Tribal Warrior, Sydney

Pandemic

With Christmas parties, New Year events and international cruise liners bringing thousands of revellers and international tourists to Sydney, the summer of 2019/20 was peak time on the harbour. Tribal Warrior’s vessel, the Mari Nawi (big canoe) was taking customers out four times a week on cultural cruises and private charters, providing employment for eight full time employees and funding its community programs.

In late March, the pandemic hit and all travel and events ceased, bringing tourism to a halt. With no bookings and no cash flow for six months, the business was at risk of closure and its community programs were under threat.

Without the Jobkeeper scheme, Tribal Warrior would not have been able to keep its eight staff including office admin, deckhands, captains and service people. The recovery has been slow and the future remains uncertain for Darren and the team.

“Looking forward, we want to make sure we are able to continue providing employment and reinvesting funds into our programs so we can continue to empower our community through culture."

“We have a strategy to build a pipeline of cultural educators and performers. We want to build confidence in kids to be able to talk to and practice their culture. At the moment, the impacts from COVID-19 lowers that ability to build the talent pool and pass down the knowledge."

“Knock on wood, now more interest is coming back. We rely on tourism. If the tourists aren’t there, do we just can it? Is it going to bounce back? If so, when?” asks Darren.

Pivot

Having previously relied heavily on corporate events, school trips and international tourism, Tribal Warrior is now working to reinvent its marketing and distribution strategy to attract locals and domestic travellers.

For the first time in many years, it has reopened cruises direct to the public. People can now buy tickets as they come. While it’s a challenging market, there are encouraging signs.

“Besides our boat, we don’t have a presence on the harbour. We don’t have any stands like you guys at NRMA have. We relied on our current network. It’s a harder sell going direct to the public but understanding this ecosystem better now, we see there’s more that we can tap into.”

Sun coming through the clouds

As a social enterprise, Tribal Warrior exists for the community. This means direct interaction with the Aboriginal people of inner Sydney, including Glebe, Redfern, Marrickville, Waterloo and beyond.

With much of the community facing loss of income, loss of food and mental health problems, Tribal Warrior worked with Addison Road and other community kitchens to deliver hampers to vulnerable people and those in need. Optimism is growing as some normality returns.

“A lot of the communities are grateful to be able to get out and about again. Once it opened up, you could see the sun coming through the stormy clouds. There was a vibe of hope and getting through it. It’s now four to five months since we did a food hamper drop off but there’s a strong sense of community coming from that.“

Looking forward

For Darren and Tribal Warrior, survival is about trying to attract road trippers from out of Sydney and Sydney weekenders. He sees a big opportunity once locals and domestic tourists realise what they can experience on Sydney Harbour.

“From an outside perspective, you can’t easily find information about local Aboriginal cultural experiences. You have to use Google and try and find something. While Tourism Australia encourages people to go outback, it doesn’t speak to localised, metropolitan areas such as Sydney and Melbourne."

“But you don’t need to go outback to get a cultural experience. You don’t have to go outside Sydney to experience Aboriginal culture. You can do it here in the city.”

“Sydney is different to inland. The way we use land, manage land, fish and speak is completely different to what’s done in the middle of the state.”

“Not enough people know the amazing story of Barangaroo, for example. We want to share these local stories,” says Darren.

How you can help

This revelation that there is an authentic, undiscovered local experience that deepens our understanding of our city is a compelling idea as Sydneysiders and weekend tourists look to explore again safely.

 “When we take you to Clark Island, you can take in the city skyline, harbour and opera house. And from a cultural aspect, you feel connected to the history.“

 “So come and take a cruise on the harbour! Reach out to us and come to our cultural cruises,” says Darren.

"Always Was, Always Will Be"

Reflecting on the theme of this year’s NAIDOC week, Darren finishes on a reassuring note.

“It’s an important theme because it’s an opportunity to showcase that even though we don’t have official territory lines, there’s a connection that’s more about ownership. The land owns us. The land created us and gives us what we need to survive.”