OLD PEOPLES BIRTHDAY CELEBRATED IN ROEBOURNE, IERAMAGADU

BY MEGAN BOYCE & TANGOIRA HINAKI

The 1st of July is a very significant date in Roebourne, Ieramagadu. It is the date given to Elders that do not know the exact date and year that they were born.

Today at the Old Reserve, (where Aboriginal people lived in the 1960s), all the community, young and old, came together to celebrate and respect their Elders.

Merv Lockyer a descendant of the Ngarluma bloodline said he was impressed with the turnout for the event but believes that Elders should be respected everyday. The Elders of this community are only aware that they were born.

“Even the year, they're not 100% sure if that's the year they were born,” he said.

“They just knew they [were] born and I think it just went by the size, who they are and their age.

“They just whacked a number and a year on them.”

The Old Reserve is significant in this small town because it is where the Ngarluma and Yindjibarndi people used to live when the were removed from the stations.

“It goes way back to the political side of how they [were] treated from day one,” he said.

“Then it's all sort of more eventuated when those removed off the station into the towns onto the reserve, where we are standing today.”

Mr. Lockyer said by listening to their stories we can start to understand the trauma they have been through.

“They [were] alienated against their own people and family that they couldn't talk to them,” he said.

“The old rule of the when the sun goes down and you’ve got to get home.”

“It's quite shocking some of those stories but it's worth looking at their faces. All the trauma they went through and they still happy today.”

Captain Wilson Nyamal Elder. Credit: Tangiora Hinaki.

Captain Wilson, a Nyamal elder told Ngaarda Media that he was born at Warralong station in the Pilbara but does not know the date of year.

Daughter, Ursula Wilson wished her dad a Happy 88th birthday on social media.

“He doesn't really know his exact date of birth, but a birth date was given to him by Centrelink, which now makes him 88 years of age, she said,

He once told us, I don't know when I been born, but I been born in Warralong Station, in the rubbish dump.”

But I know my dad is going to have a good day today, coz there's a celebration happening in Roebourne for the old peoples birthday!

Thank you to the Roebourne Community, for organising this event each year!

You put a smile in their hearts!”

Listen to the full interview:

Dancers celebrating the Elders. Credit: Tangiora Hinaki.

Sharna Stevens is a Roebourne local said her father’s birthday is on the 1st of July.

“I’ve celebrated every year,” she said.

“Having this occasion for the old people it’s wonderful because it's recognizing them, you know, if we didn't have them we wouldn't have what we've got today.”

Listen to the full interview: