In December 2020, the Firesticks Alliance held our first virtual conference with support from the WWF-Australia through the Australian Wildlife & Nature Recovery Fund. The purpose of the virtual conference was to keep connection and momentum growing across Cultural Fire practitioner groups who are unable to gather face-to-face due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The virtual conference was also an important […]
As we race toward the end of the extraordinary year 2020, the Firesticks Team would like to thank you all for the incredible goodwill and support that has been given to the Firesticks Alliance.
There is no doubt that the 2019 – 2020 wildfires and the Covid 19 pandemic have impacted us all deeply. We are optimistic that during […]
Victor Steffensen’s new book ‘Fire Country’ published by Hardie Grant is now available. ‘Fire Country’ is about Indigenous land management practices and a powerful account of First Nation people’s connection Country. There is a marked difference between Aboriginal fire management and hazard reduction, Victor explains how the two systems differ in an edited extract below.
Buy […]
Elders Dr’s Tommy George and George Musgrave from Cape York entrusted Victor Steffensen with the ancient knowledge of cultural burning. This method of fire management used by generations of Indigenous people could be the answer to Australia’s bushfire threat. Australian Story broadcast on Monday 13th of April tells the story of the beginning of Firesticks.
“When we burn […]
Collaborative research supported by the Firesticks Alliance was published in international scientific journal Human Ecology in December. Co-authors the Banbai Rangers, Lesley Patterson (Banbai Elder), Michelle McKemey (PhD candidate UNE), Oliver Costello (Firesticks), Emilie Ens (Macquarie University), Nick Reid, John Hunter, Mal Ridges and Cara Miller (UNE) produced the paper entitled Cross-cultural monitoring of a cultural […]
On February 5th at the Mullumbimby Civic Hall the Firesticks Alliance will be hosting GOOD FIRE FOR COUNTRY, an evening of short films and discussion on Indigenous Cultural Fire and ecological management. We are creating an opportunity for the public to learn more about the work we do, the benefits of reinstating cultural burning on Country and […]
Check out this story featuring Uncle Noel Webster Yuin man and Firesticks Alliance cultural fire practitioner from the South Coast of NSW in the National Indigenous Times, written by Rachael Knowles.
Noel Webster says “All the current fire regime and practices are based upon scientific methodology, then we have Indigenous fire methodology that is about reading […]
Check out this interview with Victor Steffensen talking about the need for more Fire Practitioners on Country. “People need to be on country. Looking after the land is a full time job, not a seasonal job”.
Use this link to access the story
Gulpa Gaka Anganya Gaka Yawal Ngulla Yenbena Yorta Yorta Woka
Welcome friend – Come walk with us the people on Yorta Yorta Country
The Firesticks Alliance wish to thank the Yorta Yorta people, the Traditional Owners, for hosting and welcoming the National Indigenous Fire Workshop to their Woka (Country) at Barmah National Park, Victoria from the 3-7th June 2019. […]
Welcome to RIGHT COUNTRY – RIGHT FIRE, a podcast about how Australia’s Indigenous people use fire to care for country.
For tens of thousands of years, fire has been used as a medicine for the earth – the right fire in the right place at the right time can restore environmental balance.
The early European settlers brought […]
