By NICOLE VALICEK
CHILDREN from the Altona North Early Childhood Centre have helped to create a mural designed to acknowledge and pay respect to the ancestors of the land on which the centre is built.
The traditional owners of the Land are the Yulukit Wilum, of the Boonwarrung Language Group.
The mural is of a big wave that contains words and native fish made out of clay by the three-year-old and four-year-old children of the early childhood centre in 2012.The picture is a symbolic reminder of the Yulikit Willum People who respected their environment by not fishing when the fish were spawning, in order to protect the future of their environment and their food supply.
The ceramic mural was assembled by community artist Debbie Qadri.
The mural was officially opened with a smoking ceremony to cleanse the mural.
The mural was created with the help of funding from DEEWR Indigenous Education Program, which is an initiative to promote awareness and participation within the indigenous community at all levels of education.
