Native food cafe teaches younger generation Indigenous cooking
While Indigenous people reap little reward from Australia's native food industry, a regional Indigenous cafe is taking ownership of their traditions and passing on the knowledge to younger generations.
Julie Cook and Sarah Lindsay, the chair of the River Murray and Mallee Aboriginal Corporation (RMMAC) and its director, traditional owner, and descendant of the River Murray people, respectively, are teaching younger generations the importance of indigenous cooking and passing on ancestral knowledge. They run the Ngamrapku Cafe, an indigenous-owned and run establishment in Glossop, South Australia's Riverland.
For Cook, the connection to country is not just about land, but also about knowledge passed down from generations. Lindsay emphasizes that the cafe is a way to reclaim indigenous knowledge, as many communities have lost language and traditional food access, especially through generations of language loss.
This initiative has brought life back to Glossop, a small town of 919 people, which saw the closure of its 81-year-old high school in 2022. The cafe, part of the Kawunwampu Cultural Centre, is surrounded by a cultural garden and native plants. The menu features native twists like saltbush-salted fries and native jams, with the potential to expand further. Despite the industry being worth $100 million, only less than one percent of this revenue returns to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
The board of directors at RMMAC aim to not only provide a cultural experience but also facilitate tourism, with plans to offer accommodations. So far, the community has welcomed the cafe, which has been a hit with the people of the Riverland, though they are still looking to source more suppliers.
Written by urgent.news from ABC News AU's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
