In the lead up to Reconciliation Week this year, the MGGS Senior A AFL team will be playing MLC in the GSV Indigenous Round. We are incredibly proud of First Nations Scholar and boarder, Agnes who designed the guernsey for the game. Agnes’ design incorporates animals which are culturally symbolic to each of our Senior First Nations student.
We are inviting the MGGS community, including past footy players, to come join us on Friday 22 May at Xavier College as we take on MLC in the Indigenous Round.
Melbourne Girls Grammar celebrates National Boarding Week each year to proudly celebrate our MGGS boarders. Among them is Agnes, one of our many First Nations Scholars, who comes from Darwin in the Northern Territory. At the boarders’ assembly this week, alongside our Boarding Captains Celo and Clara, Agnes addressed the School and unveiled the guernsey she has designed for our Senior footy team to wear at that very significant game.
In her speech to the Year 5 to 12 Grammarians, Agnes shared where she’s from; “I’m a First Nations boarder from Darwin. My family comes from the East Kimberley in Western Australia and the Northern Territory. I’m a proud Miriwoong, Gurindgi, Woolawonga, Anmatjere, Maranungu women.”
Agnes then explained in more details the meaning of the animals on her design, “The guernsey design represents all the Senior First Nations girls’ totems, or dreaming animals, which connect us to our land, ancestry and identity. The kangaroo and goanna tracks show us coming and going, while the symbol at the back represents us coming together as one community, something that really reflects Melbourne Girls Grammar.”
“A dreaming animal is a spiritual and cultural symbol, often an animal, plant or natural object. It connects individuals and clans to their land, kingship and natural and ancestral history.” — Agnes
Totems are given are mainly given at birth from family, father or the individual can have multiple totems. Agnes’ totem is the Tartuwali, which “means shark in Tiwi language. I, along with my family from my mother’s side, all inherited the Tartuwali from my great-grandfather Jack Long. He was a part of the stolen generation and taken away at a young age from his mother, sent to Garden Point mission on the Tiwi islands and lost connection to his family and country. Hearing this, the elders from the Tiwi islands were upset that these small children didn’t have any Country so they gifted them permanent land on their country. Now, once a year, my large extended family gather on this country at Woolawonga, on the campsite that my great-grandfather and his nine children built.”— Agnes
We love the guernsey design and the meaning behind it. When you see some of our First Nations Grammarians around the school, you could ask them more about the meaning of their dreaming animal. We cannot wait to see our Senior A AFL team wearing this very special guernsey in MGGS’s inaugural participation in the GSV Indigenous Round against MLC.
Also note MGGS’s Junior AFL team will be playing MLC at Xavier College to further expand this event.
Once again, come join us to cheer our team on that day. Details of the game:
22 May at 3.45pm Pre-match Ceremonies and 4.00pm First Bounce
Xavier College, 135 Barkers Rd, Kew VIC 3101, Australia