Tribal Fires - Dumbartung

In this 3 part episode of Tribal Fires titles Communities features the stories of two young Aboriginal people who have travelled to Perth from remote Aboriginal communities in Western Australia to further their studies and seek employment opportunities either in the city or back in their home community.   In this podcast we discuss the relevance of community, culture and family. You can follow Dum...

This episode of tribal fires is an Observation on Dumbartung’s cultural program implemented into the Banksia Hill detention centre including the infamous unit 18 during 2024-2025. It also observes the history of incarceration on Indigenous people from the time of colonisation. It also addresses the adopted 3 strikes policy with a mandatory 12 months sentence.  It also observes an incident that occ...

This episode of Tribal Fires titled ‘Black Cladding’ looks at the increasing practise of non-Indigenous businesses cashing in on funding and contracts designed specifically to further the advancement of Aboriginal people. These companies appear to be Indigenous owned and operated, however behind the scenes there is a clever strategy and company setup that appears genuine but in fact the decision m...

This episode of Tribal Fires titled ‘Genocide’ features an interview with Dr Muhamed Mustafa affectionately known as Dr Mo. A practising GP in Australia, Dr Mo has visited Gaza first hand, witnessing  the devastation and in particular the impact that the war has had on young children. Dr Mo has a vision to re build a children’s hospital from the ruins that has devastated the Gazan population and e...

This episode of Tribal Fires titled ‘Truth Telling’ is a story about the heart of Reconciliation, identified as a truth telling process to bring awareness of history from an Aboriginal perspective to build a greater understanding for the future of Australia direct from the Uluru statement of the heart. However this story shines light on the difficulties and uncertainties for those who tell these t...

This episode of Tribal Fires entitled ‘Smoke’, discusses ancient Aboriginal customs including spiritual healing from pre colonisation traditions to contemporary times.  Connections to old customs within the Aboriginal communities today are still very strong and require the appropriate cultural knowledge, understanding and ceremonies to ensure the spiritual well-being of our people. You can follow...

  This episode of Tribal Fires is entitled “Entrenched”. It discusses the social empowerment of racial control of the Australian social systems. We cover Dumbartung’s perspective of the recent federal election and the racist policies of the conservative right wing party, the Liberal coalition. You can follow Dumbartung on: Facebook Website Youtube Please subcribe and share.

This episode of Tribal Fires called Massacre Ground ‘The Song’, explains the meaning and background in the writing of the song. We discuss the reason why it was important to record a message for our young people to understand the concept of telling our stories by our people as part of the need for truth telling. Massacre Ground will be released shortly as a poem/affirmation on YouTube and will be...

This story of Tribal Fires center's on the Dumbartungs maxim, "May our Campfires Burn Forever". Its origin, purpose, and how NAIDOC eclipsed and whitewashed its true meaning and, without any form of consultation, used it in their 2024 slogan "Keep the Fire Burning." This episode also gives evidence of other forms of cultural exploitation and is an ongoing tribute to the yo...

WARNING: This podcast contains story of personal loss through suicide.   This Tribal Fires episode is titled ‘Hurt’. This is a deeply personal story about the devastating loss of my only son through Suicide.   Suicide in Australia’s Indigenous communities is at a pandemic level.  This horrible reality is now affecting the youth and most concerningly young children are also becoming part of this st...

This episode of Tribal fires will explain in detail how the past government policy of the forced removal of children throughout the 20th century has had a lasting impact on generations of Indigenous Australians. Dumbartung was a major part of the redress program taking over 300 personal and extremely harrowing stories of institutional abuse. Intergenerational trauma is an ongoing issue within many...

This Podcast entitled Burial Ground is a true story of a lived experience I had as a young man while camping in bushland in New South Wales at a place called Seals Rock. Unknown to me The site was a ancient traditional burial ground of the  Worimi People.  You can follow Dumbartung on: Facebook Website Youtube Please subcribe and share.

