St Catherine's Catholic College Indigenous dance group was proud to show their community the college's first possum skin cloak.
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The group has been working on creating this special garment and on Thursday afternoon the cloak was given its first public appearance at a smoking ceremony held on the school grounds.
Following the ceremony visitors were then able to view Indigenous artworks created by the students in a display in the college hall.
The cloak was made by members of the Indigenous dance group and is to be held by the group according to Kerri Clarke (Boonwurrung/Wemba Wemba) who worked with the students on it design and actual production.
Joining Kerri in teaching the students about possum skin cloak making was Mitch and Molly Mahoney (Boonwurrung/Wemba Wemba/Barkindji).
Cloaks are traditional items that are connected to First Nations people from the southeast of Australia.
Kerri and Mitch's family are among those who are working to reclaim cloak-making as a way of telling stories and passing cultural information on to the next generation.
"This cloak represents the story of the dance group and therefore stays with the dance group," said Kerri.
"It is all about story making and the cloak contains and tells a particular story.
"Fortunately we are seeing a resurgence of interest in possum skin cloaks and how to make them as they are a significant part of our cultural history."
The possum skin cloak-making enabled Kerri, Mitch and Molly to share their knowledge of cloak making; from sewing, to learning about using ochre to dye the cloak, and how the design of the cloak was part of the storytelling process.
"Cloak making is about maintaining our culture so it was a privilege to work with the students at St Catherine's College Indigenous dance group and pass on our knowledge," said Kerri.