Ngarridurndeng Kured / We Going Home Now

Kuwarddewardde – the rock country – is home to the Bininj Nawarddeken, people who have always inhabited a remote corner of what is known today as Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia. For millennia, they looked after the rock country, taking care of it for their ancestors and their children. Fire was one of their main tools and Bininj Nawarddeken actively burned areas of the savanna grasslands, woodlands and rainforests to protect them from large, devastating wildfires. But in the late 18th century, British colonialization disrupted the Bininj Nawarddeken’s connection to the land and their traditional use of fire. The result was the spread of massive wildfires that decimated pristine ecosystems. Dean Yibarbuk, Warddeken Land Management’s a First Nation’s owned non-profit and knowledge keeper of Bininj Nawarddeken, lays it plain: “Without people, those wildfires took place. It’s a lonely country waiting for people to return.” Ngarridurndeng Kured (We Going Home Now) follows Dean, his family and the Indigenous fire rangers he leads into the heart of Kuwarddewardde. Here ancient rhythms and traditional practices combine with western science to create a unique relationship that guards against devastating wildfires and supports the return of Bininj Nawarddeken to their traditional homelands and ways of living in the bush.