Rickeeta Walley on Harry Styles and a Welcome To Country that went viral

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Noongar cultural educator Rickeeta Walley Credit: COLE BAXTER

Rickeeta Walley is from a family that helped bring the Welcome to Country into a modern age while protecting millennia old protocols. When her dad Richard Walley was asked to do a Welcome to Country for Harry Styles, he had no idea who that was. The Welcome became a viral sensation and sparked an international discussion about the importance of the Welcome to Country, and creating spiritually safe cultural protocols for guests coming to 'Australia'.


Rickeeta Walley joins Brooke Collard to talk about her role as a cultural educator and researcher in this episode of Noongar Wellbeing.

They explore the the complexities of cultural safety, how to hold the space when teaching, and how the international attention of the Harry Styles moment was an opportunity for a much broader cultural engagement.
I did office 9 to 5. I would watch the clock for my break to just walk outside for 15 minutes and it just drained me. I only did it for six months and I was starting to actually feel quite low... I know some people are just so good at it and thrive and I can't. I love to be able to do something different every day. That's what keeps me full of energy.
Rickeeta Walley
On the second season of Noongar Wellbeing, Noongar youth share how they incorporate culture into their wellbeing, for self and community.

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The series is created and hosted by Brooke Collard.

If this episode raised anything for you, offers free and confidential support, available 24/7 from any mobile or pay phone. Call 13YARN on 13 92 76 and talk with an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Crisis Supporter.

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