00:01The craft of basket weaving dates back thousands of years in Indigenous history.
00:07It's helped me connect back to my roots.
00:11I'm not just an Aboriginal woman, but I'm a Torres Strait Islander woman too.
00:16And weaving is a part of that side of my family as well.
00:20Vivian Leigh Watson is a Wadja Wadja woman.
00:23She grew up in Warrabinda, an Indigenous community near Rockhampton in central Queensland.
00:28Six years ago she learnt how to weave, and it quickly turned into more than a hobby.
00:33I started off with a bracelet, 24 hours later I came back with a basket, and the rest is history.
00:38I've now gone on to create a business out of it.
00:41Earlier this year she quit her job to take up weaving full time,
00:45and has been holding workshops in her local community.
00:48If someone doesn't want to do something, they can simply just sit here and have a yarn,
00:51have a coffee, have a cold drink, have a sandwich. So we don't judge nobody.
00:55Culture is important to this community.
00:58The area was gazetted as an Aboriginal reserve by the state government in 1927.
01:03The township lies in the traditional lands of the Wadja and Gungaloo Aboriginal peoples.
01:07It's estimated there are 52 clans represented in Warrabinda.
01:12It keeps people grounded for who they are, where they come from, why they matter in life basically.
01:18Passing on traditional skills so they don't get lost in a modern world.
01:22I just love seeing the ladies come out, you know.
01:25Actually having my elders here and teaching them something when they've been the one that has been teaching me, you
01:31know.
01:32Thank you very much.
01:32And I'd lmaji, thank everyone.
01:32Thank you so much for watching you.
01:32You look at the username and here at least.
01:33You
Comments