Latest news with #Menang
West Australian
03-06-2025
- Entertainment
- West Australian
IN PICTURES: Albany marks WA Day long weekend with free family festival at WA Museum of the Great Southern
Families flocked to Albany to celebrate WA Day on Monday, enjoying a perfect end to a long weekend with a free fun day at the WA Museum of the Great Southern. A colourful cast of diverse community characters at the museum provided free, fun-filled entertainment for visitors of all ages. The Brig Amity was free to board all day, with volunteers on board to tell the tales of the ship to visitors, and the museum's discovery centre also opened free of charge. Stalls covered the precinct with lawn games, face painting, Menang toolmaking, messy play for children, environmental education, and arts and crafts throughout the day. Albany volunteer firefighters brought out all the gear, inviting visitors to climb up into the fire engine and don a yellow fire jacket and helmet. Vintage cars, similar to those seen racing around Albany's town centre on Sunday in the iconic Albany Classic motorsport event, were lined up for visitors to admire. Live performances provided a soundtrack to the day's fun, with the Mt Lockyer Primary School Choir and the Bird on a Wire Choir taking to the stage, as well as a host of local acts.
ABC News
01-06-2025
- General
- ABC News
Noongar artist Denzel Coyne on how learning to carve wood helped him heal
Denzel Coyne shows his young daughter how to throw a kylie, or boomerang, he made from jarrah wood. A descendent of a Stolen Generation survivor, the Noongar man with connections to Menang and Goreng Country started learning to make traditional Indigenous artefacts for the first time as an adult. Once he had begun, there was no looking back. On Menang Country in Albany, Western Australia, Coyne spends his days carving, sanding and polishing everything from shields to spears. "It helps me escape my past traumas, it helps me heal." It's a sense of healing, through reclaiming culture, he wants to offer other descendants of Stolen Generation survivors, as well as people who have experienced similar struggles. For Coyne, those struggles began with deeply painful early years. "At a very young age, I lost my mother, tragically. Someone murdered her when I was seven years old," he said. "I struggled without having my mother there to nurture and show me love. "From there, my dad basically raised the four of us by himself; me and my siblings. "Dad was part of a Stolen Generation and unintendedly, a lot of the Stolen Generations traumatic events and life's challenges and stuff like that was sort of passed down in a lot of ways." His dad later went to prison, Coyne said, and he was moved to a house where he was abused. As an adult, he struggled with drug and alcohol addiction, doing several stints in jail. But when he became a father, his outlook began to change. "I think I needed a daughter to change my direction in life, really help me look at life in a whole new light." He was still in the grips of addiction, when Denzel said he was given an ultimatum. "Go to rehab, or I wouldn't be able to take my daughter home," he said. "That day was one of the hardest days of my life. I knew what I had to do." It was during the rehab program that an Aboriginal instructor began teaching Coyne, and the rest of the men's group, how to carve artefacts. "He wanted us to do some tactile learning, something that we can take away from that program, and to help uplift us when we're in a sad time," Coyne said. "Maybe if we didn't have that, I might not have stuck around, I just feel it was so important." On the other side of rehab, Coyne has started his own business, Born Wirn, and is carving out commissions for traditional artefacts. "It means tree spirit," he said. "I bring out the beauty and the grain of the wood and the grain represents the years of the wood, his spirit." Coyne is continuing to refine his skills, borrowing artefacts to study, and calling friends to share what knowledge they can. He strongly believes he is being guided by his ancestors as he learns. Coyne has also encouraged his partner, Noongar woman Penelope Williams, to take up the women's side of the business. For the most part, she was teaching herself. "He couldn't show me because it was woman side of things, but I think he trusted that I would be able to do it, so I got out there and then I started making them," Williams said. "I was in juvenile detention and that's where I learnt woodwork and wood burning, that has really helped me starting this. "When I first made my first one, I was so proud, I couldn't believe that I did it. "And the connection that I feel to my culture while making them, it's hard to describe, but I know making this stuff has helped heal my spirit." The process has prompted the couple to teach their hard-earned skills, holding workshops and talks with school groups and even at a hospital. "I think we could help lots of people, you know, just heal," Williams said. "We're giving them knowledge and culture that was taken." For Coyne, the work keeps him concentrated and connected. "I feel connected, spiritually, mentally," he said. "The whole process, it just gives me so much."
