Smoking ceremony paves the way for ECU City
Senior Whadjuk Noongar Elder Barry Winmar conducted a Smoking Ceremony on the future ECU City site.
ECU City celebrated an important milestone last week, with Senior Whadjuk Noongar Elders Dr Richard Walley OAM and Barry Winmar delivering a moving Welcome to Country and Smoking Ceremony on the site of the future university campus in Perth’s CBD.
The special event was held to acknowledge and pay respect to the traditional custodians of the land - the Whadjuk people of the Noongar Nation have lived, learned and been connected to the area known as Boorloo (Perth) for more than two thousand generations.
Whadjuk Noongar Elders were joined by Edith Cowan University Vice-Chancellor Professor Steve Chapman CBE, Parliamentary Secretary Ms Sabine Winton MLA and Multiplex representatives who gathered on the site.
Dr Walley began with a Welcome to Country in the local Noongar dialect, where he explained the history and significance of the area as an ancient place of gathering and learning.
The Welcome to Country was followed by a traditional Smoking Ceremony, led by Barry Winmar. Smoking Ceremonies are an ancient cleansing ritual that involve burning native plants and are used to ward off bad spirits and to signify new beginnings.
Acknowledgement and celebration of Aboriginal culture and heritage will form an important part of ECU City’s striking design and future programming.
ECU is working closely with its Whadjuk Noongar Elders Advisory Group, led by Dr Richard Walley and Dr Robyn Smith Walley, to inform the design of its campus that connects a rich past with an exciting future. Drawing on the Elders’ vast knowledge, ECU City’s design will be inspired by the site’s historic landscape, vegetation, culture, language and people.
L-R: Dr Richard Walley, Parliamentary Secretary to the Premier and Member for Wanneroo, Sabine Winton MLA, Barry Winmar and Scott Henderson, ECU Vice-President (Corporate Services).
Major works will soon start on the landmark $853 million campus that will see creative industries, business and technology come together in Perth’s first comprehensive inner-city university campus.
ECU City is jointly funded under the Perth City Deal, with the Australian Government committing $294 million, the Western Australian Government $199 million and ECU $360 million and is expected to be completed in late 2025.