Voices of resistance in the Pilliga Speaking to the activists fighting Santos on Gamilaraay land. Art by Claire Ollivain. March 2, 2021 Six hours north of Sydney, a straight shot up the Newell Highway, lies the Pilliga Scrub: the largest remaining stretch of native forest, west of the Great Dividing Range. Pilliga (or Billarga) is a Gamilaraay word meaning ‘swamp oak,’ reminding visitors that these woodlands are sites of unceded Gamilaraay land. During a trip up to Narrabri in February alongside a group of students from universities across Sydney, I had driven up to Narrabri in rural northern New South Wales with (admittedly) little-to-no knowledge as to what to expect. As our car convoy trundles into the forest, tracing deep tire tracks left by trucks and ranger utes, I notice that the wiry native grasses seem to shimmer like fine satin. The mirage hides coarse stalks that catch on your clothes; the woodland is beautiful and resilient.