacy organisation), that was requesting people or groups to start a conversation about ‘reconciliation’. From this Balaangala formed in 2008 in the Brisbane Suburb of The Gap and is currently in the development stage. Balaangala Community Group state that they aim to creatively bring together Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians by;

“connecting and caring for country
developing and maintaining the Re-Creation place for community gatherings; sharing; listening; learning; self-reflection; discussion and collaboration
developing sister/brother relationships with rural/remote Indigenous communities
sharing creative practice, skills, experience and knowledge between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people through small -scale (achievable) projects
conducting both public and private events/ceremonies
being an advocate for Indigenous rights” (Reconciliation Queensland 2008)

According to the Balaangala Community Group “the name is made up of two parts: balaang meaning ‘two coming together’ from the Gamilaraay language of which members and their family are connected, and ala which we understand to mean ‘place of’ from the local Turrabal language.”

Balaangala have developed a partnership with the local Bush Care organization Save Our Waterways Now (SOWN) and are currently developing an Indigenous demonstration garden, which I had an opportunity to visit in November. According to the Reconciliation Queensland website the Balaangala group report that they will “grow food and other produce which can be used to run education/craft/art workshops.” They report that their “main focus is currently to develop and maintain part of the block with traditional Indigenous plants, as a place for community gatherings, sharing, listening and learning.” Balaangala Community Group state they “are interested in connecting and caring for country through giving value and respect and promoting the position of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Indigenous peoples of this land.”

When I was at the Yoorala Street site in The Gap earlier last month I was shown the “re-creation space” which is a gathering place where the community can come together, I was also shown some native edible plants including native hibiscus, kangaroo apple, native spinach and the first tree that was planted at the site at Yoorala St on 26^th May 2009 to commemorate Sorry Day.

It was a pleasure to visit the site in its development phase, it was a wonderful opportunity to meet with some of the members of the Balaangala Community Group, who are opening dialouge about reconciliation and engaging the community through growing food and connecting to the land.

To learn more about Reconciliation please go to the Reconciliation Australia website.

To learn more about GetUp! please visit their website.

Reference: Reconciliation Queensland. 2008. Balaangala Group. http://www.rqi.org.au/LRGProfiles.htm