I would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land, “The Wiradjuri People.” This column is dedicated to those who have gone before us, to those present and to those who will follow us.
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Some of you know Kengal as “The Rock”. It is a very important part of Wiradjuri life and culture. This amazing feature has rocks that were formed more than 300 million years ago, it has a diverse ecosystem, numerous species of plant and animals and very sacred Wiradjuri stories and song lines.
I was honoured to talk to Sturt Public School students last week at Kengal on Thursday. This day was also “Close the Gap Day” which made it all the more special. I spoke to the students about the real gap between Aboriginal people and other Australians. We are still dying at least 20 years younger than other cultures. That is something that we as Aboriginal people need to address as well as governments.
I was very impressed with the respectfulness of the Sturt Public School students. They asked questions about Wiradjuri culture. Before we started our tour I gave the students a task of recording how many different species of plants and animals we may come across on that day.
We had four categories to count, animals (balugan), butterflies (budyabudya), trees (madhan) and birds (budyaan). The students told me about the different species that they had found.
Kengal and its small area protect and house a huge variety of wildlife and plants. More than 100 different types of native birds, nearly 20 different reptiles and about 20 species of butterfly live and breed here.
At the end of the tour one of the teachers told me that the students had been practising a dance to the song Treaty. I explained to her that I had that song on my phone, and as I had my Yidaki (didge) and amplifier handy we should get the students to Waga-nha (dance now) while I played my Yidaki (didge). What happened next was magic.
To see about 40 young people waga-nha, (dance now) to Treaty, stomping in the dust and really displaying true emotions in dance was just so connecting for me.
Every time I do a cultural walk or go to a school to teach I walk away learning as well. We should all accept other cultures and languages in our worlds, but never forget to respect “The First Australians” the Wiradjuri and other nation’s peoples. - Mark Saddler
