After the success of last year’s event, the 2020 Origin Energy Premier League will be hosting Indigenous Round this week with all teams celebrating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture across ten games.
Round 12, which takes place on Wednesday 7 October, will have the theme Tiddas Together. Tiddas is a colloquial Aboriginal word that means sisters.
The special occasion at Netball Central will begin with a traditional Smoking Ceremony and Welcome dance, performed by Julie Bukari Webb, Darug Custodian Traditional knowledge holder, and the Jannawi Dance Clan, led by Artistic Director Peta Strachan from the Booroberongal Clan of the Darug Nation, outside the venue. The performers will be joined by representatives from each franchise and game officials.
Each team will take the court wearing a bib featuring Indigenous artwork designed by Tarsha Hawley, an Indigenous player from the Central Coast Heart, while umpires will also be wearing the same design on their shirts.
“This painting for me represents personal success and the empowerment of other Indigenous women throughout my life, and from past achieving Indigenous women who have helped shaped me today,” says Hawley, a Wongaibon woman.
“The concentric circles in the background represent our community, showing how we all come together and are connected as one. No journey being the same, all different but unique.
“To the side of the artwork are dotted lines that represent waves of voices. Voices of past and present Indigenous women who empower me to keep striving, no matter what the setback, no matter the outcome.
“It’s important to back yourself and have strength to keep pushing. It’s the voices from my biggest supporters in life that kept me on track to reaching my goals.
“The crow represents the main totem of the Wongaibon nation. It’s the main focal point because this is where life began for me and where I began to learn about my culture.
“The footprints and lines within the triangle represent a journey guided by our elders and ancestors. Each footprint steps forward into the future, showing where we come from and where we can go.
“The triangle symbolises a pathway. As individuals we all set goals and with strength, determination and guidance we can all come together as one.”
Netball NSW will be donating all ticket sales from the round to Women's Legal Service NSW (WLS NSW). WLS NSW is an independent non-profit organisation which provides a voice for women in NSW and promotes access to justice, particularly for women who are disadvantaged by their social and economic circumstances.
WLS NSW prioritise services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, women with disabilities, women who are victims of domestic violence and women who reside in geographic areas of high disadvantage and high legal need. Click here to donate.
