Barry Gilson visited St Pauls Uniting Church Hall on Sunday, May 21, to share stories about the deep history and culture of the Moorabool region.
Mr Gilson is a Wadawurrung man and an award winning poet, storyteller, narrator, and singer.
He has lived in Kerrit Bareett (Gordon) all his life, where Bundjil the Eagle, created the first two men in the Wadawurrung creation story.
From 2pm to 4pm Mr Gilson shared stories and poetry about history around the Ballan area, his family and personal history, and the importance of representing Culture
“I’ve been doing storytelling events for quite a while now, I’ve always been a storyteller and entertainer of sorts,” he said.
“I’ve found some pretty obscure stories about places and the countryside that really aren’t in the history books… [it’s good] to hear the stories of the past so we can build a stronger foundation for the future of the communities in and around Ballan.”
Mr Gilson told the story of how the Werribee and Moorabool rivers were formed in Korweinguboora, which means “fires from the mountain”, and how volcanic activity caused a big underground aquifer to break and create two rivers.
Mr Gilson said that it was a good event, and that people loved hearing the stories and seemed to get a lot out of it.
“It’s important that people hear the stories of the past around here because Ballan actually has a lot of history… but it’s something that has never been told down there, and people need to know about the areas so they can have a stronger connection to the place,” he said.
