Celebrating Indigenous creators: National Reconciliation Week
National Reconciliation Week: Featuring First Nations creators Nornie Bero and Kimberly Engwicht
National Reconciliation Week is a time for all Australians to come together and learn about the cultures and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and our shared history. The main focus is to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.
The theme for this year’s National Reconciliation Week is Be a Voice for Generations – asking each one of us to be a voice for reconciliation in our everyday lives – where we live, work and socialise.
What does this mean to Handsel? We want to celebrate and highlight those inspiring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander authors and illustrators who help bring not only our gifts to life but are inviting all Australians to share in their cultures and traditions. By making Nornie’s recipes and sharing them with our friends and families, and reading Kimberly’s book to our children, we can help to create a deeper understanding of our First Nations people, their connection to the land, and their generosity in sharing it with all Australians.
Nornie Bero
Image taken from Mabu Mabu's Instagram: @mabu_mabu_aus
Nornie Bero is from the Meriam People of Mer Island in the Torres Strait and is the Executive Chef, CEO and owner of Melbourne restaurant, Mabu Mabu. Bero has been a professional chef for more than twenty-five years. Her style of cooking is all about generosity and flavour; creating dishes using Australian native ingredients for much of her career.
Mabu Mabu features native produce and through her business and book, Bero’s mission is to make Indigenous herbs, spices, vegetables, and fruits a part of everyone’s kitchen pantry.
This book, also called Mabu Mabu – which means help yourself – reflects Bero’s approach to cooking: simple, accessible, delicious, and colourful! Her native pantry (explored in a comprehensive glossary of native ingredients) includes seeds, succulents, nuts, plants and herbs, and her recipes range from Pumpkin and Wattleseed Dampers (for which she is well known) to Kangaroo Tail Bourguignon to Saltbush Butter, Quandong Relish, Pickled Karkalla and Pulled Wild Boar.
Bero also shares her knowledge of foraging, sourcing and substitutions, as well as the story of her formative years foraging, fishing and cooking alongside her beloved father on Mer.
Kimberly Engwicht
Image taken from Kimberly Engwicht's Instagram: @k.rae.designs
Kimberly Engwicht is the Creative Director of K-Rae Designs – a digital illustration and stationery company located on Yuggera Country in Brisbane, Queensland.
She is a proud Bundjalung and South Sea Islander, mother of two children and has been a full-time artist and business owner since 2017. Inspired by her family tree and connection to Country, Engwicht’s digital art style ranges from cartoon style characters and pop culture icons to landscape illustrations. Her mission is to have a piece of K-Rae in everyone’s home!
She loves to create fun, bright and positive digital art along with different styles of lettering. Empowering others with her art and being a voice for generations.
Shop gifts featuring our Indigenous authors and illustrators.
A celebration of Indigenous ingredients and locally sourced staples make for a well-rounded taste of Australia. A great gift to introduce all Australians to native ingredients, a welcome gift for overseas guests, and a total-game changer for the friend who thinks our native cuisine is a pie and sauce.
Bundle includes:
- Mabu Mabu. Secrets to cooking with Australian herbs, spices, vegetables and fruits from First Nations chef, Nornie Bero.
- A selection of our favourite Indigenous spices: Saltbush, Tropical Lemon Aspen Sea Salt, and Pepperberry.
- Carlotta and Gee Linen Tea Towel responsibly made from European flax linen without any pesticides or chemicals.
With some of our favourite new baby essentials and a fantastic bottle of bubbles, this handsel is the perfect way to celebrate a new arrival and treat Mum to that long-awaited, hard-earned champers.
Bundle includes:
- Your choice of 'Love Makes a Family', 'Bees Are Our Friends', 'Claris, the Chicest Mouse in Paris', or 'Nature All Around Us'.
- Purebaby Natural Teething Ring. Made from 100% beech wood, this teething ring is non-toxic, chemical free and naturally antibacterial. The perfect treat for sore little gums!
- Purebaby Essentials Blanket. Ideal for adding a layer of warmth around the house, in the car, or out and about on the cooler days in the pram. This beautiful blanket is made from certified 100% organic cotton making it perfectly soft for delicate baby skin.
- Bonnie The Bunny from Nana Huchy. Soft, cuddly and comforting Bonnie's a blessing just waiting to bounce into the life of big little loves.
- Champagne Pommery Brut Royal. From 40 selected villages in the Côte des Blancs and Montagne de Reims and other areas in the Champagne region, Pommery Brut Royal is the essence of the Pommery style: liveliness, fresh, finesse.
National Reconciliation Week is a time for all Australians to come together and learn about our shared history, cultures, and achievements. Handsel is excited to present to you two First Nations creators, who through their books invite you to experience their stories and traditions, and share them with others in your life.