Liam McNally
The Ballan community came together on Wednesday, May 31 for Reconciliation Week with a Welcome to Country, Smoking Ceremony and Flag Raising, led by Wadawurrung man and award winning poet, storyteller, narrator, and singer Barry Gilson.
The event began at 10am on a cloudy morning outside the Moorabool council building, and began with the gathering partaking with a joint Acknowledgement of Country and opening remarks by mayor Rod Ward.
Then, Mr Gilson addressed the crowd donning a possum-skin Wallert Wallert and gave a Welcome to Country, shared stories of his deep connection to Kerrit Bareett (Gordon), before holding a Smoking ceremony.
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“Reconciliation Week is of great importance to my people as traditional custodians of the land, the significance of telling our stories, and getting us back into the context of the landscape and the spiritual connections we have had for thousands of years on this country,” he said.
“I tell stories about the particular areas that I’m on every time I do a Smoking Ceremony and a Welcome to Country, so bit by bit people can start to fill in the gaps of their own jigsaw puzzle… so hopefully they take that with them and they have a stronger idea of our beliefs.”
Moorabool Mayor Rod Ward said it was a “wonderful turn out for a great event”.
“It was great to see the local school represented and some of our important services too, Victoria Police, Ambulance Paramedics and SES, it was a great community event and well attended, we’re thrilled with how it went,” he said.
