Totems & Our Spirituality

Nargoon

Nargoon (koala) is the tribal totem of our Pangerang people. A totem is a spiritual symbol – a natural object, plant or animal. Our individual totems are what keeps the biodiversity of our country in harmony. We give each boori (child) a totem at birth, passed on from their parents and ancestors.

Our spirituality

Land is the starting point from where everything in our world began. We don’t own the land, the land owns us. We see our bodies as the land and our veins are the rivers that flow through us, nourishing us and sustaining life. We are spiritually connected to the land, like an artery and its tributaries – like the life-giving water that flows through the Ovens River and its tributaries, from the mountains, down across the plains and into the mighty Murray River. ~ Uncle Sandy Atkinson