A life-sized bronze sculpture celebrating the leadership of three Kurnai women has been unveiled in Drouin’s Civic Park, marking the start of National Reconciliation Week.
Approximately 200 excited attendees took part in Saturday’s unveiling celebrations that involved a short film, a smoking ceremony by Cheryl Drayton, and speeches from Minister for Education and Minister for Women, Natalie Hutchins; Minister for Water, Regional Development, Commonwealth Games Legacy, and Equality, Harriet Shing and Baw Baw Shire Mayor, Annemarie McCabe.
Supported by $155,416 from the Victorian Government’s $1 million Victorian Women’s Public Art program, and $40,000 from Council’s Public Art Fund, the artwork celebrates First Nations women Dorothy Hood, Euphemia Mullet Tonkin and Regina Rose, who were hugely influential in keeping the Kurnai community safe from the 1940s to the 1960s on Jackson’s Track, Labertouche.
“The sculpture acknowledges these Kurnai women’s leadership, tenacity, and cultural integrity – they upheld their Kurnai heritage while still seeking to obey government decrees, living constantly with the fear of having their children ‘removed’,” said Minister Hutchins.
The women continued to lead the community after the Board of Protection relocated the families into Drouin township in 1961.
The artwork and accompanying historic storytelling piece was created by local artists Jessie McLennan and Rebecca Vandyk-Hamilton, working in close consultation with local Kurnai Elder Cheryl Drayton and Jeannie Haughton.
Regina Rose’s daughter, elder Lynette Grace Hayes created a frieze to border the bottom of the sculpture, incorporating Kurnai symbols such as the blue wren, the Kurnai women’s totem.
The women hold a book, a laundry tub and a guitar, objects of white culture which helped their children and communities survive.
Drouin’s Three Kurnai Women is the fourth of six permanent public artworks being unveiled throughout Victoria to acknowledge and celebrate women’s achievements.
“Baw Baw Shire Council greatly welcomes the Andrews Labor Government’s support on this significant art piece that stands proudly at Drouin Civic Park and pays homage to the recent history of First Nations people,” said Mayor McCabe.
