New business to promote pride

KATINA CURTIS

A LOCAL Aboriginal couple have started a new business to promote indigenous culture and support artists and sports people.

Stan and Gwenda Jarrett launched Yunimyna in November and had plans to start cultural tours of the Kiama region this month.

Mr Jarrett worked in the Attorney General’s Department and for Aboriginal legal services for the past 17 years and said he found there was a lack of knowledge about Australia’s first culture.

“We want to make people proud of our first people and their culture,” he said.

“We have a beautiful culture behind us but unfortunately through years of legislation our culture has been suppressed.”

Mrs Jarrett said, “We’re doing this business as a personal experience to educate the non-Aboriginal people that all Aboriginal people in this country are different, not all the same.”

To this end, Yunimyna aims to cover a fairly diverse range of things, including events management, promoting indigenous artists and sportspeople, create opportunities for Aboriginal people to open small businesses, run mentoring and consultancy services and promote cultural heritage and cultural tourism.

Mr Jarrett said they would also subcontract other Aboriginal people who specialise in different things when needed.

At the moment they are managing three prominent artists from the Illawarra and one from North Queensland, where Mr Jarrett is from, and selling their artworks.

They are also working on setting up a cultural exchange of dancers between the local people and those in North Queensland.

Mr Jarrett said the idea behind this was “exchanging amongst ourselves first and then give the wider community the chance to participate”.

Another of the business’ ventures will be running Aboriginal cultural tours in Kiama, Gerringong and Gerroa looking at hunting and gathering techniques, camping, significant areas and art and dace lessons.

The name Yunimyna was derived from Mrs Jarrett’s father’s traditional name. The couple chose the company logo of a mud crab because it was an animal that linked them together, from when they used to hunt for the creatures when they first met.

Please e-mail Mr and Mrs Jarrett at yunimyna@bigpond.com for more information.