![From left to right: Grade 9 student Rawdon Leon, principal Richard Schell, Grade 10 Walbunja Yuin student Kieran Bradbury and PE teacher Dylan Hunt sitting in the new yarning circle. Picture: James Tugwell From left to right: Grade 9 student Rawdon Leon, principal Richard Schell, Grade 10 Walbunja Yuin student Kieran Bradbury and PE teacher Dylan Hunt sitting in the new yarning circle. Picture: James Tugwell](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/156570134/983c87c4-a0f1-4a8f-8893-955dd612d71b.JPG/r0_0_4648_2613_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
A south coast high school has created an indigenous sacred space and outdoor learning area aiming to bring students together and teach culture.
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Moruya High School began work on their yarning circle area four months ago and opened the space with a traditional smoking ceremony on August 1.
The outdoor space includes a dancing pad, yarning circle, outdoor classroom and the Richard Murry memorial garden growing native plants including the Xanthorrhoea - also known eponymously for their fire making ability as firesticks.
It is full of what PE teacher Dylan Hunt - a key driver of the initiative - calls "living artifacts". Things such as stones for making tools, or Coolamon and scar trees pointing to resources.
"We wanted a space where we could share culture and knowledge, but also a place of significance for our indigenous and non-indigenous students," Mr Hunt said.
"For our indigenous students to be able to share their knowledge with the rest of the school is just an amazing thing."
Grade nine student Rawdon Leon is just one of those students - a Duragen man living on Yuin country.
He was sick on the day the area was officially opened, and couldn't participate in the smoking ceremony performed by cultural tourism group Muladha Gamara and other indigenous students.
However he said the yarning area was a fantastic initiative that made him proud to attend the school.
"It makes me feel really proud of my culture. It makes me proud to see our knowledge being shared in schools like this," Mr Leon said.
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He said yarning circles were especially important in oral history cultures to ensure knowledge and culture was passed down from generation to generation.
Aboriginal education coordinator Dan Edwards said he had been asked more questions about culture by non-indigenous students since the yarning circle was opened.
"There are a lot of indigenous and non-indigenous students embracing it," he said. "There's more non indigenous people in the school community asking questions now and that's what it is all about.
"This sharing of knowledge is bringing people together."