West Coast Fever will hand over a modern Message Stick ahead of taking to the court for Saturday’s game against Giants Netball for the 2020 Suncorp Super Netball Indigenous Round.
The Message Stick was created by Cheryl Lennox-Bradley, a Nanda Yamatji woman from Maya Country (Kalbarri) in Western Australia.
The message stick was made with Eucalyptus wandoo, endemic to the southwest of Western Australia and sourced from Yuet Country which is where the Moore River Native Settlement was established in 1918 (about 130km north of Perth).
Cheryl highlights the meaning in the stick’s imagery: ‘The bands on each end symbolise that our time with you will have a beginning and an end. We are honoured to spend this time with you and grateful for your hospitality. And as we gather on your country, we want you to know that the only thing we will leave behind are our footprints.’
Message Sticks have been used by Aboriginal peoples for thousands of years as a means to disseminate information from one community to another. They are made of wood and the carved markings on message sticks are symbols that are specific to the area where they are made.
West Coast Fever are set to take on Giants Netball this weekend for Indigenous Round at 11am on Saturday 19 September. Watch all the action on 9GEM or the Netball Live app.
