By Jeremy Cook
Perched atop a nature reserve close to Allora sits a sacred site for Warwick’s Githabul people.
Scar trees were once created by Indigenous Australians by removing bark from a tree trunk to then be used for making canoes, shelters or other artefacts like weapons and tools.
At Allora Mountain, a public nature reserve just off the New England Highway, these trees can be found in great numbers.
At the invitation of the Githabuls and the Warwick-based Cicada Woman Tours group, about 70 people gathered at the site on Saturday to commemorate its significance and learn about its past.
Githabul people Melissa Chalmers, Nathan Charles and Judy Charles, aided by Anmatyerr woman Sharman Parsons, taught guests about the site’s likely purpose as a men’s ceremonial site.
David Parsons from Cicada Woman Tours, who has been involved in Aboriginal rights issues for more than 40 years, said guests also learnt about the specific purpose of different scar trees.
“They learnt how the site, (which is legally a state reserve) contains many scar trees and a few bora rings had been neglected and poorly managed until recently when the Allora Landcare Group took control and developed a picnic area and walking tracks,” Mr Parsons said
“Together we imagined lives lived here in past times, lives where lessons of how to live and how to live well, were shared between old and young,” he said.
“And we discussed the specific purpose of different scar trees, saw sight trees pointing to boras, saw axe-grinding grooves, and learnt to avoid walking over a bora.”
Mr Parsons said the event had been organised to bring people together to celebrate First Nations people and ideas.
