Scar trees carve connection to culture and country

By Regional Development Victoria

Scar tree art on the Great Victorian Rail Trail has a connection to country for Traditional Owners that is as alive today as it was 60,000 years ago.

When you look at one of Mick Harding’s scar trees, you’d be forgiven for thinking the detail he’s carved into the sapwood had always been there. That’s the beauty in it – it appears to be part of the tree itself. The scar might be new, but the story it tells goes back 60,000 years.

Mick is a proud Taungurung man and the artist behind the creation of 20 scar trees along the Great Victorian Rail Trail. They are part of a series of works produced by eight artists that draw inspiration from the theme of connections.

“We’re the First Peoples, so I thought, what better fit than to create a connection to country through something our people have been doing for thousands of generations,” Mick says.

“I wanted to leave a connection in the landscape that will stay there for a long while.”

The setting

Lined with trees that change with the landscape, the setting of the Great Victorian Rail Trail was perfect for Mick’s vision. The trail runs through the heart of Taungurung Country - spanning 134 kilometres from Tallarook to Mansfield with a branch line to Alexandra.

Mick’s works symbolise a connection to country experienced by Taungurung people in both an old and new way.

“What I really did want to articulate was that we are the First People, we do have a connection to country, we still do care about our country, and we want to share that with other people,” he says.

He explains while removing bark from trees is something his people did for millennia, the decorative scarring of trees is new.

“It’s something not to our knowledge that our people did, although we know that our neighbours, the Wiradjuri people did do this.”

The process

The journey to select the trees along the rail trail was one that Mick took with his sons, Mitch and Corey. Together, they walked, cycled and drove along the trail over a week, choosing trees to scar across the three Shires of Mitchell, Murrindindi and Mansfield.

“I thought we would probably identify 50 trees or so that we’d be able to scar, but we probably identified about 200 trees along the trail that we could have taken the bark off,” Mick says.

Mick created drawings based on connection to country that focused on the Goulburn River and its significance to First Peoples - from its upper reaches on Taungurung country to its eventual flow into the Murray River near Echuca on Yorta Yorta country.

Creating the scar trees took about ten weeks, and involved removing the bark from healthy eucalypts, and then carving a message into the sapwood.

The meaning

While each tree scar is different, they all have a marking that connects them.

“The little scallops on the top that you see, they represent what our people used to do in creating keloid scars on their skin as a form of tattooing,” Mick says.

“Every tree has that marking to pay respect to our ancestors – our Liwik.

“They’d create these scars on the back of their shoulders, across the tops of their arms and across their chest, making it heal in a particular way.”

Mick says the scars his ancestors made would have symbolised many things – but particularly as a way of showing others who they were as people and warriors.

“They’re a kind of homage, a way of paying respect to my old people. It’s as if they’ve put their arm against the tree and they’ve indented the tree with their own markings.” he says.

“I’m performing a ritual that shows we’re still connected to our country in today’s world.

“Because tradition is what is taken from the past and applied in the future – it’s not a two-dimensional experience. It’s about knowledge and sharing that knowledge and culture with people.”

It’s this sharing and celebration of First Nations culture and connection with the natural world that Mick has also explored in a recent Welcome Installation at ACMI, Australia’s museum of moving image.

The animated film - called Baan Biik Woora Woora Water, Land and Sky –  is a permanent display supported by a $20,000 commission from ACMI and sits pride of place in ACMI’s Fed Square foyer for all to see.

The journey

Mick didn’t know about his Aboriginal heritage for the first 25 years of his life. He’s changed that for his sons, Mitch and Corey, who have been connected to their culture since birth.

When he speaks about the experience of spending ten weeks with his sons, developing and creating the scar tree works across the Great Victorian Rail Trail, he says it has strengthened their connection with each other and with their heritage.

“How do you put a value on that?” he asks.

“It helps you. It nourishes your soul. We have that experience together and they’ll have that experience with them for the rest of their lives.

“Hopefully, they will share it with their children and with other people in the community.”

Truth telling

This is something that shines through Mick – his pride in sharing his knowledge, culture and truth with others.

He describes it as creating space for people to learn.

In that way, both Mick and his artwork are powerful forms of truth telling, because they empower you to learn. And it’s that discovery and knowledge that will lead to change – the very change that truth telling aims to achieve.

We supported Art on the Great Victorian Rail Trail through the Regional Tourism Investment Fund and delivered by Regional Development Victoria (RDV).

Mick Harding is leading cultural experiences on Taungurung Country with his sons Mitch and Corey, beginning at Yea Wetlands and taking in three scar trees works along the trail. For more information, visit wawa biik.