The following report is by Ann Bowen, sister of Kate Murdoch, the Year 3 Academic Administration officer at Mildura Regional Clinical School. Ann attended this public event, which was sponsored by Monash University.

NAIDOC week was huge for me.  The exciting win in our Pennant Golf Final was trumped by the inaugural “Welcome Baby to Country” ceremony at the Mildura Arts Centre.

A partnership between Monash University, Aboriginal Family Violence Prevention Legal Service and the Mildura Arts Centre, the ceremony traditionally ‘welcomed’ all new Koori babies to this country and this community.

At this year’s event there was an air of excitement as the families arrived. They eagerly presented their babies for symbolic face painting, in final preparations for the ceremony.

Huge photographic portrait banners framed the stage.  Film footage of the Murray River made up the backdrop.  The ceremonial possum-skin cloak lay across the grand piano.

Yorta Yorta opera singer, composer and academic, Deborah Cheetham sang The Water is Wide to honour a young Aboriginal man, recently deceased.  She then sang Songs My Mother Taught Me.

In April 2007 Ms Cheetham was awarded a prestigious two-year Fellowship from the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Board of the Australia Council for the Arts. The fellowship has allowed Ms Cheetham to create Australia’s first Indigenous opera, Pecan Summer, and in 2010, she brought together Australia’s first classically trained Indigenous ensemble to present the world premiere.

“I am a member of the Stolen Generation and this ceremony is something I long to have had as a child,” she said.  Ms Cheetham eventually met her birth mother when she was 30.  Sadly her mother passed away only months prior to the premiere of Pecan Summer.

The success of Pecan Summer led Ms Cheetham to create the Short Black Opera Company, a national, not-for-profit company devoted to the development of Indigenous opera singers. Short Black Opera has successfully produced three consecutive seasons of Pecan Summer: 2010, on country in Mooroopna, Victoria; 2011 at the Arts Centre, Melbourne; and 2012 in Perth, at the State Theatre Centre of WA.

Ms Cheetham showed genuine delight in presenting the local, indigenous children who had participated in her workshops during the week and forming part of The Dhungela Children’s Choir.  The choir sang the traditional hymn Bura Fera, which had been featured in the film, The Sapphires. They also performed a song about what it means to be Aboriginal called, Do You Know Me?

Ms Cheetham expressed her hope that the children present could follow their dreams and reach their potential.

The audience was spellbound.  I felt so privileged to be present.

After the performance the stage was prepared for the ceremony and arrival of Ngiyaampaa Elder Aunty Beryl Carmichael.

Dr Beryl Carmichael (whose traditional name is Yungha-Dhu) was born and grew up at the Old Menindee Mission, New South Wales, attending school there until the age of 12.

Most of her life was spent on stations in the top end of New South Wales until 1966, when she and her family moved to Menindee township.

She became active in Aboriginal community affairs and education, and has held a number of public positions. She was actively involved in the State Aboriginal Education Consultative Group, and was also an Aboriginal language Support Officer advising the New South Wales Board of Studies.

In 2004 she was awarded the New South Wales Department of Education and Training’s Meritorious Service to Public Education Award. She has also been awarded a Centenary of Federation Medal for devotion to cultural awareness and contribution to Australian society. A documentary about her life, called ‘Aboriginal Culture in the Murray-Darling Basin: Aunty Beryl’s story’ was made in 1996.

In the Mildura ceremony, Aunty Beryl sat centre stage with the possum-skin cloak around her shoulders.  She quietly addressed the audience and recited one of her poems.  She also sang a short traditional birthing song.

Finally, it was time to Welcome these babies to Country.  The babies were announced as the parents proudly presented them to Aunty Beryl.  They each received a certificate and an emu feather headband.

By this stage a lump was forming in my throat as I wondered what lay ahead for this generation.  What I was witnessing was a positive start.  These babies are much loved.  The families stood tall with a proud sense of identity and respect for the occasion.

I wished that everyone had been there; my mother, my sisters and the rest of my family.

A delicious smorgasbord lunch was provided with the emphasis on healthy eating choices.  I enjoyed the tender, kangaroo shaslicks with bush tomato relish.

The weather was ideal as the crowd mingled, set up photo opportunities, picnicked on the lawns and the children played and climbed on the sculptures.  I took a snap of Deborah Cheetham with the Mildura District Aboriginal Service executive.

And me being me, I introduced myself to Aunty Beryl Carmichael.  I had read her book and story about ten years ago.  What a wonderful lady.

Next year, the ceremony will welcome all babies.  You should be there.

–          By Ann Bowen

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