Wunya Baby and Child to Country ceremony

Thirty-eight babies and children were recently welcomed into Kubi Kubi country by a local elder during the Wunya Baby and Child to Country ceremony.

The ceremony, supported by Brisbane North PHN, was held in Caboolture on 31 July and attended by 150 members of the children’s families and community.

Brisbane North PHN’s Program Development Officer, Warwick Pawsey said the ceremony is an integral part of welcoming a new baby and child into Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

“It is a cultural practice that involves the whole community – men, women, children and extended families.”

For thousands of years Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have held Welcome Baby to Country ceremonies to acknowledge an infant’s connection to the lands on which they are born.

During the ceremony, babies and children received kangaroo furs, clap sticks, a traditionally designed headband, books, a certificate and a family photo.

This ceremony first began as an initiative of the First 1000 Days program. Aimed at giving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children a better start to life, the program ran in the Moreton Bay region from July 2018 until 2020. Five ceremonies have been held since it began.

Pictured above: Warwick Pawsey, Program Development Officer, Brisbane North PHN; and Deb Jackson, Aboriginal Family Support Worker, Caboolture Early Years.