This story is about the continued spiritual and cultural colonization of our culture and spirituality as Bibbulmun people. It is the story of the Dumbartung declaration Jangga Meenya Bomunggur, a resistance against the exploitation of our culture and identity as Aboriginal people. It tells of the work of Dumbartung to protect our precious cultural knowledge in the contemporary times.   You can fol...

This episode of Tribal Fires titled ‘Atomic Kids’, discusses the Indigenous perspective relating to Uranium and nuclear energy and the impact this will have on our culture, land and spirit. We look at the history of atomic bomb tests in Australia and how this relates to the current environment where nuclear energy and nuclear submarines are now a current political and social priority of discussion...

This episode titled ‘Boulders’, is an ancient tribal story of a young woman named Oolana who was in a promised marriage. Forsaking that marriage she broke the traditional law and fell in love with a warrior from a passing tribe. As this custom was forbidden she threw herself into the nearby river creating the formation of the Babinda Boulders as a result of her tears. Her spirit still resides in t...

This episode of Tribal Fires called Apprehended, reflects youth detention and juvenile social justice issues facing many Aboriginal peoples. This story is based on the lived experience of Robert Eggington, the creator of Tribal Fires and his fight to clear his son (Bobbo Eggington R.I.P.)  from false police charges in Western Australia. This story also features Bobbo’s son Robert Joel Eggington wh...

This episode of Tribal Fires titled ‘Ostracised’ is a reflection of Dumbartung’s history on the old Clontarf orphanage site in Manning, Western Australia. It is a tribute to the orphans, some of which I had the honour of meeting and hearing their personal stories of struggle to survive. The episode also tells of the political ostricisation of Dumbartung by successive governments to suppress our vo...

This episode of Tribal Fires is a respected tribute story to three close advocates for the Dumbartung Aboriginal Corporation. John Pilger; Journalist, author & film maker. Irene Cunningham; Environmental historian, author John Pell; Community servant, Elder   Since the beginning of Dumbartung these three amazing human beings have given their time, passion & commitment to help take the mess...

This Podcast 'Powder', is a cry-out to our young people to be consciously aware of the scourge and devastation that powdered drugs such as Methamphetamine and Heroin has on our culture, families and communities. This story is told through the lens of a lived experience, working in our communities over a 44 year period and seeing first hand the suffering and pain that addiction and trauma...

Ricochet is a story about a recent "Voice" referendum and the colonial history of racism perpetrated against the Aboriginal people. You can follow Dumbartung on: Facebook Website Youtube Please subcribe and share.

This Podcast ‘Pearl Shell’ is a tribute to the Bardi Elders of the One Arm Point Community in the North West Kimberley region of Western Australia. It tells of the times that I shared and the knowledge gained from many years of travelling and exchanging ancient stories and customs. The connection and the knowledge gleaned is still a guiding light today for Dumbartung’s ongoing work in all communit...

This video podcast titled Wall of Shame - Nations go to war, tells the story of the plundering and pillaging of cultural objects during the colonisation period of Indigenous lands. We also discuss Dumbartungs wall of shame which has examples of cultural exploitation in varying forms. We also cover issues of racism that challenges our young generations on a daily basis. You can follow Dumbartung on...

This story titled ‘Vengeance’ looks back over 3 important decades of change and advancement for Aboriginal people. The 1970s, 80s and 90s reflects a time when self-determination and funding resources were extremely restrictive and Aboriginal people faced harsh government laws and policies. These policies kept Aboriginal people oppressed and excluded them from mainstream advancement. The story also...

This episode ' The Acquisitions' concludes our story regarding the contoversy surrounding the LotteryWest funding of the  Kyana Gallery. You can follow Dumbartung on: Facebook Website Youtube Please subcribe and share.

During the last 2 decades Dumbartung has been approached by the state Lotterywest commission to offer their support to fund a Cultural truth telling centre.   During these meetings Dumbartung has been encouraged to believe that the funding was an obligation of trust by the Western Australian government. After being awarded a significant assessment award funded by Dept. of Prime Minister and Cabine...