One primary school in Hobsons Bay has connected to its traditional land by holding a traditional smoking ceremony to launch its new sport uniform, designed by Indigenous artist Mandi Bartom.
Williamstown’s St Mary’s Catholic Primary School hosted the smoking ceremony on Tuesday, March 26 to signify the new uniform.
“The school and I connected for this project, they gave me the history of the school, the importance of the school and the values,” Ms Barton said.
“I went away and looked at the country and its honour, the traditional custodians of the land as well as looking at how everyone connects on that land.”
The final design of the uniform is a mainly blue t-shirt with colourful patterns and symbols, which Ms Barton refers to as silhouettes of nature and animals.
“We used the silhouette of the shadow of the eagle (Bunjil), we wanted to incorporate that somehow because it is the creator in stories and watches over us,” she said.
The uniform also features many elements of water which Ms Barton said reflects the landscape of the area.
“This refers to the actual shape of the area and how water flows around, we have the travelling of water and how that connects to people and the sea life,” she said.
Ms Barton said purple colours on the uniform symbolise canoes travelling over the water, in reference to the traditional custodians of the land.
Hundreds of students and teachers all celebrated the uniform in the smoking ceremony which Ms Barton said further solidified the schools connection to culture.
“It was really great to be able to connect the kids to give them that experience and connect them with culture when they might not have had the opportunity.”
Jennifer Pittorino
