Explore the mural below by navigating left and right. Click on the numbers to learn more about the meaning behind the artwork.
The story of our Naidoc Jumper
The Swan Districts jumper design for the club’s 2023 WAFLW Reconciliation and WAFL NAIDOC home games is from the mural at Steel Blue Oval Bassendean designed and painted by local artist and proud Whadjuk-Yuet-Ballardong man, Kevin Bynder.
The design is an ancient satellite map showing the places of significance along the Derbarl Yerrigan near Steel Blue Oval Bassendean. It serves as an important cultural reference point and educational tool.
This is Kevin's grandfather’s country as he was born down by the river, so this has been a spiritual project for him given he is so connected to this area.
The map includes significant places that have transpired over thousands of years including massacre sites, burial sites, meeting locations, camp sites, fishing spots, as well where expecting mothers would go to give birth.
Swan Districts and Steel Blue Oval represented in the map as a Swan inside an oval using the symbol for a meeting place.
Other sites include:
- The area in which we now play has been a significant meeting place for Noongar people for tens of thousands of years
- Areas of trade between the Whadjuk and Ballardong people, during the Makuru and Djilba seasons (as it happens, most of the football season)
- The resting location of the Waugal, and a number of smaller, but still significant waterways created by it
- “The Point” which is where mothers would go to give birth. This is the birthplace of many Elders, and Kevin’s grandfather was also born there.
