16/07/2025
This is what true walking together looks like ♥️ 🖤 💛
May we all be encouraged by the richness found in truly walking together where we take the time to be together, to value each other, to be enriched by each other and to grow together in oneness bringing a richness to each other and this nation.
In the words of Sean-Paul Stephens - CEO of Ngarluma Yindjibarndi Foundation Ltd (NYFL)
“I adore seeing my beautiful baby girl with Elders who have been so kind and welcoming to me and my family over the last decade.
Before my first was born, Yindjibarndi Elder Wendy Hubert brought wraps and some bush food to my office and taught me how to wrap a baby, and some tricks for feeding when bub is being fussy. This was in the months before our first was born; the time when a new parent is most scared.
Having a network of kind souls like Nanna Wendy made us feel much braver about being parents.
And now, Wendy and my little girl are ‘gurndat’, meaning daughter/great grandmother in the Galharra system. Something I will never take for granted.
‘Come here, Gurndat’ Wendy says without fuss, as we sit together at Jirndawurrunha, on Yindjibarndi Ngurra (Country). We camped overnight with Yindjibarndi families at an important cultural site on the weekend. The young men performed Ngunda, dances that have been passed down generations.
And we all sat by the campfire, listening to the Elders yarns.
I took this photo the next morning. Wendy is stern, but loving. She has cared for hundreds of babies, as an Elder and remote child health worker in earnestly days.
This week, more than ever, I value the generosity I have received from Elders like Wendy Hubert, and the generosity from so much of the community to non-Indigenous Australians, to continue on the journey of reconciliation and healing.”