Ancient hunting ground returned to traditional owners: A valuable piece of Indigenous heritage near Albany has been saved and will be returned to its traditional owners. Indigenous Affairs Minister Michelle Roberts said Lake Pleasant View, a 6.1ha area of land, was bought under the Indigenous Land Corporation’s new Cultural Acquisition Program and would be managed by a newly created Albany group representing local indigenous people.

“The lease agreement contains a three-year management plan which will lead to the full transfer of ownership to the Albany Heritage Reference Group Aboriginal Corporation,” Mrs Roberts said. “Local indigenous people will once again have primary responsibility for the care, management and control of this site, which has strong cultural significance for the local community.” For full media release click here

Garnduwa State Indigenous Women's Leadership Workshop: A four-day workshop is planned to develop and strengthen personal and professional leadership skills among Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women. Targeting Western Australian women aged 18-30 the workshop will provide an opportunity to become better leaders as an individual, family member, community member or team player. Applications close Friday, 25 May 2007. For more information form click here or contact Layla Yu, email: yu@garnduwa.com.au or phone (08) 91 922 333.

Aboriginal Empowerment through Partnerships and Knowledge: An innovative approach to teaching maths and science using traditional bush knowledge is among the lectures at this year's Australian Innovation Fesitval 2007. In Collie, Bunbury and Leonora, Indigenous community members are working together with school teachers, members of the Plants for People (P4P) program and Curtin University of Technology to develop a new teaching program that is proving to be very successful.

The program includes designing and constructing a native plant garden, video productions, development of multimedia resources on native plant garden design and conducting excursions to view plants growing in their natural environment. Professor Louis Evans, Executive Director of the Centre for Sustainable Mine Lakes will discuss her experience in this and other traditional knowledge projects. The lecture will take place on Monday, 14 May 2007, 6pm - 7pm at the Centre for Aboriginal Studies. Please RSVP on 9266 2563 or email events@curtin.edu.au by Friday, 11 May 2007. Please click here for full poster.

NAIDOC Awards and opening ceremony: The State Government has demonstrated its support of NAIDOC 2007 by announcing a one-off $60,000 grants scheme for cultural events that mark the 50th anniversary. In Perth, a volunteer committee headed by Derbal Yerrigan's Colin Garlett and DOCEP staffer Tammy Solenec is planning an official launch and flag raising ceremony.

The Perth NAIDOC committee is also organising the 2007 NAIDOC Awards and Ball. Government and private sector groups interested in sponsoring an award are urged to phone Tammy on 0424 269 439. For more information see the naidocperth.org   website. Plans are also well underway for NAIDOC celebrations in the Kullari region, in the Kimberley. Goolarri Media will once again coordinate the two-week calendar of activities.

Discussion Paper on Remote Aboriginal Communities: The Education and Health Standing Committee has released a discussion paper on successful initiatives in remote Aboriginal communities. Comments and feedback is sought on the paper,'Where from? Where to? A Discussion on Remote Aboriginal Communities', which was tabled in Parliament earlier this month. Submissions close Friday 18 May 2007. The report and more information  is available here. Email submissions to laehsc@parliament.wa.gov.au