Permission has been granted by the Peek Whurrong People of the Gunditjmara/Maar Nation to use and share their language for this piece.
As a South Warrnambool kindergarten community in the south-west of Victoria, we are passionate about and openly engage in the spirit of reconciliation through the sharing of knowledge. The thookay (children) in our service acknowledge the Peek Whurrong People of the Gunditjmara/Maar Nation as the traditional custodians of the land on which we live, work and play.
We are making a promise to the Peek Whurrong People: to continue learning about caring for the meerreeng (land), muurnong (sky) and mirteetch (sea). We are reinforcing our connection to the Merri river and the beautiful Southern Ocean.
All staff in our kindergarten community are privileged to work and learn alongside Mel Steffensen—proud Peek Whurrong woman and Indigenous facilitator. Thookay (children), staff and families have been learning the Peek Whurrong language, an initiative facilitated through Warrnambool City Council.
Over the past two years, Mel’s love and passion for her language (and our staff commitment to shared continued learning) has resulted in her curating a language and art exhibition for all twelve kindergartens in celebration of NAIDOC Week. The exhibition has taken place throughout July in a beautiful space within Warrnambool’s Lighthouse Theatre, and has been open to the public so they can immerse themselves in the thookay exploration of language connected through art, music, storytelling, dance and ceremony.
Each group within our kindergarten community is named after an Australian native animal in Peek Whurrong language, emphasising the connection to the area in which each service is situated. South Warrnambool Kindergarten, with its close proximity to the Merri River, facilitates a group of three-year-olds—Karrun (Platypus) and a group of four-year-olds—Kart Pirap (Pelican).
The NAIDOC theme for 2022 (Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up!) resonated with the thookay of Kart Pirap Group. How do we ‘Stand Up’ to celebrate and showcase language to our local community through art?
We explored what our Acknowledgment to Country means to us and to the Peek Whurrong People: what are we saying?
Mason, 5: We are making a promise to the Aboriginal People, to the Peek Whurrong People.
Ella, 4: We have to care for land, rivers and the beach.
Hugh, 4: We are custodians.
Letisha, 4: We have to pick up our rubbish and other people’s rubbish.
Polly, 5: We look after each other.
Freya, 5: If someone is sad, hurt or injured we say, ‘are you ok?’
Jet, 5: We help the animals at the beach if they have rubbish stuck in their mouth or in their beak.
Bindi, 5: We stop and check the mother koorrayn’s (kangaroo) pouch if she’s been run over on the road if case there’s a joey in there.
We all agreed that it was about making meaningful connections.
To highlight the beautiful area that surrounds us, we used recycled materials gifted by our local community and natural materials foraged from our yard to create a collaged canvas that communicated the thookay response to our Acknowledgment of Country.
Looking at our kindergarten’s immediate environment, we used paper to collage the meerreeng (land), muurnong (sky) and mirteetch (sea). In addition, the thookay drew and painted g’naatuuk (themselves) along with native animals: koorrayn (kangaroo), weengkeel (koala), kiri (magpie), kart pirap (pelican), weelangkeel (echidna), kounterbull (whale), as well as the paleep (trees) that surround us.
Our finished piece communicated our commitment and promise to continue learning about caring for the land, sea, waterways, animals and plant life.
The kindergarten families and wider community have gained an understanding of cultural awareness, and our program reflected this through the continued practice of Mel, thookay and staff, with local language embedded into our curriculum. We continue to learn and foster an understanding of the relationship between place and belonging.
ECA Recommends: Explore reconciliation resources on the ECA shop.