Hospital staff gather for the opening of the yarning circle. Photo: Narrandera Shire Council.
A new outdoor space dedicated to Aboriginal patients, staff, and visitors has been unveiled at the Narrandera District Hospital.
An area known as a yarning circle – a culturally significant place when Indigenous people can share stories, educate each other or just have a yarn – is located in a courtyard within the facility.
The area features a mural by Narrandera-based Wiradjuri artist Owen Lyons and also includes a Sorry Business area, where people can mourn and grieve the loss of a loved one.
The space has been developed through consultation with local elders and students from nearby schools, fostering a strong sense of community and cultural connection. As part of the project, students had the opportunity to be involved in the painting of the mural, which helped improve their understanding of Wiradjuri culture and traditions.
Mr Lyons’ mural tells a powerful story about elders gathering at a meeting place along the Murrambidya (Murrumbidgee) River, passing on vital knowledge of ancestral lands to younger generations. The image of hands covering the mural symbolises the transfer of this knowledge, which includes the teaching of the land’s features and the location of bush foods and other resources – essential for the survival of culture and traditions.
“The yarning circle is a special display of cultural artwork, but it is so much more than that; it will be a place where mob and families can gather to be there for each other when someone is at the end of their life, to sit and reflect, laugh, celebrate, cry and support each other in such hard times,” Narrandera Shire Councillor Braden Lyons said.
“I was proud to be at the opening surrounded by our elders and community members. Thank you to Uncle Owen Lyons who painted this amazing yarning circle, Shaun Lyons and Community Health who facilitated this, NP and NHS students who added their handprints and helped paint the yarning circle and everyone else who contributed and helped make it possible.”
The new yarning circle and Sorry Business area aim to provide a welcoming and respectful environment for Aboriginal people within the hospital, ensuring that cultural needs are supported during times of healing and mourning.
The work was made possible by a $63,000 grant from the NSW Government’s Aboriginal Health Minor Capital Works Program.
Three similar projects are also underway elsewhere in the Murrumbidgee Local Health District including Deniliquin, Lake Cargelligo and Hay.
Murrumbidgee Local Health District Acting Chief Executive Carla Bailey said this important project had allowed the creation of specific, culturally safe areas for Aboriginal people to use during times of grief or stress.
“This space … will allow Aboriginal people to have a spiritual connection with Country during difficult times,” Ms Bailey said.
“It is very important that our Aboriginal communities feel safe and supported in our hospitals, and the creation of this new culturally significant area at Narrandera District Hospital is an important step in helping to achieve that.”
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