Home

Former native reserve wins national award

Headshot of Geoff Vivian
Geoff VivianMidwest Times
Wattandee elder Thomas Cameron accepted the Indigeneous category for his community's Littlewell heritage site in this year's Banksia Foundation sustainability awards at a ceremony in Sydney on Tuesday.
Camera IconWattandee elder Thomas Cameron accepted the Indigeneous category for his community's Littlewell heritage site in this year's Banksia Foundation sustainability awards at a ceremony in Sydney on Tuesday. Credit: Supplied, Banksia Foundation

A heritage park at Mingenew’s former Aboriginal reserve site “Littlewell” has been recognised at the annual Banksia Sustainability Awards in Sydney last night.

“This project is a great response to the wounds inflicted on the Ancestors, and it is designed and performed to bring healing to Country and Peoples,” judges said.

They described Littlewell as a “different way to reconciliation that has a lot of joy and positivity in it, entirely reproducible.”

“The project has potential as a simple model for other Indigenous communities to create their own heritage sites,” the judges’ notes said.

Get in front of tomorrow's news for FREE

Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion.

READ NOW

“Building a track of commemorative sites acknowledges the largely untold history of Native Reserves and Missions created under the Aboriginal Protection Act (Flora and Fauna) from 1830s -1970s.”

They said Littlewell Heritage Park was a valuable educational resource for all ages and held economic and employment potential for several small surrounding towns.

More awards for Littlewell and Thomas Cameron:

National Dreamtime Award

NAIDOC Caring for Country Award

Get the latest news from thewest.com.au in your inbox.

Sign up for our emails