Our two local indigenous artists

Aunty Ros

Hi I am, ‘Aunt’ Ros Kneebone-Dodson an Elder of the Dja Dja Wurrung people’s of this area lived and grew up in Campbells Creek and is Castlemaine Chough’s logo design artist.
I wanted to explain the significance and meaning of this special bird that has many, many great communal qualities.

The White Winged Chough, was given a gorgeous crimson eye, and keeps a secret beneath the brightness of their glossy white wings. The ‘Chough’ reveals its secret only in flight, the brilliance of its white underwings.
Dja Dja Wurrung people believe it holds an unwavering commitment to its family, it works as a team in they travel in families – a community – which look out for, preen, feed and protect each other, raising their young and collectively alerting the community of danger. Much of this is reflected in Dja Dja Wurrung people’s traditions.

For us, it is more than what is visible to the eye; it is a living entity which holds the stories of creation and histories that cannot be erased.
Our Martinga kuli (Ancestors) believed that the Chough, held within its beautiful crimison eyes the secrets its heart, we are duty bound to look after and nurture it young for future generations.
“For my family, our dreaming stories of the Chough is interwoven into the landscape with, our Lore and our Martinga kuli murrup (Ancestral spirits) their sense of community, family and ‘working as a team’.

It gathered around our Martiinga Kuli, Ancestors, and Balaki, mob, as they passed through the land for ceremony, it nourished and alerted them. In return they were the guardians of djandak, in the care of the waterways and woodlands, ensuring the health and future of their young.