A NYUNGAR tourist trail at Port Coogee has been opened by Cockburn city council and local Nyungar elders.

The trail showcases Ngarkal (Seagull) Beach, The Lookout and the Kidogo Glass Artworks, and includes signage with audio of significant Aboriginal stories.

Mayor Logan Howlett says the city enjoys a strong and mutually supportive relationship with its Aboriginal community.

“The trail is part of the city’s reconciliation action plan which has guided us over the past number of years, and will continue to do so into the future,” he says.

• Cockburn mayor Logan Howlett and Reverend Sealin Garlett at the grass tree in Lucretia Park. Photo by Matthew Dwyer

He says the city’s elders are a portal to the country’s past.

“Talking with Nyungar Elders and the Aboriginal community provides a great window of knowledge into their culture, heritage, music, song and dance and how their traditions respect the land, waterways and ocean,” he says.

“They have lived in harmony with the environment for over 40,000 years – we can all learn from that experience given the state of pollution across our country. It is important that the city continues to adopt the use of Nyungar language in the naming of locations such as Ngarkal Beach, as well as Aboriginal art and other ways of promoting Nyungar history and culture.”

Mr Howlett says areas for improvement remain and he would like to see the city supporting Nyungar language programs and greater involvement from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People in community events

At the opening ceremony, Nyungar elder Sealin Garlett performed the welcome to country and elder Marie Taylor carried out a traditional smoking ceremony.

Urban Youth Effect put on an ebullient dance performance.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK