By Goya Dmytryshchak
The 4th Williamstown Sea Scouts will this month name their hall in honour of the Boon Wurrung indigenous people.
The naming will take place at a cultural day being held as part of the National Heritage Festival.
“Sea Scouts imagine their hall as a ship, with a ship’s bell, jackstaff and navigation lights, but it needed a ship’s name,” said sailmaster Robert Hague, who is the group leader of all 145 Scouts.
“So, they decided to ask permission to use the local Aboriginal word for a bark canoe.”
On Sunday, May 19, the Scouts will be joined by members of the Boon Wurrung Foundation for the official naming of the Scout “boat” deck as SSS Gurrong.
“The Boon Wurrung people have lived and played along the shores of Hobsons Bay for thousands of years and the Williamstown Sea Scouts wanted to celebrate this living culture and bring the two communities closer together,” Mr Hague said.
The cultural day runs from 11am-2pm and kicks off with a bush food-inspired barbecue followed by a smoking ceremony.
There will be tours of the 1920s boatshed and 1940s Scout hall, located on the Strand (opposite Stevedore Street).
Details: www.4thwilliamstown.net/
