Art & wellbeing
LAND OF THE SALT WATER PEOPLE
With unity comes community - or so says Iszaac Webb, cultural custodian from the Undalup Association Inc. By MIA LACY. Images by MIA LACY AND WENDY SLEE.
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WINTER 2019
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margaretriver.com
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n front of us are well-known features of the coast at Castle Rock: ochre coloured cliffs rising from brilliant blue seas and seabirds circling overhead. However Iszaac Webb is describing a Castle Rock none of us are familiar with: the songlines of the Country – the Boodja – that his people have recited for generations. “Everything is written into the land by songlines. Our ancestors’ stories tell us how to manage our country,” he says, and goes on to recite the names of the hills and valleys, describing the point where the salmon always run before telling us of Wadan, the great spirit of the sea the Wadandi people of the Margaret River region respect and are named for. Iszaac (Zac), a cultural custodian, is one of the knowledge keepers from the Undalup
Association Inc., a not-for-profit undertaking cultural community events, projects and workshops. As chairperson, Zac is busy preparing for this year’s NAIDOC Week. “It’s a time of unity where everyone can learn about our culture as well as strengthening spiritual and social well-being within our community. Without unity, you don’t get community.” NAIDOC (National Aboriginal and Islander Day Observance Committee) Week celebrates history, culture and achievements and this year the cultural components of the festival will centre around the 2019 theme - Voice. Treaty. Truth. Let’s work together for a shared future. Undalup is the Wadandi word for Busselton and derives from a great Wadandi warrior called Undal. The Association’s NAIDOC program of