COLE

I am a proud Biripi/Worimi man having grown up in Karuah on the NSW Mid North Coast. I now live in Sydney and work at Artefact as an Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Officer.

My role involves working on Cultural Values Assessments and Connecting with Country reports. I work on Country with various Registered Aboriginal Parties and knowledge holders to help identify, assess, conserve and interpret places and objects that have cultural heritage value.

ABOUT

COLE

Throughout my life, I have been inspired by those who came before me including my Dad who was the managing director of an Aboriginal radio station in Taree, my great grandmother Colleen Perry who helped establish the Worimi Aboriginal Land Council back in the mid-1980s and also Indigenous rights activist Mum Shirl.

I am passionate about my career in cultural heritage management and keen to work with industry, land councils, knowledge holders, developers and government to help tell the stories of First Nations people.

My goal is to utilise my cultural knowledge to support the development of my people and society in a positive way.

“It’s never too late for change.”

ARTEFACT

In my hand I am holding an oyster shell from a midden site that the team at Artefact recovered during archaeology work.

We are holding it here in storage until the Local Aboriginal Land Council decides what they are going to do with it - whether it will be reburied in the same area or put it on display.

I came across this oyster shell when I was cleaning and cataloguing finds and it really stood out to me because I'm from the Biripi/Worimi tribes (also known as the Saltwater People) along the Mid North coast of Australia. Collecting and eating oysters is something that we still practice to this day, I guess it made me feel like a piece of home was here with me in the city of Sydney. 

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