Mount Yengo (pronounced ‘Yango’) in the World Heritage listed Yengo National Park, is located in the Hunter Valley region near Wollombi. Last week I was able to experience and learn about Wollombi cultural lore along with several other Aboriginal Education Teachers in the diocese.

Leanne King, a proud Dhurug woman, shared her knowledge with us as we explored various sites including Mount Yengo and Baiame Cave.

As Leanne explains:

These are the very beginning stories of our Ngurrumpa (our camp world) as given to us by our Elders. Far from being 'myth' these stories teach us how we should be and relate to all things around us. Wollombi has been, for millennia, an important meeting place, to which Aboriginal people would travel great distances for trade, social gatherings, and ceremony. The focus of these ceremonial gatherings was, and still is, Mount Yengo, every bit as sacred to the peoples of the East as Uluru is to the Central Desert people. From Yengo's summit Baiame, one of the primary creative forces, stepped back into the skyworld after life had been created and the lore set in place. To ensure that this lore would not be forgotten, Baiame's final act was to carve it in stone.

During the day, we learned about the healing and cleansing associated with smoking ceremonies, the use of ochre, and the bush tucker plants in the area, some of which we ate along the way.

I look forward to sharing what I learned from the day with the children and teachers.

Yaluu ngali ngamilay (We will see each other again)

Phil Taylor

Aboriginal Education Teacher