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Across the country it is becoming more common for Australians to use traditional first nation names for towns, cities and regions they call home. ‘This Place’ is an ABC project dedicated to growing that awareness, helping Australians understand the cultural heritage the names represent. In this story, Palawa woman Krystelle Jordan takes us to Tasmania’s north-west to an island more commonly known by its English name, Robbin’s Island.

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00:05We're here today in front of Politica looking out across sea country towards this incredible
00:10island that holds our stories. Our people are saltwater people were born from Meladina country,
00:18country is not separate from us it lives in us and standing here looking towards Politica you
00:24can feel her history and feel her memory and you can feel our ancestors. We're here today on the west
00:33coast with a few of the junior rangers we've brought them here to teach them Politica's story
00:39and ensure that the next generation remembers her name. The intertidal zone for the Palawa women is
00:46extremely important and our connection to the intertidal zone is ancient and enduring and it
00:53is where we collect our precious cultural resources. When I'm out there sharing knowledge with the junior
00:59rangers country is our teacher and we walk together and we learn together. You can smell the salt in
01:07the air and feel the wind moving across the water you can hear the ocean and the birds and country
01:14speaking in ways it always has. Politica is the Palawa Kearney name for what many now know as Robbins Island.
01:26The first time that Politica was recorded it was recorded by a white surveyor that came to Lutrawita he
01:36was employed by the Van Diemen's Land Company. Although some of our information has come from white men
01:43we've taken ownership back from all of that and now we speak our language fluently. My children know
01:51the names of their you know of wikti, of panupiri, of the muka, of the puna, of the muta and
01:57it's it's
01:58great and we know our tree names and we know our plant names and we know our country names and
02:03it's
02:03beautiful and I feel like that's taken back what we lost and when our young people learn these stories
02:11culture continues. I feel at home I feel I feel happy it's it's great place to be here. Our ancestors
02:22wanted us to learn this wanted us to be a part of their country and make it our country. I
02:30come from
02:30a long line of incredibly powerful women. Palawa women are fierce they are strong they are incredible and I
02:40have been surrounded by the most amazing women growing up and I remind our junior rangers all
02:47the time that we're standing on the backs of our grandparents. I'm the proudest Palawa person and
02:53I would never want to be anything else.
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