Newsletter for the Rotary Club of Western Endeavour - Issue No.: 803 Issue Date: 22 Apr, 2018

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This coming Wednesday, the 28th March 2018, our Rotary Club will attend the "Rotary Celebration Breakfast at Yagan Square" which is an initiative of the Rotary Club of Matilda Bay.

Yagan Square is named after the Aboriginal warrior Yagan, who was a Noongar leader of the greater Perth area. When Western Australia was colonised in 1829 Yagan became a fighter/warrior against the British settlers. Initially Yagan befriended the settlers, but over time he became a defender of the Noongar land which led to conflict. Yagan became feared, but also admired, over the following years as he defended the Noongar land. After many battles a bounty was placed on Yagan and he was shot dead in July 1833 and his head was sent to Britain to be studied and then exhibited in a British museum. His skull was finally returned to the Noongar people in 1997 and buried in a traditional ceremony at the Yagan Memorial Park in the upper Swan Valley in 2010. People can reflect on Yagan at this Memorial Park which overlooks the Swan River just to the west of the Great Northern Highway bridge that crosses the Swan River.

The Key Speaker for the Celebration Breakfast will be Aboriginal Dr Richard Walley OAM. It is very appropriate Richard Walley speaks at the Celebratory Breakfast as he has been a strong advocate of the Aboriginal culture and social justice by chairing Western Australia's Aboriginal Advisory Board, involved in the formation or operation of the Aboriginal Housing Board, Aboriginal Medical Service, Aboriginal Legal Service, Aboriginal Alcoholism Committee, Aboriginal Sports Foundation and the New Era Aboriginal Fellowship. Amazingly he has also been involved as director, designer, writer, musician, dancer and actor with a range of stage and television productions.

The naming of Yagan Square will remind us of the Aboriginal culture and the land that we live in. The Celebratory Breakfast will go a little way to understanding Aboriginal culture and respect the original owners of the land. It is expected there will be about 180 people from Rotary and the Aboriginal community attending. Rotary is involved in many Aboriginal projects and this will continue.

Footnote: The statue at Yagan Square is not of Yagan, but of Wirin, a Noongar Good Spirit. Wirin has very long arms and legs but no hands or feet.

Laurie Glossop

President