Summary

Cotton T-Shirt produced by Willum Warrain Aboriginal Association and worn by Willum Warrain community members during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Willum Warrain, which translates to "home by the sea" in the Boon Wurrung language by Westernport, is an Aboriginal Community-controlled organisation that provides a safe cultural space for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people on the Mornington Peninsula. It officially opened in 2014, but had been in the works under various other names and operations since the late eighties. With over 450 Aboriginal members as at December 2020, it provides a range of programs for its Aboriginal community members, including a Women's group, a Men's group, a Deadly Kids group, a Bush Play group (for younger kids and toddlers) a Gardening group (open to non-Indigenous members as well) and a Welcome to Country ceremony for babies.

During COVID-19, Willum Warrain was forced to close its' gates and discontinue on-site activities, however the community remained connected via Zoom, phone and community activities such as the provision of food and medicine deliveries to Elders. This T-Shirt, with its' slogan, 'Local, Black and Deadly' is an important symbol of localised community solidarity, resilience, knowledge transfer and intergenerational storytelling that continued via Willum Warrain in the Boon-Wurrung / Bunurong region throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

Significance

This T-Shirt is accompanied by a range of other items including: 2 x handwoven baskets and a handwritten diary entry donated by Aunty Jennine Armistead, a series of digital photographs and an oral history interview. These were all collected with support from the Office for Suburban Development for the Museums in My Neighbourhood Project and digital exhibition, and now form part of Museum Victoria's Collecting the Curve: COVID-19 Pandemic Collection.

This collection of Willum Warrain items represent a wide range of COVID-19 related storylines including: daily life during lockdown, local neighbourhood connections, gardening, kindness and gift giving, and the emergence of new neighbourhood traditions. These items also symbolise and reflect a deeper story of First Peoples cultural knowledge and community connection, including storylines around truth telling, Stolen Generations, resilience, solidarity and intergenerational cultural exchange. These items will provide a lasting reminder of the community support activities of Willum Warrain members during COVID-19, as well as the importance of place, connection to Country and the vital role of First Peoples cultural knowledge and customs during the COVID-19 pandemic, and always.

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