SMOKING CEREMONY

On Thursday February 18, a welcome to country and smoking ceremony was performed by Mr. David Tournier who is the Boon Wurrung Senior Cultural officer.  

This was to welcome 2021, our Year 7’s and other new students and staff to the school. 

The school is situated on Boon Wurrung land and we wanted to pay our respects to the land and people and start the year with positivity and respect.  

Many students and staff attended this significant event 

Kiyara, Issy & Bethany  

2021 College Captains 

Words from our year 7's

An elder of the Boon Wurrung people, David Tournier, performed a smoking ceremony and a welcome to country. 

He explained to us the plants he used. There are a few different types of plants that he used to make the smoke, this included: Eucalyptus and the cherry bollard (the cherry bollard was used to represent the children because it needed to be nurtured until it was big enough to grow on its own (just like us.) He let us walk through the smoke to clear all of the bad energy that may have surrounded us. 

Tokoa - he told a speech to everyone about how the smoke from the fire gets rid of the bad energy around us and it brings good energy with it. 

Darcy - I thought that it was a great way of showing how people bring on a new year. I loved how we got to walk through the smoke to cleanse ourselves.  

Written by Darcy and Tokoa 7A