General News
13 May, 2019
Strong Women, Strong Families at Mareeba’s Tropical Wetlands
Strong Women, Strong Families at Mareeba’s Tropical Wetlands
ON Thursday May 2 three organisations got together to hold an incredible day at the Mareeba Tropical Wetlands Reserve. Mareeba Community Housing Company, Forever Wild and Mulungu Aboriginal Health Service jointly created an event called ‘Strong Women, Strong Families’.
The day focused on giving local Indigenous Women a day to connect with each other and themselves. Held beside a lake at Forever Wild’s Tropical Wetlands reserve, it was a chance for women of all generations to come together in a remarkable natural setting. The day and the concept were celebrated by a young local artist Danae Hastie, who created beautiful artwork representing the artist’s strong family beliefs and the connections between the generations. The colours chosen represent the Indigenous culture and the strength of women within the family unit. Both the tree and the hands represent significant ideals and beliefs to the artist, her inclusion of the two different sized hands was to symbolise mother and child and tree with its falling leaves represents the passing down of family traditions and coming together as one. The artwork was screen printed on the back of t-shirts and given to all who attended.
Forever Wild’s reserves are known as Shared Earth Reserves, and specifically set out to protect the natural and social values of wild places. Fiachra Kearney, CEO of Forever Wild, said “our reserves are for biodiversity and for all people, and events such as these show the diverse ways that people identify with these landscapes. “We are working the traditional owners and the broader community on innovative partnerships and ideas, with plenty in the pipeline.
The Mareeba Tropical Wetlands has been an important contributor to the region for quarterof a century, and building on this is an incredibly exciting time for Forever Wild.”
