ABORIGINAL WOMEN RECLAIMING MATAGARUP BIRTHING SITE
Aboriginal women will reclaim Matagarup as a significant sacred site in ceremony and ritual where Noongar women have given birth in ceremony and ritual since the creative spirits formed the earth.
Aboriginal women throughout our cultural history have had a significant place in the cosmology of Indigenous Australians as creators of life. The land is connected to woman and fertility, giving birth to new life in a symbolic way. The land is referred to as ‘the land my mother. The land becomes a symbol of transformation in which Aboriginal women have a sacred place. They are landowners, owners of ritual, sacred stories painted through art, dances that have a place in rites of passage, and aspects of the religious life of our ancient cultures.
Modern Aboriginal women are descendants of strong Aboriginal women who have been through times of great tragedy in Western Australian history and have survived the onslaught of colonisation with great dignity and pride but without bitterness and hatred. Aboriginal women have been the bearers of joy and pain, of being mothers and grandmothers, great-grandmothers to have children forcibly taken away from them. Sometimes the children didn’t come back, they died in custody. Aboriginal women have had to walk the way of the cross, to be in the Garden of Gethsemane constantly and to walk through the valley of the shadow of death many times in their lifetime. We honour the women who have died through violence and abuse. We honour the women who have overcome rape and trauma. We honour the women who know what hatred is and have been able ‘to know what love is’ through the gift of forgiveness and truth telling. We honour the mothers of sons and daughters who have died through suicide in our communities.
These are stories about Aboriginal women that demonstrate greatness and a commitment to making a difference in the daily lives of Aboriginal people.
Aboriginal women writers promote the soft but powerful aspect of courage, Aboriginal women held executive positions in the international arena along with other Indigenous Peoples throughout the world.
There are fine examples of the multiple roles faced daily by Aboriginal women, as artists, mothers, workers in the community, public and private sectors including corporate executives. Countless Aboriginal women have worked for the healing of the nation. They ensure that Aboriginal culture and peoples are reclaiming their place at the centre of the heartbeat of Australia.
These life experiences are precious. None of the experiences need be lost in death. As the stories are told the stories empower the communities from which they came. Their stories enrich our collective identity, makes us stronger as individuals. It calls for a redefinition by Aboriginal women of the challenges ahead of us that need to be faced with extraordinary courage and truth.
Matagarup will now continue to hold the sacred stories of ceremony and ritual in a way that is culturally spiritually enriching to peoples in the Noongar Nation.
Courtesy of the Coalition of Peoples
Aboriginal women throughout our cultural history have had a significant place in the cosmology of Indigenous Australians as creators of life. The land is connected to woman and fertility, giving birth to new life in a symbolic way. The land is referred to as ‘the land my mother. The land becomes a symbol of transformation in which Aboriginal women have a sacred place. They are landowners, owners of ritual, sacred stories painted through art, dances that have a place in rites of passage, and aspects of the religious life of our ancient cultures.
Modern Aboriginal women are descendants of strong Aboriginal women who have been through times of great tragedy in Western Australian history and have survived the onslaught of colonisation with great dignity and pride but without bitterness and hatred. Aboriginal women have been the bearers of joy and pain, of being mothers and grandmothers, great-grandmothers to have children forcibly taken away from them. Sometimes the children didn’t come back, they died in custody. Aboriginal women have had to walk the way of the cross, to be in the Garden of Gethsemane constantly and to walk through the valley of the shadow of death many times in their lifetime. We honour the women who have died through violence and abuse. We honour the women who have overcome rape and trauma. We honour the women who know what hatred is and have been able ‘to know what love is’ through the gift of forgiveness and truth telling. We honour the mothers of sons and daughters who have died through suicide in our communities.
These are stories about Aboriginal women that demonstrate greatness and a commitment to making a difference in the daily lives of Aboriginal people.
Aboriginal women writers promote the soft but powerful aspect of courage, Aboriginal women held executive positions in the international arena along with other Indigenous Peoples throughout the world.
There are fine examples of the multiple roles faced daily by Aboriginal women, as artists, mothers, workers in the community, public and private sectors including corporate executives. Countless Aboriginal women have worked for the healing of the nation. They ensure that Aboriginal culture and peoples are reclaiming their place at the centre of the heartbeat of Australia.
These life experiences are precious. None of the experiences need be lost in death. As the stories are told the stories empower the communities from which they came. Their stories enrich our collective identity, makes us stronger as individuals. It calls for a redefinition by Aboriginal women of the challenges ahead of us that need to be faced with extraordinary courage and truth.
Matagarup will now continue to hold the sacred stories of ceremony and ritual in a way that is culturally spiritually enriching to peoples in the Noongar Nation.
Courtesy of the Coalition of Peoples
