Wave Rock Weekender

Wave Rock Weekender respectfully acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we gather. We recognise their continued connection to the land, water, and animals of this very special place, which includes the surrounding areas of Wave Rock.

Wave Rock Weekender has been closely collaborating with the Collard family of the (Mallee Aboriginal Corporation) since the very first Wave Rock Weekender event held in 2006. The Collard family have a strong connection to Wave Rock (Waakal Nirnt) and long history with the surrounding areas. After many years of working together the existing relationship and the voices of those elders have been held as of primary importance in the festival’s considerations. Each year, the festival seek permission from the Collards to stage the event.

We acknowledge that there are constant changing expectations around staging events on Country and will continue to update our practices based on community feedback and consultation.

The Collards

Don & Sylvie Collard (Ballardong People) both in their nineties have been living and camping in the area for over seven decades, (Don and his father Gint ‘Fred Senior’ before that) the family have a strong connection to the area. They conduct the Welcome to Country and enjoy coming to the event and having a yarn with folk afterwards.

Given the disturbance of Noongar connections to Country resulting from colonial policies including child removal (which impacted the Collard family) and movements for work and other reasons, continuous connections to Country has been impacted.

However, the area holds many personal stories for Don & Sylvie and their fourteen children, including their many experiences in surrounding towns and places, demonstrating a long-standing connection to the place over much of their lifetime.

“We don’t own the land, the land owns us. “

~ Glenys Collard

One of their children, festival advisor, Noongar educator and writer Glenys Collard, is clear in her conception that the event is a Wadjela festival, which is true in that the organisers and most of the audience are not first nations people.  She says ‘this is not a cultural event’, which we take to mean not a Noongar event centred around cultural practices. The festival organisers, are Wadjelas bringing an event onto Noongar Boodjar, with permission from those who we understand as entitled to speak for it, as respectfully as we know how with the resources available to us, publicly acknowledging where we are, in a place that is open to the public and controlled year-round by local government.

If you have any questions the Collards are always happy to have a yarn at the festival, they openly enjoy sharing stories, culture and invite you to come talk to them after the Welcome to Country.

Definitions

Waakal Nirnt - Wave Rock
Noongar - a person of the south-west of Western Australia
Boodjar - the earth, the ground
Wadjela – Term for a white person