The below is the welcome to Country that was delivered by Trisha Hodge from NITA Education at the 2022 Tasmanian Architecture Awards. We thank Trisha for sharing this with us.
ya pulingina milaythina mana mapali-tu.
milaythina palawa portmairremener milaythina palawa tyreddeme
mina milaythina trawlwoolway nungumpi-mana mapali
mina milaythina toorenomairemena ningimpi-mana mapali
waranta palawa tunapri tunapri milaythina portmairremener tyreddeme
milaythina layna tapilti tapilti tunapri tunapri milaythina
milaythina muka tapilti tunapri tunapri milaythina
milaythina wukaluwikiwayna tunapri tapilti tapilti milaythina
milaythina wurungkilili tunapri tunapri tapilti tapilti milaythina putiya pawa
portmairremener tyreddeme laykara milaythina kipli mulaka.
milaythina-ta ngayapi nara mapali, milaythina-ta krakapaka nara mapali.
lumi ningimpi-mana mapali nungampi-mana mapali,
lurini waranta mapiya wingani nara mapali, waranta ningina nara mapali paywuta niyakara
waranta takara milaythina nara mapali takara.
milaythina nika. milaythina mana. waranta palawa milaythina nika. nayri nina-tu
Welcome to all of you here on our land.
This is the homelands of the portmairremener tyreddeme people.
My grandfather country is trawlwoolway in the north east and my grandmother country is toorenomairemena, now known as Freycinet.
Our knowledge travels from layna fresh water on mountains to the rivers and out to the muka salt water, out to wukaluwikiwayna Maria Island and up in to wurungkilili the sky, it is never finished.
It was here that the portmairremener tyreddeme hunted for food.
They gave birth on Country, they died on Country.
Our ancestors are still here, we feel them all around us, they give us our dreaming.
We walk where they once walked.
This is our Country. This Country is us. We are this Country. Thank you.
