Biyambul mayiny gaway (all people come here).
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“I 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.”
This week I want to yarn about the Wiradjuri people and culture. Where have we been and where are we going? So come on ngadhi murru (my journey) from the past to dhalang (today). I have come up with a list of words that cover what Wiradjuri people have gone through and encountered over thousands of years.
Creation, Perfection, Confrontation, Annihilation, Assimilation, Reconciliation.
Creation for Wiradjuri people started about 60,000 years ago, but as we find better ways of dating items and people we could go even further back in time.
Perfection was the level of lifestyle and health, both physical and mental, that Wiradjuri enjoyed and lived with.
Confrontation is what happened about 246 years ago with the arrival of Cook and soon after the First Fleet.
From that time Wiradjuri and other Aboriginal mayiny (people) began their retreat back into ngurambang (country). Our culture, language, lore, customs and health began to disappear, as did our mayiny (people).
Annihilation was next on the timeline for Wiradjuri and other Aboriginal groups who were caught up in the swift access to our lands and tribal areas. Wiradjuri were forced to move or be moved, to surrender or be killed.
Assimilation was next on the list for the Governments of later times. Pressure was applied to Wiradjuri and other mobs to be more like white people, to be civilised and gentile. The choice that was given to us, Wiradjuri people, was to surrender language, culture and heritage or have the gudha (children) taken from us. Not a pleasant choice but one that many Wiradjuri were forced to make. So we tried to be more gentile and civilised, strange, as we had been that way for over 60,000 years.
Reconciliation now arrived, as most of the other methods did not work so well in assisting our nations to move forward. Now we talk about Reconciliation and working together.
I write this column this week, not to instill hate, anger or sadness, but instead to give you an actual timeline of ngaligin-gu ngurambang-bu mayiny-bu (our country and people).
To be able to move forward as a nation, as Australians, we need to able to recognise our past so we can all have a future, together.
To know where you have come from, first look back at your baayi (footprints) in the dhaagun (dirt) only then will you know how to move forward.