Cultural Mapping for Place Names Melville phase II began with storytelling and connection on Yagan Mia (Wireless Hill Reserve) in October 2023.

Presented by CAN in partnership with the City of Melville and Moodjar, this project centres and celebrates Noongar language and knowledge by decoding ancient meanings embedded in Noongar placenames within the City of Melville. The Cultural Mapping phase of the project follows, creating a space for the broader Noongar community to make artworks, inspired by the decoded place names.

Our first Cultural Mapping session saw the members of the Decoding Advisory Group, Place Names Melville phase I participants and Noongar community members meet at Yagan Mia in the early weeks of Kambarang. Overlooking many of the places that had been decoded, Yagan Mia was the perfect location to be welcomed to Country by Terry Morich and Geri Hayden, listen to stories that had been revealed in the Decoding phase of the project, and share knowledge of country and the local plants and animals.

The remaining Cultural Mapping workshops were held at the Bidi Katitijiny (Piney Lakes Environmental Education Centre). Working in close partnership with the City of Melville, CAN Creative Producer Natalie Scholtz and emerging Noongar artist and curator Zali Morgan facilitated the creation of artworks by the Noongar community in response to the 16 decoded Place Names. Activities included sketching, clay-making, stamping, mapping and recording oral stories.

Elder and member of the Decoding Advisory Group Trevor Walley spoke about the importance of the project’s inclusivity and unity, saying, “You cannot disassociate yourself from the broader Noongar country. It’s like a spider web; we are all connected. There are dreaming lines that connect all parts of boodjar and connect us all. If you break that web, you break your culture. If you drive around, you’ll see Noongar words everywhere. We need to come together as Noongars, otherwise we’ll keep cutting that spider web.”

Sacha Ogilvie, one of the younger participants who has recently joined the Cultural Mapping sessions, said she is excited to be listening to and learning from her Elders. Community leader Charne Hayden reified this message at the closing of this week’s workshop, saying, “We talk about wirrin, kwop wirrin or good spirit, and warra wirrin, bad spirit … This water mapping, this clay-making – that’s soul stuff, that’s wirrin stuff. We need more of these sessions, yarning with men and women together.

“We used to separate the men and women and tell the kids to go away," Charne continues. "But how can our children learn and get good values, learn their Noongar values and beliefs, if we do that? We need to start being leaders and telling our young people to come here, sit down here and listen and learn. And that’s what we’re doing.”

This intergenerational sharing of knowledge is central to Cultural Mapping as young and old are invited to yarn and make art together, mapping the ancient stories of Country with more recent memories and lived experiences. This year, CAN and the City of Melville are looking forward to finishing the Cultural Mapping phase and creating more beautiful, kwop wirrin art with our participants.

Place Names Melville is proudly supported by Lotterywest.