{"id":302285,"date":"2021-07-13T21:25:43","date_gmt":"2021-07-13T11:25:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=302285"},"modified":"2021-07-14T18:57:14","modified_gmt":"2021-07-14T08:57:14","slug":"heal-country-one-step-at-a-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2021\/07\/13\/heal-country-one-step-at-a-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Heal Country … One Step At A Time"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Johnny Danalis and the Star Of Taroom, on its specially built “rockshaw”, with the Wakka Wakka Dancers and fellow walkers from the Star Of Taroom trek team<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

July 13, 2021<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Heal Country” is the 2021 NAIDOC Week theme … and healing was definitely the focus of Kingaroy’s slightly delayed NAIDOC Week celebration on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

South Burnett Regional Council decided to delay the event so it could coincide with the arrival in town of the “Star Of Taroom”.<\/p>\n

The Star is a 160kg slab of sandstone bearing deep grooves in a star-like pattern. It was taken from the traditional country of the Iman people during the 1970s.<\/p>\n

No one knows how old it is but it is now going home, thanks to the efforts of the son of the man who removed it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Johnny Danalis, from Brisbane, is walking the stone back … a personal journey of healing but also a bid to raise national awareness about the issue of returning cultural property to country from private collections.<\/p>\n

He is accompanied by a small support team as well as volunteers who join in for short sections.<\/p>\n

Johnny reckons there are probably thousands of artefacts being held in private collections that could be returned to their traditional owners.<\/p>\n

Returning them would be part of the healing process …<\/p>\n

Iman Elders have suggested the Star Of Taroom could have been a boundary marker but it will soon have a new role, the central spot in a new\u00a0Wardingarri Keeping Place which will be opened at Taroom on July 24 when the rock finally arrives home.<\/p>\n

The Kingaroy NAIDOC celebration focussed on the Star and its healing journey.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wakka Wakka Elder Uncle Eric Law welcomed the walkers and South Burnett Mayor Brett Otto spoke about the journey his own family was undertaking learning about his wife’s Bundjalung heritage.<\/p>\n

Wakka Wakka Dancers also performed to an enthusiastic crowd.<\/p>\n

At the end of the celebrations, the Star Of Taroom team hit the track again, beginning a trek along the South Burnett Rail Trail to Wooroolin.<\/p>\n

The walkers – who have been on the road since July 5 – will then enjoy a short rest break in the South Burnett.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, the Star will be on display at the Wondai Art Gallery; and on Thursday it will be taken to Cherbourg for another celebration.<\/p>\n

It will also be in front of the Visitor Information Centre in Murgon from 3:00pm-4:00pm.<\/p>\n

The walk will resume at 9:00am on Friday at Coe’s Corner at Boondooma, where Wulli Wulli representatives will send it on its way towards Allies Creek Forest and the next leg of the journey home.<\/p>\n

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2021 NAIDOC Theme – Heal Country<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Country is inherent to our identity.<\/em><\/p>\n

It sustains our lives in every aspect – spiritually, physically, emotionally, socially, and culturally.<\/em><\/p>\n

It is more than a place.<\/em><\/p>\n

When we talk about Country it is spoken of like a person.<\/em><\/p>\n

Country is family, kin, law, lore, ceremony, traditions, and language.<\/em><\/p>\n

External link: Heal Country – What It Means<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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An emotional Johnny Darnalis spoke about the journey – both physical and emotional – that he is undertaking returning the Star to Iman country<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Kingaroy State High School Indigenous Leaders Kasai Hughes (Year 11), Cheniqua Barkle (Year 8) and Carl McDonald (Year 10) spoke at the NAIDOC celebration about the theme of “Heal Country”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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SBRC’s Indigenous portfolio holder Cr Kathy Duff compered the morning<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/td>\n
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Wakka Wakka Elder Uncle Eric Law did the Welcome To Country<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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Pastor Max Conlon performed a blessing at the welcome ceremony<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/td>\n
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South Burnett Mayor Brett Otto spoke about the healing journey the Star represented<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
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Former Cherbourg Mayor Arnold Murray with Toni Phillips-Petersen and five-week-old Zaniyah Alberts who was enjoying her first NAIDOC celebrations<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Parnia Yazdani had a go at painting an Indigenous-themed design on a small gibber<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Angelina Phillips-Petersen and Tahanna Brady were looking after the art and craft stall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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South Burnett Regional Council organised a special Star Of Taroom cake for the NAIDOC celebrations<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Johnny Danalis and Cheniqua Barkle, watched by some of the Star Of Taroom walkers, cut the NAIDOC cake<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The crowd in the Glendon Street Forecourt watching the performance by the Wakka Wakka dancers<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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With the NAIDOC ceremonies complete,\u00a0 the walkers resumed their trek … accompanying the Star along the South Burnett Rail Trail from Kingaroy to Wooroolin (Photo: Ros Heit)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

* * *<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Welcome Breakfast<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

The Star Of Taroom team were welcomed into Kingaroy with a special breakfast on Tuesday morning organised by Kingaroy Country Motel’s Julie Thomson.<\/strong><\/p>\n

South Burnett councillors joined with representatives from the Wakka Wakka and Wulli Wulli nations to inspect the Star and chat with Johnny Danalis and his support crew.<\/p>\n

Johnny spoke about the journey he had embarked on learning about the Iman people.<\/p>\n

His father, who had been a “collector” of interesting items, removed the Star from a property in the Taroom area during the 1970s.<\/p>\n

As he grew older, he realised it should go back home but sadly, he died of cancer before this could become a reality.<\/p>\n

After studying the tragic history of the Iman, Johnny decided a trip by car wasn’t enough to get the Star back home so he resolved to walk it back … and so the journey with the 160kg rock on its special “rockshaw” cart began.<\/p>\n

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Tourism Development Officer Melanie Eastaugh with Jeff Harriman, Cr Kathy Duff, Julie Thomson, Johnny Danalis and the Star Of Taroom at the Kingaroy Country Motel welcome breakfast<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Wulli Wulli women Elizabeth Boyle Law and Jocelyn Boyle Clancy with Wakka Wakka’s Niketa Law, centre … Niketa did the Welcome To Country at the breakfast<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Inspector Chris Pemberton and Mayor Brett Otto … Insp Pemberton started at Kingaroy Police Station last Monday as Inspector for the new South Burnett Patrol Group<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/td>\n
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Sharon Smith and Ross Daniels, The Gap, are accompanying the Star on its journey home … Ross recently learned his great-grandmother Nellie Dunn was Iman<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

* * *<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Wakka Wakka Dancers<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

The Wakka Wakka Dancers performed before an appreciative crowd in the Glendon Street Forecourt … a highlight of Tuesday’s NAIDOC celebrations in Kingaroy.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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