YUENDUMU PROJECT

2006 will see the launch of the Outback Yuendumu program sponsored by Newmont Australia and officially supported by Acting Race Discrimination Commissioner of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission - Tom Calma.

The Outback Yuendumu program will provide opportunity for the remote indigenous community of Yuendumu (3 1⁄2 hours drive from Alice Springs) to actively participate in the Wakakirri National Story Festival and Eco-Zone Programs.

The objective is to visit the community and encourage them to share ‘their’ story with Australia using the Eco-Zone materials and Wakakirri genres of storytelling.

In December 2005, Festival Director Adam Loxley visited Yuendumu to meet the principal and community leaders to discuss the potential of this program.

The community expressed enthusiasm for the program and consequently will be a part of the 2006 Festival.

In April 2006, Wakakirri and Eco-Zone workshops will be held in the Yuendumu community in April. These workshops will be to encourage the students to address environmental issues within the community.

In May 2006, their stories will be documented on film with a professional film crew. These filmed stories will then be displayed as part of the National Story Exhibition around Australia and featured on the TV Special.

In April 2007 the team will return to Yuendumu with stories from schools around Australia to share with the Yuendemu students.

This program will pioneer the approach Eco-Zone will take in subsequent years to other remote Indigenous
communities.

Wakakirri National Story Festival...