Name change Galups along

RESTORING Lake Monger’s Indigenous name and a memorial to mark an 1830 massacre could be a step closer.

Last Friday about 80 people attended a smoking ceremony to acknowledge the May 3 massacre and call for more signage around the lake to reflect its cultural significance to Whadjuk Noongars.

Cambridge mayor Gary Mack was amongst the crowd, which also included his CEO Gary Tuffin and two councillors, while the event also attracted MPs Kate Chaney, Christine Tonkin and Pierre Yang.

• Traditional Whadjuk Noongar owners Ash Garlett Penfold and Ben Stack play the yidaki (didgeridoo) at a ceremony to mark the anniversary of an 1830 massacre at Lake Monger, with growing calls for the water body to revert back to its Whadjuk Noongar name Galup. Photo by Steve Worner

Manaagement

Mr Mack said his council was working on management plan with the traditional owners.

“We anticipate public consultation on the plan’s recommendations soon, ensuring Galup/Lake Monger is acknowledged as a place of cultural significance and reconciliation,” Mr Mack said.

Artist Poppy van Oorde-Grainger has been driving the push for the massacre’s recognition with Noongar man Ian Wilkes and told the Voice she was pleased Cambridge seemed to be moving ahead with the Indigenous community’s recommendations.

• Town of Cambridge resident Peg Davies participating in the smoking ceremony. Photo by Steve Worner

During the ceremony Mr Wilkes and fellow traditional owner Ash Garlett Penfold guided people through a smoking ceremony aimed at bringing people together for connection and healing. The event featured a song Mr Wilkes wrote to honour the Noongars who’d lost their life at the lake.

Elder Aunty Glenda Kickett welcomed the crowd.

• The ceremony attracted a crowd of around 80 people. Photo by Dan Grant

“Galup is an important site for Whadjuk Noongar people and an area where our people camped,” Ms Kickett said.

“Not many people know about the massacre that took place there.

“We are at a point as a nation to really start to acknowledge First Nations peoples and the histories of colonisation and dispossession.

“That acknowledgement is an important part of healing.”

• Cambridge mayor Gary Mack with artist Ian Wilkes. Photo by Dan Grant

Home fires

Speakers called for community support to restore the lake’s traditional Noongar name Galup, meaning ‘place of home fires’ and building a memorial to remember the massacre.

Mr Wilkes and Ms van Oorde-Grainger have held two major art projects at the lake, including an oral history from Elder Doolann-Leisha Eatts about the massacre.

Perth Voice Interactive

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