Programs
Tarntipi Bush Camp is located on Bathurst Island, NT, approximately fifteen kilometres outside the main township – Wurrumiyanga. The Camp is equipped with a variety of eco-friendly amenities (toilets, tents, kitchen basin and campfire), and situated in a beautiful, nature-based setting. The site is used to host training programs ‘on country’ – the traditional lands of Tiwi Elder and educator, Edward ‘Teddy’ Portaminni. The training programs can be tailored to accommodate the interests and needs of diverse groups – whether these consist of individuals, families, school groups, or professionals, Tiwi and non-Tiwi persons alike.
Initiated and delivered by Tiwi Eldership, the Cultural Training Programs aim to deepen cultural understandings and foster relationships of respect and mutuality. The programs are immersive and participatory – they involve doing things ‘Tiwi way’. Delivered throughout the dry season (starting in May and finishing at the end of September), the programs can be structured according to desired duration (1, 2 or 3 night stay) and entail a program itinerary including: a welcome to country, fishing, beach and medicine walks, freshwater swimming, basket weaving and spear-making workshops, storytelling, song and dance sessions around the campfire, as well as visits to local town-based agencies.
The programs offer participants an induction to:
- Tiwi culture
- Cross-cultural communication
- The impact of attitudes & beliefs
- Understanding protocols on styles of work
- Key issues involved when collaborating with Aboriginal people
In the dry season of 2023, Tarntipi Homelands Aboriginal Corporation (THAC) delivered the Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence (DFSV) Prevention and Response Program in partnership with CatholicCare NT and proudly supported by the Northern Territory Government.This program involved facilitating ‘on country’ experiences at the Tarntipi Bush Camp, as well as workshops, community meetings and the production of extensive resource material aiming to:
- Enhance collaborations and increase community engagement
- Deliver culturally safe services that prevent violence
- Develop resource material as community education
The resource material was produced in Connection: Choosing to keep our culture strong – a 21 page colour booklet containing messaging and photographs reflecting the strength of Tiwi culture, emphasising its ability to heal and protect community (from violence). Through cultural activities led by Elders, guest speakers, and cultural leadership and workshop events, the project identified motivating factors and barriers to change. It encouraged reflections about living in a safe, violence-free community. Some samples from the booklet are available to view below (with thanks to EPRINT Darwin):
In the dry season of 2021, THAC conceived and delivered an ‘offsite’ form of cultural training: a three-hour long workshop delivered by Edward Portaminni in collaboration with award-winning photographer Nicholas Walton-Healey. As a stunningly visual and highly interactive experience, this workshop focuses on connection to Country, in this way providing a unique introduction to Tiwi Culture, Familial and Kin Relations, Engagement Protocols, Storytelling and the Tiwi language itself. Designed in close and ongoing consultation with Tiwi Eldership, the workshop is intended to inspire reflection and discussion within educational and professional environments, including venues of businesses and service providers situated in Darwin and the Tiwi Islands.
The offsite training package requires a minimum of five participants and maximum of twelve. Contact Michael Massingham (0407 518 598) for more information.
