INPUT AND RECOGNITION EVERY STEP OF THE WAY
Respecting Our Culture certified, cultivated by a passionate team and managed by the Indigenous community, the Pamagirri Aboriginal Experience at Rainforestation Nature Park provides a platform for Indigenous culture to come alive.
Pioneered in 1993, with the permission from local Elders, the Rainforestation Pamagirri Aboriginal Experience includes a Pamagirri Aboriginal Dance show in a rainforest amphitheatre, a Dreamtime Walk and a Rainforest Walkabout. These products showcase hunting techniques along the likes of spear and boomerang throwing, as well as enhancing visitors’ knowledge of Aboriginal traditions that were learnt in the wilderness on the spiritual transition into manhood. By bringing these tourism experiences to life, local Indigenous people are given a platform to share their culture, history and stories.
The Indigenous guides at Rainforestation Nature Park convey their heritage and culture in a hands-on manner. Since the beginning, the Rainforestation team has encompassed influential Indigenous figures of the community to ensure factual and authentic experiences for everyone who visits. An excellent example of this is the input from William Enoch Tranby, who currently works as the Cultural Development Officer for the CaPTA Group and is a Traditional Owner in Kuranda and Cairns tribal groups.
Without the appropriate recognition and authority, the experiences delivered would not be of such a high standard as they are at Rainforestation Nature Park. It is through the team’s expertise, forward thinking and cultural appropriateness that Rainforestation Nature Park are leading the way in cultural preservation.
“It means a lot to share the language of the oldest continual living culture in the world,” says Amanda Perry from Rainforestation Nature Park. “It ensures that this incredible culture is kept alive and known by guests from all over the world.”
Local Indigenous dialect is infused into all aspects of the Pamagirri Aboriginal Experience. This includes the Aboriginal words for cassowary and honey tree in the dance show. The Pamagirri dancers also introduce themselves as their totem names, which is something that audiences may have never heard of before. Stories are weaved throughout all of the Aboriginal experiences in an entertaining and engrossing manner.
With input form the Indigenous community for every step of the process, Indigenous people of the area are able to express themselves and their culture and traditions to visitors, in turn preserving one of the worlds oldest and most beautiful cultures alive.
Thank you, Rainforestation, for sharing your story with us!
Have you read the other articles in this series?
THE USE OF SILENCE TO HELP PRESERVE A CULTURE – featuring 1770 LARC! Tours
AN HONOURABLE MISSION – featuring Wajaana Yaam Gumbaynggirr Adventure Tours
AN IMMERSIVE ISLAND EXPERIENCE – featuring Straddie Kingfisher Tours
INDIGENOUS CULTURE AT THE FOREFRONT – featuring Cairns Adventure Group