Growing demand for First Nations tourism experiences has led an Eyre Peninsula woman to set up a business she hopes will provide employment for her family for generations to come. Barngarla woman Emmalene Richards has established a cultural tourism business as part of a national mentoring program, designed to boost Indigenous Tourism.
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00:00Emmeline Richards has spent most of her adult life working to protect and preserve her bungalow
00:09culture.
00:10This is Gallinella Freshwater Springs.
00:13Now she is drawing on that knowledge to build a business to sustain her family and culture
00:19into the future.
00:21Tourism plays a really important role in Aboriginal people being able to continue their culture,
00:26being able to tell their stories, being able to share their knowledge.
00:30Emmeline welcomes tourists by taking them to significant sites around the Port Lincoln
00:35area.
00:36As well as the good, there's bad, but both sides of the story needs to be shared so people
00:42can get a better appreciation of Port Lincoln and the Lower Eyre Peninsula.
00:48The half-day cultural tours tap into a growing demand.
00:52Indigenous tourism is definitely on the rise and it's certainly being promoted by our state
00:55tourism commission.
00:57So they had this very sustainable way of living prior to settlement.
01:01And Emmeline has ongoing support and mentoring from a local business to ensure it is a success.
01:08It's been a bit of a journey, but it's taken nearly two years just to get it to where we
01:11are now.
01:12The future looks really exciting.
01:14If it's done right and if it's done the right way with good intention and open heart, we've
01:18got endless possibilities of how we can change the future for everybody.
01:22Let's hope the endless possibilities include more people taking up the opportunity to learn
01:27about Indigenous culture, not only here on the Eyre Peninsula, but also across the state.