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Narrogin’s Reconciliation Week 2021 features bush tucker, weaving and tea with elders

Campbell WilliamsonNarrogin Observer
Attendees at a morning tea with the elders.
Camera IconAttendees at a morning tea with the elders.

Asking people to translate good intentions into action, the theme for 2021’s Reconciliation Week was “more than a word”.

And providing community members with a chance to meet and take a step forward together at a host of events, Narrogin’s Reconciliation Week tried to do just that.

Opened on Thursday, May 27 with a welcome to country performed by elder Basil Kickett in Narrogin, the week included afternoon tea, weaving activities and a Bush Tucker Night.

On Thursday, Southern Aboriginal Corporation hosted a morning tea with the elders, an event with attendees from Pingelly, Brookton and Wagin.

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SAC community support officer Auntie Gloria, who spoke at the event, said it was a “lovely gathering”.

“A lot turned up, there was a mixture of everybody, people from different workforces and there was no tension,” she said.

“Reconciliation is all about we’re going to have our ups and downs, that no one’s perfect and we’re just trying to get there and makes ends meet. You get on with one another as best you can.”

A reconciliation cake.
Camera IconA reconciliation cake.

Growing up, Auntie Gloria experienced the ugly sting of racism firsthand, but refused to let the experience get in her way.

“There was a lot of bullying around then, I was bullied a lot because I stayed with white people and I was teased and bothered with that,” she said.

“They’d take my lunch put it in the toilet and constantly rag me but I got through that.”

Auntie Gloria spent her early years in Narrogin before moving to Perth.

She worked for 30 years as a parole officer with the Department of Justice before returning to Narrogin a couple of years ago.

She said morning tea with the elders was an excellent chance for everyone to come together.

“We’ve all got the same blood and we’ve just got to persevere with things that we can achieve, it was lovely to have a good outcome,” she said. “It was really wonderful. No one sat back looking at one another; everybody was gathering and talking.”

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