Illustration
Wagga Wagga City Council
2024
Wagga Wagga City Council has a broad scope, serving more than 68,000 residents and managing Wagga Wagga Airport, a large aquatic centre, a livestock marketing centre, as well as providing hugely important community facilities including the City Library, Art Gallery, and Civic Theatre.
As part of their commitment to First Nations peoples, both living within the Local Government Area and those employed by Council, WWCC reached out to Yirra Miya to explore developing cultural elements to be used in their First Nations Peoples Employment & Retention Strategy corporate document. In consultation with Indigenous staff member, key themes had been identified that connect with the community’s Wiradjuri living culture and heritage. As a proud Wiradjuri woman, Leticia was the perfect fit for this project and was excited and inspired to draw on her cultural roots to create and illustrate the themes that had been identified.
Through consultation with the team at WWCC, Leticia created a Cultural Elements package whose interpretations reflect WWCC’s core pillars and are connected to stories and meanings shared to our team through WWCC’s extensive community consultations.
This cultural element reflects the Bila-galang (‘rivers’) and the profound cultural, spiritual, and practical significance they hold for the people in Wagga Wagga. The rivers provide lifelong sustainability both for Country and people, nourishing the land and fostering community wellbeing.
The shape of the river depicted here reflects The Murrumbidgee, known for its significant movement and flow, enriched with the First Nations creator spirits and ancestors who travelled the land to form the waters, mountains, trees, and surroundings. The river is connected to the meeting places in orange, shown by the flowing water lines, which demonstrates the intertwined relationship between people and Country. The teal dot grouping symbolises the tops of the trees, alongside people who are seated by the riverbanks. These trees stand as witnesses to the timeless connection between nature and community.
Significantly, the two people sitting together represent the passing of cultural knowledge from local Elders to younger generations. This intergenerational sharing is crucial in preserving the spiritual, ecological, and cultural understandings tied to the rivers, ensuring that future generations continue to respect and protect these sacred waterways.
This cultural element represents the importance of connection between First Nations and Non-First Nations people walking side-by-side in a non-linear journey. This element reflects reconciliation, mutual respect, and the shared responsibility of people in Wagga Wagga. This connection reflects a commitment to understanding, healing, and working together to create a future that honours both First Nations and non-First Nations contributions to society and community.
At the centre of the circle is a campsite, symbolising a gathering point layered by generations of knowledge and understanding. Country is represented by the outer layers surrounding the campsite. The movement of the shape under the community circle of Country (crosshatching) represents connection to Country. The dots following the journey lines, with the two journey lines connecting the footprints, reflects the planting of seeds for continued growth.
This cultural element represents education for promote understanding, respect, and inclusion in a diverse community between First Nations and non-First Nations people. It reflects a process for fostering understanding, growth, and reconciliation and its pivotal role in shaping perspectives, building understanding, and ensuring that First Nations culture and history is preserved and valued.
The boomerang in the centre represents reciprocity, balance, and the resilience of First Nations culture, history, and knowledge. This boomerang is symbolic, demonstrating it is more than a tool, it reflects creating, gathering, sharing and the perseverance of knowledge – knowledge is in turn powerful.
The campsite in the middle is surrounded by women, men, and people to reflect the sharing of diverse knowledge from people of different backgrounds, experiences, and stages of life. They are sitting beside the boomerang to represent the significance of education and respectful knowledge sharing, and holding a safe space within the journey tracks.
The larger knowledge sticks (orange) represent amplifying voices and the smaller knowledge sticks (red) represent the importance of passing knowledge along the line to the next person. The stars (top left and bottom right) represent ancestral knowledge from our past to be shared into our future.
This cultural element is a powerful representation of place, history, and the passing of knowledge across generations. At its core is the meeting place, symbolising a place of community and connection. Surrounding this centre are repetitive circles, illustrating the ongoing evolution and growth of culture and knowledge through time. The gradient colours within the circles capture the depth and richness of knowledge, emphasising the importance of knowledge and understanding being passed down from one generation to the next.
Encircling the centre are knowledge sticks in orange, symbolising the act of sitting together, sharing stories, and passing on vital teachings. These sticks reflect the circular motion of knowledge exchange, where each person contributes to, and enriches the collective wisdom of community.
Scattered throughout are dots, representing the seeds planted for future growth. These dots mark pivotal moments in Wagga Wagga’s history, signifying that every point of learning and action plays a crucial role in shaping the future. This element not only honours the past but also plants the seeds for continued growth and evolution within the community.
This cultural element reflects the importance of respect for people, Country, and community which is fundamental to identity and connection to Mother Earth and each other.
At the centre of the circle is a campsite, symbolising a gathering point layered by generations of knowledge and understanding. Surrounding the campsite, the outer layers represent Country and journey tracks, illustrating the interconnectedness between the land and the paths walked by the people. The dots surrounding the design are seeds being planted for future growth and emphasising aspects of community responsibility.
The two U-shaped symbols represent people sitting on the journey track and reflecting on their journey, both physically and spiritually. They share respect with, and for, one another, reflecting the core values of collaboration, mutual understanding, and support.
Leticia loved bringing this very personal project to life in close consultation with the WWCC team.
Click the button to see the cultural illustrations in action
‘Leticia and the team at Yirra Miya were invaluable in bringing Council’s First Nations People Employment & Retention strategy to life. The service was a true collaboration in a professional, structured, and thoughtful way.
The end product is expertly created cultural illustrations and digital assets that we can incorporate across our corporate documents and communications. Thank you, Leticia and team!’
Megan Bett
Wagga Wagga City Council
WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are warned that the following website may contain images, video and voices of deceased persons.