Keerray Woorroong and Yorta Yorta woman Sherry Johnstone designed Geelong’s Sir Doug Nicholls Round First Nations guernsey,which will be proudly worn this weekend against West Coast in Perth.
The Cats will also wear the jumper in the final home and away round at GMHBA Stadium on Friday November 1.
Mrs Johnstone spoke of the importance of looking after our environment and celebrating the unique elements of the Australian landscape that First Nations people have called home for more than 60,000 years.
“I wanted this guernsey design to create thoughts and conversations about looking after Country and how important it is to appreciate, protect and fight for what we have whilst restoring what is struggling to survive,” she said.
“So the key messages are for us all to be aware of the impact we are having on our environment and animals, and working together on creating timely solutions.”
The guernsey details several features of the Australian landscape, namely Sea Country, Flat Country, Stoney Country and Hilly Country, as well as highlighting waterways, which represent journeys and time, and footprints representing the First Nations peoples who walked on and sustained the land for more than 60,000 years, living with and from the land.
Each side of the guernsey has a shield, representing protection, encouraging us to become warriors to protect what is important to us, and guard our environment against future harm.
The shoulders of the guernsey feature hills, representing the challenges we are up against, but there are also windows in the hills representing opportunity for different cultures to come together.
The circle above the footprints on the chest represents a gathering place, coming together as a team with a message stick encouraging us to pass on the message of the importance of looking after all the elements of our land.
