Michelle Broun - NAIDOC 2018Article | Updated 6 years ago Caption: Michelle Broun. Credit: WA Museum Michelle Broun Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Curator, New Museum Project The beautiful carved wooden bowl from the Pilbara for me represents the caring, the love and the power of Aborginal women and mothers-who continue to play such important roles as members of their clans and the broader community. I imagine the owner of the bowl as a tall strong women - walking freely on her country and confident of her place and role, with abundant cultural knowledge. I imagine her selecting the wood for the bowl, and the tools for carving-talking with with her sisters and mothers in language. I imagine her singing as she carved the bowl-with kids and babies and her family around her. When her bowl is completed, I imagine her collecting bush foods in the bowl and carrying her babies in the bowl too. It's such a beautiful shape-it would have held alot of food-berries and nuts and lizards. It also reminds me of my Yinjibarndi Nana, Ngarthungnu, who I met several times only briefly before she passed away. Her power as an Aboriginal woman was undermined by pastoralists, and her relationship with food also changed because she was a cook on Mulga Downs Station. But she still knew how to collect bush foods and spoke her language and sang her songs. Now my Mum Bigali, although stolen from Mulga Downs Station as a young child, strengthens her connection with country by growing and propagating bush foods. This empowers her as an Aboriginal woman and she can pass this knowledge on too. She also collects beautiful pieces of wood and has taught us many things about the land. View their stories Deanne Debra Marlia Marani Michelle - Now viewing