Booditj Noongar Yorgas: Day 2

Today was day two of the girls’ fashion project, but today we went all the way to the Stirling Range Retreat. The girls stayed over at the campground the night before, and we joined them the in the morning for a bush walk with Auntie Averil Dean. She showed us all different kinds of bush tucker – food that you could find in the woods to survive – from fruits to the remains of a blue-tongued lizard. The coolest plant that I saw, though, was a tree that, when it blossoms, would alert Noongars that the emus were fat enough to hunt. The flowers were absolutely beautiful and I got some really good pictures. We also saw a wild orchid and a succulent that, like aloe vera, has great medicinal properties.

After the bushwalk we had lunch and then Glenda gave our group a presentation on problems surrounding Noongar people, especially health issues. In the meantime, the girls drew their own tank top designs which incorporated a plant they had memorized on the bushwalk. (Each girl was assigned a plant that Auntie Averil pointed out and had to remember it’s Noongar name, what it looked like and what it was used for.)

When we finished our discussion with Glenda, we went and helped the girls execute their tank top (singlet) designs. I taught Pattie how to bead so that she could bead the fruit of her plant onto her shirt – it turned out really cool, even though the process was very time consuming and she only got a small part done at the workshop and had to take the rest home. I also taught a few other girls how to do different stitches or thread needles.

I think the best part of the fashion project, though, was just talking with the girls. They were giggly, middle school-age girls eager to tell us about their lives and ask about ours. The program is intended to build self-esteem in the girls, requiring them to commit to a project, speak for themselves and stay in school. As I spoke with a few of the girls throughout the day, asking them what they want to be when they grow up, their sights weren’t limited. Pattie wanted to be a traveler, Joedell wanted to go into fashion design. They wanted to see New York, which is a huge deal, as many Noongars never leave their own country (tribal part of Australia).

We left the Stirlings around 430 and dropped Marley, Nadia and Pattie off in Tambellup before going for a group dinner at Henry Jones in Broomehill. We stopped to see a beautiful sunset on the way though...absolutely gorgeous how the light reflected off the water of the lake we found. Dinner was another delicious meal of pumpkin soup and scrumptious chicken, as well as wine from their vineyard. Mmmmm!

Peace,
Jill