Walking Darug Country app: Explore MQ’s Aboriginal cultural landmarks

This article was co-authored by Rob Cohen, Aboriginal Academic Engagement Coordinator and Alex Swain, Team Leader Indigenous Strategy and Policy.

 The ‘Walking on Darug Country’ app is a guide to the cultural landmarks and areas of cultural significance to Aboriginal peoples that are scattered throughout Macquarie University.

The concept of the app was originally about locating and identifying all Aboriginal sites to be used in training run by Walanga Muru. 

The contents identified within the app are the result of consultations with Faculties, Property, Walanga Muru and Darug Community Elders.

How does it work?

The app uses GPS to understand your location on campus, and then you can either find one of the 20 plus markers near your location, or you can choose to go on the app’s guided cultural tour of the University. 

How do you use it?

There are 3 ways to discover sites and landmarks in the app:

1. What’s near me: shows the closest site to your current location
2. Start the Tour: Allows you to select a starting point and than set out on a tour of the others. 
3. View Map: Indicates all the markers and allows you choose which one to view.

Can you use it for teaching?

The app has since been picked up by the Department of Indigenous Studies as a learning tool for their new offering ‘ABST102 – Presence, Places and People’. The Department of Educational Studies are also utilising the app in selected tutorials.

Profiled within the app are outdoor cultural sites and murals, various Aboriginal artworks, Indigenous flora and fauna, cultural areas of significance, Indigenous perspectives on faculties, and a number of video’s of staff and students testimonials.

Please contact Alex Swain (Team Leader, Indigenous Strategy and Policy) to talk about the app’s applicability into your programs. 

The free app is available to download on smartphones. It can be found at the App Store or GooglePlay Store by searching: “Walking Darug Country”, or “Macquarie University Aboriginal”