Photos from the REAL Australia

Girringun Cultural Festival in Cardwell

In October 2007 the town of Cardwell, about halfway between Cairns and Townsville, hosted the Caring for Country National Land and Sea Management Conference, a platform to share knowledge, experience and ideas for sustainable traditional owner management. It was the largest gathering of traditional owners in Australia that year: the Girringun Aboriginal Corporation welcomed around 10,000 people to the to take part in both the conference and the festival that followed it.

Girringun is the name of an ancestral creator who determined the marriage and hunting lore of Warangnu, Jirrbal, Warrgamay and Girramay peoples of the Hinchinbrook region. The Girringun Aboriginal Corporation now represents nine tribal groups: the four aforementioned plus Bandjin, Djiru, Gugu Badhun, Gulnay and Nywaigi. Their traditional country spans from Mission Beach to Rollingstone (north of Townsville), out to Herberton and Ravenshoe, South West to the Valley of Lagoons and Greenvale and offshore Islands waters surrounding Hinchinbrook, Gould, Brooke, Family, Dunk Island and the people of Palm Island.

Following the conference the Girringun Cultural Festival, or "Great Australian Corroboree" was held on the 13th - 14th October 2007. It was hoped that this would become a tradition to continue every two years. It celebrated Aboriginal Artists and culture, traditional dance, music and story-telling. Djarragun College, an indigenous school from Gordonvale, just south of Cairns, also showcased Torres Strait Island dancing in addition to Aboriginal culture.

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Gulumda Dance Group	Girls sing	Grugra Dancers boys	Striking a pose	Grugra song man
Eastern Islands Group	Didjeridu accompaniment	Central Torres Strait dancers	Dance from Yam Island	The DC Band
Dances from Mer	Mer Island "Play Dance"	Aboriginal Dance Group	Dance practice	"Traditional Healing"
Solo dancer	Djarragun Aboriginal boys	Injinoo boys enter	Injinoo boy dancer	Injinoo Dance Team
Injinoo dancers	Injinoo boys dance	Injinoo team march off	Injinoo boys march off	Last dance from Injinoo

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