Firestick
Firestick is a new six-part talk series featuring First Nations visionaries who are blazing a trail and lighting the way for future generations in diverse industries from video game design to global fashion.
Drawing on the long history of firestick farming, an Indigenous land management practice that uses controlled back-burning to promote new growth, this First Nations–led conversation series is designed to ignite dialogue and broaden perspectives. Held in the Gold Melting Room at The Mint, it provides a welcoming and timely platform that encourages meaningful discussion and a deeper understanding of Indigenous innovation and agency.
The series is designed to encourage informal post-talk gatherings and discussions between the speakers and audience, with a food and drink offer available in the courtyard.
First Nations displays

Featured display
Eora by Michael Riley
Eora, by the late Wiradjuri/Kamilaroi filmmaker and photographer Michael Riley (1960–2004), is a 20-minute digital film that tells the story of Sydney’s First Nations people – before and after colonisation
Saturday 7 December

Featured display
Madjeri
Madjeri (pronounced mud-jer-ee) is the Dharawal word for canoe or small floating vessel
Saturday 3 August
Read more from past exhibitions

First Nations
Seeing Sydney, Knowing Country: The Library of the Dreaming
Dharawal and Yuin designer Alison Page shares the knowledge and philosophies that define Aboriginal understandings of Country and the life that is lived on it

First Nations
Coomaditchie: The Art of Place
The works of the Coomaditchie artists speak of life in and around the settlement of Coomaditchie, its history, ecology and local Dreaming stories

Cast in cast out: recasting fragments of memory
An in-depth look at Dennis Golding's experiences and childhood memories of growing up in ‘The Block’

First Nations
How to weave an opera house
Inspired by a stunning shellworked model of the Sydney Opera House by Bidjigal artist Esme Timbery, First Nations curator Tess Allas commissioned a woven model of the iconic building from master weavers Steven Russell and Phyllis Stewart
First Nations stories from our collections
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First Nations
Little footsteps, big futures: honouring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day
In this article, Beth Thornber, Access Advisor on the First Nations Community Access to Archives project, reflects on the significance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day through examining the role of young First Nations people in language preservation and revitalisation

First Nations
Grief in the archives: a Blak reflection on Sorry Day
In this article, Dylan Hoskins, Project Assistant on the First Nations Community Access to Archives project, reflects on the significance of National Sorry Day through his lived experience as an Aboriginal person
![NRS 12061 [12/8749.1] 62/1515pt1, p334](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/zl9du87e/production/f95209714e7233f28b7abc814dbc999c0d9033e3-1404x2000.jpg?auto=format&fit=max&q=90&rect=0,525,1404,861&w=652)
First Nations
Advocacy, allyship and the rise and fall of the Aborigines Protection Board
In the lead-up to 26 January, the State Archives Collection provides opportunities to explore and reflect on past examples of advocacy and allyship in the fight for First Nations rights
![[Sydney from the north shore], Joseph Lycett, 1827.](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/zl9du87e/production/efb0ca986f6e159dd142f8014c35c3b1010cbc06-1346x908.jpg?auto=format&fit=max&q=90&w=593)
Hearing the music of early New South Wales
A new website documents an exciting partnership between Museums of History NSW and the University of Sydney in an exploration of Indigenous song and European settler vocal and instrumental music in early colonial NSW