By Margaret Maccoll
Traditional Gubbi Gubbi dances and stories were shared with about 200 people who attended the Cooroy Butter Factory Arts Centre last Saturday during NAIDOC celebrations that also included First Nations artworks exhibited across the entire gallery.
Led by Lyndon Davis the Gubbi Gubbi Dance Troupe performed a number of dances including the Brolga and Black Cockatoo Dance that are traditional to the region while Lynden explained their significance.
He spoke of the Bunya gathering that used to bring together people from northern NSW to western and northern Queensland for trading, marriages and to share stories and share in the bunya nut harvest.
Lyndon talked about various place names around the region and their Aboriginal meanings. Tibrogargan means biting grey glider and Cootharaba was named after the trees from which the wood they used to produce their clubs or kuthar grew.
He spoke about the relationship of Indigenous people with the land describing it as such a closeness that particular trees are named and known within the community and he spoke about the need to share the information.
“Our people have been in the landscape. We love that landscape, we know that landscape,“ he said.
“This is a a great opportunity to celebrate our living culture.“
The Cooroy Butter Factory Arts Centre First Nations art exhibition provided the venue to share artworks from First Nation artists residing on Gubbi Gubbi land.
