This year’s NAIDOC celebrations saw Harvey residents gain knowledge through the Noongar Kaartdijin Bidee trail

Harvey residents were taken on a healing cultural journey through the newly created Noongar Kaartdijin Bidee trail last week, as part of the town’s Naidoc celebrations. The walk, led by Noongar elder Lesley Ugle and her daughter Ninnette Comito, provided the about 20 people with an opportunity to learn about Indigenous culture and help understand how they connect with the land and with each other. Mrs Ugle said the walk was a little bit of what Indigenous culture is about and re-enforced ideas around slowing down and listening carefully, not only to each other, but also to the natural word. “It brings us back us back to basics, our needs, and to really sit and think about what we’re doing in this world today,” she said. Walking along the 900m trail — which translates in English to Noongar Knowledge Path — Lesley and her family helped shine a light on Indigenous culture, such as its matriarchal structure and its spiritual connection to the natural world. “It is very important to us and dear to our hearts because that’s all we ask is acknowledgement of who we are and where we are,” Mrs Ugle said. Mrs Ugle also addressed the progress of reconciliation and told participants the anecdotal history of her experience growing up in regional Australia. “I can speak my language now, 50 years ago I could not,” she said.