Sea Country Stories

Sea Country Stories is an immersive experience of being on Yarlawa Ruwi, Sea Country with senior Ngarrindjeri elder Major 'Moogy' Sumner as he demonstrates how to make the kaiki, the freshwater reed spears, harvested from Lake Alexandrina in South Australia. Major yarns about what story and Sea Country mean to him, including stories about fishing with the pelicans, spearing flounder at night, and how to find a stingray in the stars!

As part of this exhibit, Ngarrindjeri kuti fishers and artists at Goolwa, who shuffle for cockles in the sand, also share how they practice sustainable fishing using traditional techniques to protect the kuti, pipi cockles, for the future.

Through an enchanting display at the SA Maritime Museum, Sea Country Stories offers the experience of being on Country, linking ancient and modern fishing cultures and inspiring the next generation of Sea Country custodians. 

Sea Country Stories trailer (above)
Watch the complete Sea Country Stories via this link

Australian Curriculum (V9) teacher resources

Explore a set of curriculum-aligned lesson plans for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures, science learners 10+.

To explore more First Nations teacher resources, lesson plans and activities for ocean literacy that we’ve created, visit Marine Stewardship Council’s education platform Saltwater Schools.

Sea Country Stories is an original project by Green Island Creative, which brings together Australian Indigenous knowledge holders, artists and creators with educators, museums and sustainable fisheries for the first time. Engaging with a range of creative and academic projects for ocean conservation, we have identified a huge gap in knowledge sharing for marine connections, and an education context in which Indigenous Australian fishing cultures and marine interactions for food and trade have been largely neglected. This project addresses unidimensional stories of Australia’s oceanic history and a lack of confidence amongst Australian teachers to integrate Indigenous perspectives in the classroom, with an immersive experience of being on Sea Country and a set of Australian curriculum-aligned lesson plans.