Tjuwanpa Women Rangers taking care of Country

The Tjuwanpa Women Rangers are a group of Western Arrarnta women, from Ntaria (aka Hermannsburg), west of Alice Springs who look after country across 5 Aboriginal Lands Trusts. Their work includes burning, threatened species management, controlling invasive cat populations, monitoring native flora, and looking after rock holes.

The Tjuwanpa Women Rangers work is inspiring, particularly their effort to remove buffel grass from important cultural sites. Buffel grass is a major threat to country in Central Australia, which requires a long-term investment to control. The group has also been working to protect cultural sites and bushfoods for future generations, and to help native plants and animals return to Country.

“We are an independent women’s ranger group. Being a ranger to a coordinator has allowed me to be a leader and that is why you come to work every day. When you achieve something, this is a reward for community. As an Aboriginal woman you learn skills, 2-way education through training, elders and cultural knowledge. It’s good to have women’s group be able to use Western Arrarnta, it makes us strong we support each other, and it is a safe place for us to work” - said Sonya Braybon, Tjuwanpa Women’s Rangers Coordinator.

“Completing certificates involved in training to support younger rangers, working with the school with little kids, we are role models. We protect our country with managing weeds and conservation, you need to love the job. Working alongside elders and learning about plants and the significance of land and women’s areas and try to protect bush tucker from feral plants. It’s a big job to do so we do certain areas like waterholes for families and animals around waterholes” - Ms Braybon said.

The group will see the scope of their program expand in 2024-25 through the Indigenous Rangers Program Expansion with the Western Arrarnta Women Working on Western Arrarnta Women's Sacred Sites project.

This new project will deliver the aspirations of the Western Arrarnta Senior Women and Senior Women Advisory Committee, to provide critical maintenance, management, recording and protection of 2 very significant women's sacred sites and actively increase the numbers of Indigenous women being employed on Country.

This can only happen through the increased employment of women rangers that are culturally appropriate to enter these sites. The incorporation of these 2 sacred sites in the Tjuwanpa Women Rangers workplan will also provide an active opportunity for cultural interaction between the Senior Women and younger school-aged women. This interaction will ensure that Indigenous Ecological Knowledge, Women's Lore and Cultural Knowledge will be passed down to the younger generations, a crucial activity to save and enable Western Arrarnta Women's Culture.

Read more about the Indigenous Rangers program here.

Photo: Tjuwanpa Women Rangers