NIKERI Institute staff led by Dr Tyson Yunkaporta have recently experienced Knowledge sharing and connection to Country through a traditional boat-building project. 

The project has recently been worked on by Dr. James Charles, lecturer in the Master of Public Health course; and his son Jonny, who assisted during holidays. The two set to work on the canoe as an exercise in connecting to their heritage and spending some quality time together. 

James and Jonny after working on the canoe

‘NIKERI is a place where many groups come together to produce, share and remember Indigenous Knowledges, old and new.’

 — Dr. Tyson Yunkaporta

The canoe was originally started by Dr Tyson Yunkaporta, Lecturer in Indigenous Knowledges, who originally intended for the canoe to be an activity for NIKERI staff to work on together. Unfortunately, everyone’s schedules got the better of them which left the opportunity for James and Jonny to work on it together. 

‘This kind of boat is called a kinuw in far north Queensland.’ says Tyson, himself also hailing from Queensland’s far north, ‘the design was changed over many centuries through trade with New Guinea and Indonesia. This principle of knowledge exchange between different First Peoples is the central message of staff at NIKERI who have been working on the kinuw, because the institute is a place where many groups come together to produce, share and remember Indigenous Knowledges, old and new.’

The canoe was hollowed out with hammer and chisel

The process of hollowing out the canoe is very slow going, says Tyson:

‘Usually a kinuw is made using fire, which makes the wood lighter and makes the job fast and easy. However, we are unable to use fire in this way on campus, so it has taken many months to chip away at it, and will probably take many more.’

‘It is made from Victorian native pine sourced on the campus grounds, with the permission of the Wathaurong Land Council. The size of the kinuw is significant: it is made to carry two children, reflecting our values of caring first for the young, then ourselves.’

‘This was a good opportunity to reconnect with culture.’

— Dr. James Charles

For James, the opportunity has been one that’s allowed him to take a break from the workload of planning and teaching health units. It’s also allowed him to show his son more of their shared culture:

‘Working on the canoe with Jonny has been a great opportunity to share knowledge about traditional building and working together. It can be very therapeutic to work with your hands on something that would have been so important to the community traditionally.’

‘This was a good opportunity to reconnect with culture and great for youth like Jonny to get an experience like this. There will also be a great sense of achievement and belonging when it is finished.’

So the next time you’re at NIKERI, don’t forget to have a look at the kinuw out the front!