West Australian
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- West Australian
Museum of the Great Southern prepares a host of attractions to entertain Albany's WA Day visitors
Staff at Albany's foreshore attractions are getting ready to welcome thousands of WA Day visitors with a host of events on the cards to keep them entertained. The Museum of the Great Southern, the Brig Amity and the Albany Convict Gaol Museum are expecting about 3000 locals and tourists to head to the city to take advantage of a free day of family fun on Monday. Ian Westmore, the regional manager of the Museum of the Great Southern, said a full range of activities, all with a Western Australian slant, would be taking place in the precinct. Some of those lined up to take part include Larry Blight, who will be showcasing Menang toolmaking, Lovilen Edwards, whose face painting will transform children into quokkas or black swans, and Mark Higginbotham, who will be guiding visitors around the Brig Amity. Mr Blight said he would be making a set of traditional, Indigenous tools. 'It is always a great atmosphere on the day,' he said. 'It will be a lot of fun, I'll make lots of smoke and burn lots of resin for those lovely smells; and I'll be answering about a million questions. 'Or maybe it'll be the same question a million times,' he laughed. Also scheduled is a full stage program opening with a welcome to country by Menang elder Vernice Gillies and followed by a succession of local acts including Jamie the Clown, Adam Grok, the Bird on a Wire Choir, and the Mt Lockyer Primary School Choir. Mr Westmore said it was important to invite local participants. 'It's a community celebration of WA Day so we wanted stallholders and participants to be part of that and to be people who understand what it's like to be West Australian,' he said. The events take place on Monday, June 2 from 10am-2pm.
West Australian
15-05-2025
- General
- West Australian
Albany Menang elder and longstanding advocate Oscar Colbung recognised with community service award
Albany's Oscar Colbung was recognised for his ongoing commitment to his community at the recent Community Services Excellence Awards at Optus Stadium. The proud Menang elder and Southern Aboriginal Corporation deputy chief executive officer won the outstanding contribution — going above and beyond award at the ceremony hosted by the WA Council of Social Services on May 12. The award reflects more than three decades of service to the Indigenous communities of the Great Southern and Wheatbelt since his start with the SAC in 1987, including founding the Family Violence Prevention Legal Service. The community stalwart said the award came as a complete surprise. 'I was very humbled by it because it could have been any one of those other three nominees,' he said. He said he had seen plenty of 'ups and downs' in his time working in community services, but was proud to continue giving back. 'It's good to get acknowledged for the work that you've done over the years, but you don't set out to get awards, you work for the betterment of the community,' he said. He said he wanted to keep working for as long as his health allowed him to, and pass on his values of speaking up for and supporting Indigenous communities. 'It's about keeping the fire burning from the old people and hopefully passing on some of those standards and values and credentials on to the new generation,' he said. 'You don't get here on your own, you rely on your team, so the staff at SAC played a big role in my achievements as well as the board. They've been very supportive. 'But overall, we've still got a long way to go in terms of achieving outcomes for our community, in terms of closing the gap for our mob, and it's not an easy road.' SAC chief executive officer Asha Bhat said the award was a 'moment of real pride' for everyone at the organisation. Ms Bhat was also a finalist for the leadership excellence award. 'His work reflects the heart of what we do — walking alongside community with care, respect, and accountability,' she said. 'I've learnt a lot from Oscar over the years, and I know many others have too. 'Oscar walks in two worlds — he advocates for his mob but also builds bridges with the broader community. 'In a region like the Great Southern, which is rich in culture but also marked by deep challenges, having someone like Oscar out front is essential.'
