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Bunya Dreaming garden gives school wow factor by Marcus Priaulx here were no lights. There were no cameras. But there was a stack of action and engaging conversation as the Stewart family travelled from Wondai and Brisbane to paint under lights to ensure the Saint Mary’s Catholic College’s, Bunya Dreaming Garden was ready for its Reconciliation Week opening on last week. Their effort would have been more entertaining than many TV home renovation shows that fill our night-time viewing but it presented the garden with a true wow factor and a Dreaming Circle that catches the eye. In all, the garden took five years to complete. It was then the Kingaroy school, 240km west of Brisbane, asked its students to design a garden that would honour the traditional Wakka Wakka landowner’s and the school’s Aboriginal students. No outright winner was declared but the best aspects from the entries were adopted. How it looks: It now sits overlooking the Bunya Mountains in recognition of the triannual festivals that had tribes historically attend from all over southern Queensland.
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St Mary’s Catholic College Year 12 student Shania Stewart and school captain’s Matthew Guteridge and Sam Watson love the Bunya Dreaming Garden they helped the school build. Shania joined her parents Les and Sally and sisters Barb and Linda on weekends and nights to design and paint the garden’s Dreaming Circle. Image supplied
Six totem poles sit at the back to designate the six languages within the Catholic Brisbane Archdiocese. A curvy path lies in front of these to represent
the Wakka Wakka totem of the carpet snake. Native trees, bushes and grasses are planted on either side of the path but the centre pieces are the Christian Cross, painted
by local artist Niketa Law with an Indigenous theme that lays in the centre at the back, and the Dreaming Circle that lays in the centre at the front. Passion:
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The latter was created by the Stewarts when not working in their managerial roles or studying for a medical degree or Year 12. “There was a lot of discussion about how it would look,” youngest daughter and Saint Mary’s student Shania said with a wry smile. “I don’t think there’s ever a painting done in our house without passionate debate.”
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But the group would settle on a design and colour for a segment and, when completed, discuss how the next part would look to complement it. After six months the Dreaming Circle’s centre reflects the Bunya Mountains “that are central to our culture”. Then there’s people playing the didgeridoo to represent the festivals. Outside of these are the spirit birds, wallabies
and people, then the carpet snake and three outer circles to designate the years between the gatherings in which tribes would organise marriages, boundaries and other factors that governed their lives and interaction. Principal Mike Nayler said the school was “over the moon” with the whole garden. “It’s had a great effect on people. It shows the power of the Bunya
Mountains in Aboriginal culture and of this sacred space itself,” he said. Shania was proud to have been part of the effort and said the painting done by her family would be its legacy to the school. She is the youngest Stewart and this is her last year. “It’s always going to be here,” she said.