Young nipaluna hits airwaves for NAIDOC Week

Published on 06 July 2021

The stories of eight young Tasmanian Aboriginal people have been captured in a podcast series that celebrates NAIDOC Week.

The City of Hobart, through its Youth Arts and Recreation Centre, has produced the Young nipaluna series in partnership with ABC Radio Hobart, which is airing the podcasts this week.

Community, Culture and Events Committee Chair Zelinda Sherlock said the series gave local young people the opportunity to share their experiences of the city and their thoughts of this year’s NAIDOC Week theme ‘Heal Country’.

“Contributors include young Tasmanian Aboriginal people living, studying and working in our city,” Cr Dr Sherlock said.

“Their stories highlight the importance of community gatherings, language revival and use, the need to amplify the younger generation’s voice and the importance of Aboriginal land control and ownership.”

The podcasts are presented and facilitated by City of Hobart Community Development Officer Nunami Sculthorpe-Green, who leads a discussion with eight young people across six episodes.

“What we get to hear are completely unfiltered Aboriginal stories and perspectives and that’s exciting,” Ms Sculthorpe-Green said.

“It feels like you’re having a yarn around the campfire. It’s really intimate – that’s the power of having this completely run by Aboriginal people; it feels safe to share.”

Among the young people sharing their stories are Kulai Sculthorpe and Baden Maynard, who spoke about their experiences being trained in Aboriginal land management, what they’ve learned about how to keep country healthy, and about cultural burns and land management through fire.

“It’s only through being on country you realise how much our culture was lost,” Kulai said. “It’s a small step but it’s almost a feeling of responsibility – that you have to be there so you can pass that knowledge on, for future generations.

“As a Palawa man, an Aboriginal person, I feel that I need to invest my time in it so that our culture can live on. The feeling you have when you are on country. It’s almost a sense of purpose, you feel like you are where you’re supposed to be. It’s just an awesome place to be.”

Snippets from Young nipaluna are airing on ABC Radio Hobart’s Breakfast and Drive programs throughout NAIDOC Week. The podcasts can be heard in full at https://platform-youthculture.com

Caption: Nunami Sculthorpe-Green interviews Kitana Mansell and Legana Hughes in the ABC studio for one of the podcast episodes.