NAIDOC Week celebrated at library

Brooke Wandin reading Wilam: A Birrarung Story. 195352 Picture: JED LANYON

By Jed Lanyon

Healesville Library celebrated NAIDOC Week on Monday 8 July where local Wurundjeri woman Brooke Wandin read Wilam: A Birrarung Story, a new book by Aunty Joy Murphy and Andrew Kelly.

National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee or NAIDOC is celebrated in the first full week of July to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.

Ms Wandin led over one hundred people in song and dance and shared some Woirrung words for those in attendance.

Lemon myrtle scones served on bark were provided by Nikki Madgwick, Shenae Costigan, Tamara Commans and Jessica Commans from Healesville Indigenous Community Services Association (HICSA).

Other activities for children included chalk drawings and feather emu art.

Wilam: A Birrarung Story is a day in the life of the flourishing Birrarung (Yarra River).

An ode to Australian rivers, the flora and fauna that live on them and the function they perform as a part of modern-day life.