THE life stories of Noongar elders in Goomalling has inspired the town’s youth to record a hip hop music track in their honour.
Turn Back Time was created during a two day CAN WA workshop at the Goomalling Community Centre.
The track was produced with the guidance of hip hop artist Scott Griffiths, who is also known for his work as MC Optamus, with Perth hip hop group Downsyde.
CAN WA, in partnership with the Shire of Goomalling and the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal and Ministry for the Arts, has been working with the Noongar community to record and preserve the Aboriginal history of the area.
As well as learning about the history of their town, the workshops gave young participants the chance to develop skills in beat making, writing, rhyming, and performance.
CAN WA project manager Poppy van Oorde-Grainger said about 20 young people from the local community attended each hip hop workshop.
“They listened to recordings of senior members of their community and they then used a modern art of a storytelling, hip hop, to retell the history of their people and town,” Ms van Oorde-Grainger said.
The Goomalling Yarns Aboriginal History Project is a multi-faceted community arts program involving oral history recordings, photo sharing, family history research and arts workshops.
In all 12 senior community members have played a pivotal role in preserving the town’s Noongar history.
Locals shared their personal stories and memories with award-winning oral historian Bill Bunbury.
Former ABC sound engineer Jemma King has collated these stories into a poignant 20-minute radio documentary.
About 80 Goomalling residents, most of them Noongar have played an integral role in the Goomalling yarns project, participating in a variety of community arts workshops.
During the project, CAN WA helped the State Library Service of WA unearth a unique collection of photos capturing day to day life on the Goomalling reserve.
The Mavis Walley collection was donated by Mavis’s daughter, Goomalling resident Dallas Philips.
She was bequeathed the collection of photo slides when her mother died.
For decades they sat in a tin box in her shed before a CAN WA arts worker recognised their historic value.
A CD and booklet, celebrating all the historical information gathered during the project will be launched at the Goomalling Sports Pavilion at noon on Saturday.
