Our Ancestors are those who came before us, those who have enabled us to speak our many languages, those who connect us to Country, those who taught us our dreaming stories, those who have kept our culture alive for tens of thousands of years, and those who fought for our rights that we have today.

For us as First Nations people, our Ancestors hold special spiritual significance to us, both in our day-to-day lives, in ceremony and spirituality.

We honour our Ancestors through song, dance, language, caring for Country, art and storytelling. We regard this as precious gifts that have been given to us.

Despite the dispossession and other atrocities and hardships that affected our Ancestors who survived colonisation, these Ancestors never left our culture and kept our sacred knowledges alive and thriving.

Now, our Elders and Old People hold one of the most important roles in our communities as teachers of the younger generations by passing down our traditional knowledges to us that they too learnt from their Ancestors, and those Ancestors, Ancestors.

Djinda Midariny

The story Djinda Midariny from First Nations Bedtime Stories 2023, as told by Whadjuk and Ballardong Elder Aunty Kerry-Ann Winmar, explains how in some communities, the stars in the sky are our Ancestors, who are always watching over us.

In her beautifully written Noongar dreamtime story, Djinda Midariny, which is the name of the Eastern Star in Whadjuk Noongar language, is a story about a young Noongar man who was a very good dancer – one of the best ever.

He was so good that other Noongar men got jealous and wanted to hurt him.

To protect the dancer, his family sent him into the sky and he became the Djinda Midariny. You can still see him there today.

The Eastern Star flickers at night time because he is still dancing.

It is also important to us to care for, love and deeply respect our Elders who remain on this earth – one day they too will be our Ancestors dancing in the sky with Djinda Midariny.