Kiama Council has closed out its celebrations of NAIDOC week with Dharawal dancers at the Kiama Community Garden.

The Gumaraa Dance Group troupe featured a range of dances including educational dances such as how to fish and to freeze when seeing a snake while collecting berries.

Sam was storyteller, singer and played the didgeridoo and Tyrell, Tallara, Malalai and Alize were the dancers. 

After the dance, children from Kiama Family Care OOSH (out of School Hours Care) and Blue Haven residents from the Seaside Group paired up to paint river rocks and to try local edible plants from the Kiama Community Garden. Afterwards the residents and children were given a lesson in Wayapa Work by Jaz Corr which is a form of moving narrative mediation based on Indigenous practices.

The Local Government NAIDOC regional awards will be held on Saturday July 29 at the Kiama Pavilion from 5pm. 

NAIDOC Week starts from the first Saturday in July. The theme was ‘For our Elders’ so shared experiences between Indigenous and non-Indigenous elders by Kiama Council was very in keeping with the theme. NAIDOC stands for National Aborigines’ and Islanders’ Day Observance Committee and has been celebrated since 1975. 

The committee has been calling for a new national public holiday day as part of NAIDOC week but is yet to be realised.

Here are some useful local phrases in Dharawal you might want to try and the Kiama Bugle was given permission to suggest the following:

Ngambi or warami for hello 

Ngadawingji for see you later

Didjarigura for thank you or enough.