Cultural healing burn returns to Yuwibara Country after generations of disruption

CAPE HILLSBOROUGH, QLD – The Yuwi people have carried out their first Cultural Healing Burn since before colonisation, bringing a long-held practice of caring for Country back to Yuwibara Country in north Queensland.

The burn took place at Cape Hillsborough National Park, about 40 minutes north of Mackay, where the Yuwi say the landscape holds multiple “special” countries (from ocean and beaches to mangroves, rainforest and drier eucalypt forest) each with its own food, medicines and materials. “We can still feel the spirits of our old people here” Aunty Deb Clark said. “We are intertwined; we are not two separate entities.”

The Cultural Healing Burn was held in February and attended by about 40 people aged between eight weeks and 81 years. Elders and rangers lit scrub in small sections and allowed the fire to “trickle” through a two-hectare area. Low-intensity burning is designed to clear ground scrub and invasive species, promote healthy plant regrowth and reduce the risk of destructive wildfires, while leaving key grasses and other desired species in place.

Ms Clark said reading environmental cues is essential, from soil moisture to what is flowering and where. “It’s really important that you use all your senses to read Country … and Country will talk to you,” she said. She described the day as both environmental and cultural repair: “We saw our Country breathe … It was healing for the people as well.”

The return of cultural burning follows formal recognition of Yuwi traditional ownership in the Mackay region six years ago, and a native title determination in 2020 that the Yuwi Aboriginal Corporation says helped open the door for co-designing cultural practices on Country. Project manager Madeline Jones said that process was “emotional, exhausting and deeply personal” for families, and argued it created space for Yuwi people to lead burns “our way”.

Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service staff who worked alongside the Yuwi said the partnership is strengthening land management outcomes and knowledge-sharing. Ranger Daniel Burndred said: “We’re seeing really good outcomes here … all the indicator species for a good burn are there.” He added: “We’re learning what’s important to Yuwi when we do those burns … keeping that spiritual connection going and learning from that — it’s golden.”

Elders and park managers say the burn is intended as a starting point, with hopes Yuwi techniques and knowledge can be used to heal more land across the region.