Drink, drugs and doing time are dance steps for some young people, but not for a new Eurobodalla indigenous group.
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Bundoo dance group founders Max Harrison and Sameeka Wighton see a brighter future in young people embracing their traditional culture.
Named for the region of the Clyde Mountain and Clyde River, the new group blessed a mural in Batemans Bay, before leading a small group to the Cenotaph to lay a wreath for Indigenous servicemen and women.
“It was just wonderful to promote our culture,” Mr Harrison, 22, of Sunshine Bay said.
“It is about finding yourself, rather than alcohol and drug abuse and incarceration.
“A lot of people have lost their way, but as Aboriginal people, we have to pursue our culture to keep it alive.
“This is not only for our wellbeing, but for the wider community’s wellbeing.”
Ms Wighton, 24, of Batemans Bay, said suicide and deaths in custody were tragic outcomes of “leaving school early, getting on booze and drugs and not staying home”.
The dance group, she said, was a chance for men and women to work together for a healthy future.
“Aboriginal culture has gone out the window and we want to bring it back,” she said.
“Not just for NAIDOC Week, we want it to be an everyday thing for us.”
Mr Harrison said he was guided by his grandfather, Uncle Max Harrison, who led cultural journeys on the South Coast.
“There are naysayers who say our culture it has died on the Far South Coast, but our culture is alive,” he said.
“It just does not have the recognition it should.
“That is why we want our dance group to get up.
“We are turning a new page and people are starting to look at us differently. I feel very proud.”
The Batemans Bay High School year 12 graduate said returning there last term to teach dance was special.
Ms Wighton, too, said she saw first-hand how culture influenced students’ choices.
“They were getting into trouble, doing this and that, but once it came to culture work, there was no mucking about,” she said.
Ms Wighton said learning to dance for cultural tours of Narooma and Gulaga Mountain had changed her life.
“I loved it and have not stopped and now I want to make something of this,” she said.
She said it was important for men and women to dance together and, while Friday’s dancers were male, she had three women eager to start.
