Rooms renamed for First Nations

WITH this year’s NAIDOC Week having started Sunday, staff at Creswick Neighbourhood Centre celebrated the following event with the unveiling of new First Nations-language signage.

New names for the centre’s four key rooms replace their original designations and the changes has been guided by members of Dja Dja Wurrung traditional owners.

Creswick Neighbourhood Centre manager Chrissy Austin said the new naming is an important gesture to help celebrate NAIDOC Week.

“We see ourselves as being a welcoming and inclusive place, but as we’ve come to see through training and reading, we’ve got a long way to go,” she said.

“We wanted to do a few things to kick it off during NAIDOC Week and show publicly that we’re wanting to do better in the First Nations space.

“Using language is a good way of showing inclusiveness. Renaming rooms is a lovely way because you use it every day so it starts to normalise your regular language.”

The program room has been renamed wartangu which means ‘we come’ or ‘being together’, while the computer room is now called nyakang nyernang which translates to ‘seeing and hearing’ meant to signify learning and education.

The centre’s kitchen has been labelled djakitj for ‘food’, and the library is now ‘djimbayang’ to represent teaching and learning.

The name changes are currently signalled with laminated signage set to be replaced once an Indigenous artist is secured.

The unveiling included a welcome to country and smoking ceremony from Dja Dja Wurrung traditional owner Jason Kerr.

Member for Ripon, Martha Haylett, attended as well as Hepburn Shire mayor Cr Brian Hood and Creswick Ward councillors.

This year’s NAIDOC Week theme is For Our Elders and is about acknowledging the role of older traditional owners in preserving First Nations culture.