The Returning ~ With Ella Bancroft & Montana Lower

INBLUEM was born from the belief that business could be done in a way that creates change. Since our conception, we have channelled a portion of sales in response to both spontaneous and long term projects that contribute to the social and environmental climate of our future. 

Based on Bundjalung Country (Northern NSW), The Returning's primary purpose is to provide opportunities and support for Indigenous women, Elders and their families to connect with Country, be recognised and remunerated for their cultural knowledge, and improve their health and wellbeing. Their secondary purpose is to build deep connections between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, inviting all to learn from our ancient wisdoms and cultures.

We choose to support The Returning for their deeply considered and transferable approach; one that honours women, mothers, culture and Country, and nurtures the bonds that hold communities together amidst all adversities.

Montana Lower
What first called you to start The Returning?

Ella Bancroft
The Returning was birthed from a deep desire to see women, single mothers and mob unified in a shared story of womanhood. It came from a longing to see societal values and belief systems shift back toward family, Country and kin, which is inherently matriarchal.

It was also born from a desire to see generosity return. To see shared leadership, shared skills, teaching, and women standing together side by side, supporting one another. It has always been about returning to what we have always known.

Montana
Why do you believe supporting local, community led causes is so important, especially in contrast to large scale charities?

Ella
When I was growing up, my mum always taught me the importance of grassroots communities. Not only do you make more impact, but local communities are on the ground. They know their relations. They work face to face with people and they create lasting change.

Large charities are often faceless. They are not embedded in community. They do not know the desires or the real needs of the people they are servicing. When you look after local and grassroots organisations, you are looking after Country, kin and community.

Montana
For non Indigenous people who genuinely want to support healing, what role do you see them holding?

Ella
My whole life I have been keeping my culture alive, but also continuing to learn more about my ancestry and how I can embed it into my daily practice.

My hope for the rest of so called Australia is that people return and remember that the blood pulsing through their body comes from people all around the world. From ancestors who survived so that they may live.

What an honour it is to bring back their rituals, to remember their language, to remember their recipes, and everything they gave so that you could live in your beating body with a big heart.

Montana
So many people feel overwhelmed or unsure where to begin when it comes to meaningful support. Where is a good place to start?

Ella
The best thing we can do is learn to share our resources, but also put pressure on larger companies and on policy, government at local, state and federal levels, to change the way systems work in this country.

Policy is made for the majority, and the minority will always fall behind. We have to remember that we are rich, and we are richer when we have more relations. Our relationships grow when we share our resources. Trust is rebuilt, and scarcity can leave our minds.

Montana
What does non performative support look like in practice?

Ella
Non performative support is long, lasting relationship. It is starting friendships and holding integrity to continue them, whether that is locally, nationally, between companies or between people.

Sometimes there is a lot of surface level support or people riding on social capital, but the most powerful thing we can do is continue to show up. Not just for our black community, but for Country and kin, and for the natural world.

If we think human minorities are voiceless, we have not even touched the edges of how voiceless the natural world has been under colonial rule.

Montana
What are you most proud of in the work of The Returning so far?

Ella
My proudest work has been expanding our team. We are an all female, mostly mothers, mostly mob team. We are creating long lasting impact through employment, training, and now running nine programs across Bundjalung Country.

We are incredibly under resourced for what we produce, and I am so proud of our team who shows up every day because they choose to walk alongside this work and make a better tomorrow for the next generation.

Montana
How do you think about impact, metrics and meaningful change?

Ella
We look at relationships. If we impact one relation, there is always a flow on effect. It is like the butterfly effect.

People often think it is quantity over quality, but it is not. It is about choosing the right people, supporting the most vulnerable, and trusting that through them there will be lasting change for the wider community.

Montana
What continues to drive you when the work feels heavy or slow?

Ella
Every day I remember that my ancestors did this work without being paid, without being seen, without applause or gratitude.

I do this work because it is my cultural responsibility and my purpose. To share my heart, my work, and to inspire others to return to purpose driven business and ways of being that create real change for families, communities and the natural world.

Montana
What do you wish every person understood about healing, land and relationship?

Ella
Healing, land and relationship are not separate.

You cannot be healed unless you are connected to land.
You cannot be connected to land unless you are in relationship.
You cannot hold relationships unless you are healed.

When you sit on Country, what she heals in us is not yet fully understood by science, but we feel it. We know it. And when we are in right relationship, we feel well. We feel whole. Everything is connected in a web.

Montana
Looking forward, what kind of future are you working toward, not just in outcomes, but in feeling and relationship?

Ella
I hope to create more employment opportunities, flexible work hours, and a truly mother and family centred workplace where people feel free and trusted.

I want our community to look at us and say, women, mothers and black women are doing so much with so little. Women uphold the care economy. They are the backbone of our society and the most undervalued.

I hope our work creates a ripple of big feeling, deep trust, and lasting change.

Learn more about their projects:

Mother Care - https://www.thereturning.com.au/mother-care

After birth Mothers, families and caregivers need deep, ongoing support, nourishing meals, emotional and cultural care, and time to rest and heal. The postpartum period has always been honoured as a sacred time, held by the community and guided by Country. The way a mother or caregiver is supported during these early weeks shapes the wellbeing of not only themselves and their baby, but their whole family and wider community.

In collaboration with Widjabul Wia-bal chef Mindy Woods, our meals bring together traditional healing practices and modern nourishment - transforming classic home-cooked meals into restorative, cultural medicine for the postpartum period. 

Mother Care is about honouring birth, supporting healing, and reconnecting with Indigenous ways of caring - for mums, caregivers, and the little ones they hold.

Doobai Bundjalung Bush Food - https://www.thereturning.com.au/bush-food

Doobai Bundjalung Bush Food Youth Program is an Indigenous-led program to empower local Indigenous girls (aged 13-17 years) by strengthening connections to community, culture, Country and native plants. Studies show that gardening helps us to cope with the usual stressors of life and can reduce symptoms of common mental health problems. Tending to plants can give us time out from worries and help us to feel more relaxed, all helping us to keep a healthy headspace. Putting our hands in the soil releases serotonin in our bodies, a natural anti-depressant. Research also shows that having access to traditional foods leads to substantial improvements in health outcomes and wellbeing for Indigenous Australians.

The Gathering https://www.thereturning.com.au/the-gathering

The Gathering is a weekend immersion on Country, bringing together women of all ages and backgrounds, to share ancestral skills and wellness practices, connect to Country and each other, and to reconnect with ourselves. Held over three days and two nights, The Gathering includes over 20 workshops, inspiring panels, live music, dance and ceremony to connect and remember who we are and our roles in this world.

This is a First Nations curated event, with over 50% of facilitators being Indigenous women from Australia. Non-Indigenous facilitators are encouraged to share wisdom and skills from their ancestry, ensuring they have appropriate cultural permissions to do so.