As part of their celebration of Reconciliation Week, students at St Joseph’s College, Lochinvar were treated to a mesmerising dance performance from Gwenda Stanley.
Gwenda performed her show “Sharing Culture” for the college’s Year 7 and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.
A proud Gomeroi woman from Moree, Gwenda shared a wonderful display of dance, language and artifacts, along with her knowledge of how the Indigenous people of Australia lived off the land in the Moree area and the value of animal skins to keep them warm and dry.
Well renowned for her art, Gwenda has been performing her mesmerising dances with grace and poise for over 25 years across Australia and New Zealand with the Mirri Yulugi All Stars.
Students were given many opportunities to get involved as they tried their hand at a number of dance moves and learnt how to say some twenty words in the Gomeroi language.
Gwenda demonstrated the woman’s dance, which mimics picking fruit, and the Emu Dance. One of the students’ favourite phrases was “Ya mai” which means “See you later”.
The students also learnt that Aboriginal people in the area of Gomeroi do not use a word for goodbye as this signals an element of permanence; they always look forward to the time when they will meet again.
We are very thankful for the knowledge that Gemma shared with us and the passion in which her performance was delivered.
Sharing Culture at St Joseph’s Image 1.Sharing Culture at St Joseph’s Image 2.Sharing Culture at St Joseph’s Image 3.Sharing Culture at St Joseph’s Image 4.Sharing Culture at St Joseph’s Image 5.Sharing Culture at St Joseph’s Image 6.Sharing Culture at St Joseph’s Image 7.Sharing Culture at St Joseph’s Image 8.Sharing Culture at St Joseph’s Image 9.Sharing Culture at St Joseph’s Image 10.Sharing Culture at St Joseph’s Image 11.Sharing Culture at St Joseph’s Image 12.Sharing Culture at St Joseph’s Image 13.Sharing Culture at St Joseph’s Image 14.Sharing Culture at St Joseph’s Image 15.Sharing Culture at St Joseph’s Image 16.Sharing Culture at St Joseph’s Image 17.Sharing Culture at St Joseph’s Image 18.Sharing Culture at St Joseph’s Image 19.Sharing Culture at St Joseph’s Image 20.Sharing Culture at St Joseph’s Image 21.Sharing Culture at St Joseph’s Image 22.Sharing Culture at St Joseph’s Image 23.Sharing Culture at St Joseph’s Image 24.Sharing Culture at St Joseph’s Image 25.Sharing Culture at St Joseph’s Image 26.Sharing Culture at St Joseph’s Image 27.Sharing Culture at St Joseph’s Image 28.Sharing Culture at St Joseph’s Image 29.Sharing Culture at St Joseph’s Image 30.Sharing Culture at St Joseph’s Image 31.Sharing Culture at St Joseph’s Image 32.Sharing Culture at St Joseph’s Image 33.Sharing Culture at St Joseph’s Image 34.Sharing Culture at St Joseph’s Image 35.Sharing Culture at St Joseph’s Image 36.Sharing Culture at St Joseph’s Image 37.Sharing Culture at St Joseph’s Image 38.