Wurundjeri Speaker

On Wednesday we were lucky to have speaker Uncle Bill from the Wurundjeri Community. Uncle Bill spoke to the Year 9 students on Zoom. He explained the term ‘Uncle’ is a term indigenous people use to refer to elders or leaders in their community.

Uncle Bill was asked to explain about the Wurundjeri land that Catholic Regional College St Albans is built on and educate us about the spiritual connection to the land.

The Wurundjeri People take their name from the Woiwurrung language. The word ‘wurun’ means the Manna Gum (Eucalyptus viminalis) which is common along ‘Birrarung’ (Yarra River), and ‘djeri‘, the grub which is found in or near the tree.  Uncle Bill explained that if he was to give a 'welcome to country' at our school, it would involve an Elder giving the school vegetation to nourish all that reside on the land. Finally he would snap the spear to show that, while you were on Wurundjeri land, you were safe.

The Wurundjeri people believe the Bunjil is the creator spirit of the land. The Wurrendjeri people also believed that they are part of and responsible for the land. Uncle Bill used the analogy of the land being more like a home than a house. The land is where their spirits and relationships exist. Uncle Bill explained that many of the spiritual ceremonies of the Wurundjeri are undocumented and over time have been lost when the early white settlers arrived on the land.  White Settlers also brought Christianity to the area. Uncle Bill discussed how the Genesis 2 story and Wurundjeri creation story both have man created from the earth and in both creation stories God reminds us to take care of the Earth.

God of holy Dreaming

Great Creator Spirit

From the dawn of creation you have given your children

The good things of Mother Earth

You spoke and the gum tree grew

In the vast deserts and dense forests, in the cities,

At the water’s edge, creation sings your praise.

Your presence endures as the rock at the heart of our land.

When Jesus hung on the tree

You heard the cries of all Your people

And became one with Your wounded ones

The convicts, the hunted and the dispossessed.

The sunrise of Your Son

Coloured the earth anew

And bathed it in glorious hope.

In Jesus we have been reconciled to You,

To each other and to Your whole creation.

Lead us on Great Spirit

As we gather at this special place

Located on land where ancestors of long ago

Gathered for work, play and praise.

Enable us to walk together in trust from the hurt of the past

Into the full day which has dawned in Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Prayer courtesy of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council (NATSICC).