8 Way Bangamalanha Centre, RAET DET WNSW

RAET - Western New South Wales Regional Aboriginal Education Team, DoE

Based at the Bangamalanha Centre, Dubbo

The RAET team is responsible for the research and ongoing development of 8ways, management of the wiki and observance of cultural protocols. Call the team for permissions regarding use of 8ways.

This message stick shows a commitment to our protocols, values and ethical processes in facilitating the sharing of Aboriginal knowledge in schools and communities across the region. It provides visual guidelines for the way we work at the Bangamalanha Centre, which is the central site for our operations, located in Dubbo.

The dark line through the centre shows the way we work with freshwater people and ways, following the rivers that connect our Peoples in Western New South Wales. The circles indicate knowledge grounded in sacred sites, and our adherence to ancient protocols when we sit and meet with keepers of knowledge on country. The pathways between them show the way all these sites, stories and knowledges are linked together by ancient pathways walked, sung and told by ancestors. Our old people always met with different language groups to engage in the exchange and production of knowledge. We follow their footsteps, developing new cross-cultural relationships, knowledge and innovative practice as our ancestors have always done. These old and new knowledges both belong to community.

The seven sections indicate the School Education Groups we work with in the western region. The shaded areas at the top show respect for the diverse languages and knowledges that come from the land of traditional owners in our region. These remain distinct, but at the same time they come together and overlap in many places. 

We are committed to working both with the common ground and the differences of the diverse cultures living in our region. We are committed to promoting and strengthening the individual languages and cultures of these diverse groups, while strengthening the relationships between them. We are building a respectful cultural interface between these communities, between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples, and between school and community. 

We know that these relationships are the key to developing the new knowledge and practice needed to ensure our Aboriginal children and families can have better access to education, health and life opportunities into the future. 

The RAET at the opening of the Bangamalanha Aboriginal Knowledge and Practice Centre.