Parkes recently welcomed a very special group of visitors.
Five Indigenous Americans from the Sioux (Lakota, Dakota, Nakota) nation in South Dakota, visited as part of a Rotary Group Study (Cultural) Exchange.
The visitors were from the Oceti Sakowin (Seven Council Fires).
The purpose of their visit was to observe and study another Indigenous culture, the Wiradjuri nation, to examine and understand how they were maintaining culture while progressing in the wider community.
A tour of the Rotary Peace Park at the base of Memorial Hill was to highlight a successful example of a collaboration between Rotary and Wiradjuri, and non-Indigenous artists, promoting peace and reconciliation.
The visit was initiated by Michael Milston, a past District Governor of Rotary after discussions with Parkes Rotarian Ken Engsmyr and was hosted by Parkes Rotary.
“This exchange was vocationally based with the members selected because of their engagement in excellence in practice,” said Michael Milston.
"Across the group are representatives in the vocations of health, education, environment, business and the arts and crafts."
Parkes Mayor Neil Westcott and president of Parkes Rotary Graeme Hunter welcomed the group.
Wiradjuri artist and chair of the Parkes Aboriginal Community Working Party Irene Ridgeway, Parkes Wiradjuri Language Group president Geoff Anderson, TAFE teacher of Wiradjuri cultural studies Everlien Gardner and artist and designer of the park Sean James Cassidy, guided the visitors through the landscape, explaining the significance of the natural forms and the art works.
“It was very exciting for me and other Indigenous Australians to meet Indigenous people from other parts of the world and to be able to create an awareness of Wiradjuri culture,” Irene Ridgeway said.
"I found it very interesting to discover how similar our cultures were particularly regarding our past histories and the loss of identity and culture.
“Being open to different ways of thinking provides the opportunity to create bridges.
"When you look up at the stars you aren’t looking up but looking down into the universe.”
The visitors found the park “very intriguing and a special place.”
The carved installations with Wiradjuri iconography were the first art works the visitors had seen in Australia.
They were very interested to see language represented within the art works.
They felt that the local Wiradjuri culture was being woven into the wider community which was quite a different situation from their own.
During discussions at the park, the visitors noted the importance of language, the evolution of language and the question was posed, do Indigenous peoples have a role in the designing of language technologies?
This reflects a question posed in the article in the Australian Physics magazine, Excavating Bridges for Future Streams, co-written by Kerrie Peden and Sean James Cassidy of Parkes.
”Is it time or possible, to create a new, universal language or is this already underway and will it provide an accessibility for a wider audience with a greater array of mindsets, intelligences and varied life journeys?”
The magazine was a gift to each visitor.
They were also given a range of other gifts, souvenirs of Parkes - a pen and notebook with a small Wiradjuri dictionary and a USB with the original song and film clip, in language, Journey to Gulbalanha, created by locally based international art group Ub Ubbo Exchange.
”Bringing people together from different cultures around the world starts a conversation and through showing each other respect, develops trust," Parkes Wiradjuri elder Robert Clegg said.
Following on from the great success of the Australian Philippines Friendship mural which highlighted the Wiradjuri word Yindyamarra (Respect), this recent visit by members of the Dakota Sioux nation helps to show that Parkes is able to lead the way towards a more accepting and peaceful future.”