As a reward for 90 per cent school attendance, a group of our Thuringowa Stars were taken on a special trip to Palm Island recently, to join in the celebration of the island’s annual Spring Festival.
The Spring Festival is the largest annual community event on Palm Island and is an opportunity for its people to celebrate culture and showcase the strength and diversity of the island’s families and history.
The contemporary Aboriginal name for Palm Islanders is ‘Bwgcolman people’ (pronounced Bwook-a-mun), which means ‘many tribes – one people’. This is because during the so-called ‘Protection Era’ in Australia, people from over 40 tribes were displaced from their homelands and sent to Palm Island Aboriginal Reserve.
This was the first visit to Palm Island for many of our Stars, and they were fascinated to learn more about the island’s people, history and culture.
