CAN’s Noongar Lullabies program has proven a perfect fit for the City of Kwinana’s Moorditj Kulungar Playgroup. CAN spoke to Moorditj Kulungar play leader and Aboriginal support worker Fran Windon to find out why the project has been such a hit with the playgroup.

With a focus on engaging pre-school aged children in Noongar language and song, Lullabies Kwinana represents a shift in direction for Community Arts Network’s long-running, award-winning Noongar Lullabies project.

Whilst children have been involved in the previous eight iterations of Noongar Lullabies, this is the first time that the program’s activities have been centred specifically on kids.

Running over three months, Lullabies Kwinana has seen Noongar musicians Cyndy Moody and Kobi Arthur Morrison conduct workshops for children and their families at the City of Kwinana’s Moorditj Kulungar Playgroup. Together they have written and recorded their own lullaby, in Noongar, which will be available to stream online and will also be published in a children’s book.

The language and music activities support the playgroup’s broader aims perfectly, says Fran Windon.

“Moorditj Kulungar means solid kids in Noongar,” she says. “It’s a program for [First Nations] mums and children to come together. It’s a safe place.

“We focus on school readiness, and on the wellbeing of mother and child. We do intergenerational get-togethers, we focus a lot on our Noongar culture. Mooditj Kulungar is a place where the old saying is true: it’s a village that raises your children.”

Looking around the playgroup’s home in Orelia it’s evident that Noongar culture sits at the heart of the Moorditj Kulungar program. Toys and furniture are wooden rather than plastic and include traditional utensils and tools. The native garden is extensive and plants are used in art activities indoors and outdoors. In the centre of the space hangs a vocabulary mobile featuring handmade djinda (stars), worl (sky), koondart (clouds), ngaangk (the sun) and mika (the moon).

Preserving and passing on Noongar language is a huge priority, says Fran. “We’ve got such disconnection with our language. Teaching the kids colours and numbers, and about our boodja is really important for that cultural connection.”

And that’s why CAN’s Noongar Lullabies program has been such a gift, she continues.

“It’s been fantastic for Moorditj Kulungar. Having Cyndy and Kobi come in to teach us, help us pronounce words, giving us that sense of pride, that sense of cultural identity, that sense of belonging, has just been wonderful.”

Pictured top: Making music at Moorditj Kulungar // credit Cassandra Edwards