Alice Springs Language Centre’s new memorial bush medicine garden to teach community
A SPECIAL garden comprising of 40 bush food and medicine plans has been unveiled at Alice Springs Language Centre
Centralian Advocate
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A SPECIAL garden comprising of 40 bush food and medicine plans has been unveiled at Alice Springs Language Centre.
The garden is a memorial to a much-loved Arrernte teacher Miss M Smith.
The language educator taught up to 650 students during each of her 14 years’ service to the Centre.
Admin Officer Tara Welch came up with the idea to create the garden in Miss Smith’s honour, which then grew into a bigger concept.
“Margaret was a super happy, honest person,” Ms Welch said.
“She was really great with the students and they had a lot of respect for her. She treated them how you would want to be treated and she kept things interesting.”
The teaching resource includes bush yams and potatoes, figs and conkerberries, the medicinal Arrethe, and emu bushes used in smoking ceremonies.
Alice Springs Language Centre principal Susan Moore said the 40 plants conform to nearly all the plants in the Picture Dictionary, an Arrernte learning aid.
“The garden will help students to recognise the plants in the bush and know how to use and protect them in the future,” she said.
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“When students come to this garden, they will be taught the cultural purposes of the plants and have the opportunity to listen to traditional stories that are associated with them.”
Some of the plants in the garden are endangered and threatened species.
“Introduced plants and animals have badly affected several native species, making them hard to find and learn about in the wild, that is why this garden is so important,” Ms Moore said.
“This garden should thrive and benefit our students for many years.”
The garden was established by Centralian Middle School and Centralian Senior College students with help from the Alice Springs Desert Park.
But there will be opportunities for future students to add more cuttings and seeds to maintain its strength and vibrancy.
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