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The Australian Defence Force has celebrated the opening of a new yarning circle at Porton Barracks in North Queensland.
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Members of the 51st Battalion, Far North Queensland Regiment (51FNQR) attended the opening with a smoking ceremony on16 July.
The ceremony was conducted by local Indigenous man Jiritju Fourmile whose family has ties with the Yarrabah and Cairns area, including a number of soldiers in the battalion.
51FNQR Commanding Officer Lieutenant Colonel Jeremy Schieb said that with more than 200 Indigenous soldiers in his unit, the circle would be a focal point, especially for new recruits.
“We have a diverse workforce, and one of the important parts of the cultural melting pot that is the battalion is the opportunity for everyone to sit down and have a yarn,” LTCOL Schieb said.
“Having a yarning circle of our own, here on Porton, gives us a culturally appropriate space where we can work through issues and mix all of our cultural perspectives together.”
51FNQR soldiers constructed a permanent yarning circle during NAIDOC week with the help of 19 Indigenous recruits who were on the barracks in preparation for basic training.
Stumps from paperbark trees which had been felled on the barracks earlier were used for seats around the circle.
Paperbark trees are important to the local Indigenous people, used for making shelters and for medicinal purposes.
The unit plans to have prominent Gimuy-Walubara elder Uncle Henrik Fourmile complete a tree carving near the circle, the traditional way of preserving and passing down stories.
