The Ballarat and District Aboriginal Co-operative was first established 40 years ago, and today, new initiatives are ensuring it will continue long into the future, the Ballarat Courier reports.
Amongst them is the push for a treaty with the state government – elections for the First Peoples Assembly close Sunday.
The organisation has slowly grown over the years, and now has more than 110 staff members and a new medical centre on Armstrong Street North.
Aunty Vi McPherson, now 91, remembers going to one of the very early meetings to form the co-operative.
“It’s being accepted, that was the biggest thing, and I’ll never forget the night we came to the meeting – we had the Ballan supermarket, and my daughter and I came to the meeting and we sat in front, we did not know anyone,” she said.
Now, the co-op has invited community members to a workshop stitching together a possum skin cloak, with funding from Family Safety Victoria.
Made from 50 ethically-sourced skins from New Zealand, the project has brought elders and youth together to learn from artists and create a tangible artefact.
Artists Bronwyn Razem and Esther Kirby led the workshops, cutting sections to shape and burning designs onto the skins.
It will be worn for events and celebrations – possum skin cloaks are an important part of Indigenous culture, especially in western Victoria.
Aunty Vi has worn cloaks at Federation Square for events, and said it’s a “powerful” feeling.
“I’ve done it for the last four years or so, and when you put your foot on the sand to walk out, knowing thousands of people are looking at you – well, the first time I’d done it, I wished the sand had gobbled me up,” she said, laughing.
“It was just beautiful.”
FULL STORY
Ballarat and District Aboriginal Co-operative 40 years: Possum skin cloak project brings culture to the front (Ballarat Courier)
PHOTO
Bright: Aunty Ann Cooper shows the interior of a possum skin cloak at BADAC. Pictures: Adam Trafford