Acknowledgment of Country

We acknowledge the Gimuy Walaburra Yidinji and Yirrangangi as the Traditional Custodians of the land, seas, and waterways on which our College and surrounding area stands.  We pay respect to their Elders both past and present.

I am Jennifer King, the College Indigenous Liaison Officer.  A proud person and descendant of four aboriginal clan groups, Butchella of K’gari (Fraser Island), Djiribul of Innisfail, Gugu Yimmithir of Hopevale, and Western Yalanji of Laura in Cape York.  My great grandparents / grandparents were removed or forced off their homelands, institutionalised on Yarrabah Mission, south of Cairns or displaced to the outskirts of town or cane barracks.

As a community, we are privileged to have cultural guidance from Gimuy Walaburra Yidinji elders and ongoing cultural supports from members of Aboriginal and Torres Islander communities. There are 52 students of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage enrolled in the college. Some hold the stories, celebrations and memories of the past. It is their responsibility to be the champions of our future, embracing their culture, sharing it with others and fulfilling their dreams.

It is a teacher’s responsibility to embed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education and perspectives into the curriculum. It is the responsibility of everyone to listen and understand our shared history and how colonisation impacts the First Nations peoples of Australia.

​“Acknowledgment of Country” was created as a meaningful gesture to recognise and respect the traditional custodians of the land of which they stand, and work on.  Acknowledgment of Country is an important practice which reminds us that Australia’s First Nations People are the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, living here with cultural and spiritual connections for over 60 000 years.

Jennifer King

Indigenous Liaison Officer

Artwork Title – Life, Death, and Resurrection

Artist – Louise Pandella

National Land – Malvien

Language – Ngangiwumirri

 

This painting is a commemoration of the passion and resurrection of Christ. On the left is the seed pod of the lotus which grows in the billabongs of the region. Aboriginal people grind the seeds to make a paste which they roast (unleavened bread). Below this is a paperbark coolamon for collecting seeds or water. Hence the bread and wine of the Eucharist.

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Donated by St Monica’s ASSPA Committee 1994