yana marumba (Walk Good) |Wynnum Fringe Opening Ceremony
For the second consecutive year, the Wynnum Fringe Festival opened with yana marumba as part of the opening ceremony.
We made our way onto the Wynnum Boardwalk where we were introduced to Uncle Josh, a Nunagal man and a traditional custodian on Qaundamooka country. We were told stories of the land and the importance of keeping those stories alive, and not to let them fade away as well as pay our respects to our ancestors: Indigenous or non-indigenous, everyone’s ancestors that has moved on from this world.
Everyone gathered around the three totem poles on the jetty with each pole representing one of the tribes that make up the Qaundamooka country.
The traditions continued with a performance from the Yuri Buri Ba dancers before our journey commenced with a walk around the water and then eventually making our way up Edith Street and to the mainstage area.
It’s always a time to reflect on life when you’re on the walk. It’s an opportunity to pay respect, make connections and be part of something that has a rich history dating back thousands and thousands of years. For myself personally it allowed me to think of my great grandmother, a Wiradjuri elder that is turning 95 in a few days and to connect with my culture and identity as a First Nations Australian.
But what also makes it special is that it’s a welcoming for everyone. It’s an understanding that the Australia of today is a country that is made up of many tribes and nations, a land of diversity that welcomes people from all over the world. We continue to pay respects to the First Nations people of the past and present, but we embrace everyone else too.
As we reach the mainstage there is a Welcome to Country and a minute’s silence to the elders in Wynnum that have passed on recently.
It was again a beautiful, reflective, and emotional opening to the Wynnum Fringe Festival. Everyone involved from Uncle Josh, the elders, the dancers, Tom Oliver, and the staff that have gone out of their way to put together this event should be commended for its authentic opening ceremony that educates and continues the traditions that allow us to pay respect to the land we walk on.
