A YOUNG Swan Hill performer and her mentor are taking reconciliation to the
streets in their own unique way.
The 10 students of the Marruk project were
in rehearsals every day of NAIDOC week at Town Hall, working on a performance
including cultural dances, shadow puppetry and music.
Among them was Latiesha
Chaplin, 15, who this year suggested the ‘Bringing Up the Sun’ story of
Kookaburra dreaming.
“Back in the dreamtime, there was no sun. When the
Kookaburra flew over land it was the first time the sun rose and all animals got
to experience the light,” Latiesha said.
“Other animals thought it was fun
and copied his laugh to try and bring up the sun themselves.
“The Kookaburra
said ‘no, everyone is unique in their own way’.”
NAIDOC week was uniquely
important in its own way for Indigenous people, Latiesha said.
“It’s a week
of celebration; we stand up and celebrate our culture and how far we’ve come,”
she said.
For more of this story, see Wednesday’s Guardian (July 10).
