Spotlight on Katanning
Written by Bec Bignell
The rural town of Katanning on the edge of the wheatbelt in the Great Southern region of WA is largely defined by the many people from many cultures that reside within the community.
The word Kaat-nyiny is a local Noongar word meaning “the head sits here”. It comes from the Dreamtime story of Mulka, a giant man whose body parts are embedded in country throughout the Great Southern Region. It has long been known as a meeting place as it was the junction of three Aboriginal tribal grounds long before European settlement.
Katanning has over 40 different language groups within the shire, and many who’ve moved into Katanning have come from overseas meaning the adjustment has been huge – not merely adapting from a city in the same country but beginning a completely new way of life in a totally new part of the world.
It would be disingenuous to pretend that regional communities have always been welcoming and inclusive. Listening to diverse stories and engaging in meaningful conversations with people whose stories have not traditionally been highlighted is a crucial step towards a more inclusive regional community. The little town of Katanning understands that celebrating these stories is fundamental to their multi-cultural community.
The Goreng Noongar people are the traditional custodians of this regional community and we spoke to widely respected local Noongar Elder Ezzard Flowers to learn about the region from the point of view of the First People of the place.
Ezzard is a renowned and highly esteemed leader who has a deep knowledge of the cultural significance of the region.
“It means place of talking heads – that is connected to the dreaming story and part of our cultural domain and cultural realm of Mulka and Djinda. In Katanning, there’s a lot of Aboriginal or Noongar cultural connections within our region. It’s also embraced a lot of different cultures into the township and into the Shire and everybody gets along with everyone. Especially the old simple, “G’day! How you going mate?” You know, that creates an opportunity to have a yarn and a talk in the main street, talk about our similarities and our differences and also about moving forward, walking together in harmony and connection with our region.”
Ezzard has his own personal experience of what it is to move. At age eight he became part of the Stolen Generation when he was taken from his family and placed in Marribank Mission.
“I was born and raised in Gnowangerup until I was 8 years. In 1968 my father got killed in a car crash and mum was pregnant with our youngest brother, Dean, and they thought we were being neglected, the native welfare department, but that was part of the cultural parcel that when something like that happens, the mother is taken care of and us kids we go to each family member within the region every now and again. They thought we were being neglected so they sent me and my siblings to Marribank which used to be known as Carrolup. I stayed in Katanning until grade seven and then because I was becoming a teenager, they moved me without informing my sister and my brothers and all the other kids…and then I got moved to different parts of the state – Perth, Moora, Kalgoorlie, Esperance and finally came back home when I was eighteen.”
Ezzard believes the collective support for living in harmony sets his community apart.
“We all acknowledge and understand what harmony is all about. We pursue that vision. It’s a different environment – it’s more relaxed and slower in relation to the city. More flexible. There’s a lot more to see out in the wide-open spaces here. You also connect with the beautiful sunsets and sunrises we have in the region, create stories and reason to have a yarn and talk about the beauty and the connection within each township, all that kind of stuff. And of course, the way that we have slowly developed, but making sure that throughout the developments we are all interconnected, we create one vision through many voices and support that journey going forward. It’s all about collaboration and partnership and walking and working and talking together.”
To understand the ways the community works together to collaborate and bring this united vision to the front we spoke to Katanning Councillor, Deputy Shire President Liz Guidera.
“We are very well known as a multicultural community and one of the catalysts is thanks to the Cocos Malay people that came here in the early seventies. But if you actually think about Katanning, it’s always been a place of people coming from other places as the Aboriginal name is cut Kaat-nyiny some people call it Kartannin and that is known as the head, or it’s generally known in all those different versions is known as the meeting place. That’s what the area is called.”
Liz explains that the many different cultural influences enrich the community and add so much vibrancy to the experiences and environment, “we have a very strong Vanuatuan community who were working at the at WAMCO and they danced here – it was just this incredible energy and music that they brought to our town square for everyone to enjoy…some of the key real moments that have been transformational for our community are at the Harmony Festival which showcases our multicultural community and shows the many different cultural groups and how much we really value and respect their traditions and their cultures.”
Liz believes that increased access to international news has enhanced a collective approach in ensuring Katanning is a welcoming community, “I think there’s more understanding of world news and the challenges that many people face in their own country and why they want to come to a place like Australia, and then Katanning, for their safety and to be in an environment where their family can thrive.”
Local events are always underpinned by the depth of culture within Katanning and they are an opportunity to celebrate the many different cultures within the town and also an accessible way for community members to learn more about the people that live in the town.
“Our current art exhibition at the moment in our art gallery is memory boxes and it was tied into the harmony festival. I’ve just been through it and it is so incredibly powerful – a fantastic way of demonstrating not only culture but history of different families.”
One of the people who has made a significant mark on the community is Alep Mydie – a multi-talented business owner who moved to Katanning from Christmas Island with his parents when he was 14.
Switching the coast, palm trees and island life for paddocks, gums and inland living Alep’s adjustment to regional life in Australia was big, “it took a lot of adjustment…from going about your day daily life on the island – swimming, fishing, snorkelling and then coming to a remote tiny town of Katanning which is surrounded by vast areas of land, crops, bushes, trees, sheep and cattle… it’s hard to describe but so unique to leave behind the life of an island boy.”
A lover of good coffee and food Alep always imagined he’d one day own a café. True his hard work and entrepreneurial spirit his vision became real life and his hospitality hub, the Daily Grind, is (like him) a local icon that attract crowds from near and far.
“I’ve always dreamed to own a coffee shop, like watching the Godfather I love that they sit down in a coffee shop and drink their favourite coffee…I was watching this this shop called The Daily Grind and ten years ago I said, “I wish that I if I have enough money and I’ll buy that business” and I never looked back. It was a challenge for me, but my dream came true.”
Alep is highly respected within the region not only because he’s the man behind many delicious cups of coffee, but also because he’s assumed many leadership roles such as the community’s Islamic leader and he’s been a Shire Councillor.
Over the years his influence has made a profound impact as he’s highly invested in the town, “The business is a product of contributing our culture, our values and people seeing us. People come and see me and say “hello” in the Daily Grind. It became my office people come to see all of us…it’s just phenomenal that people have given me that support…it has not been easy for me, but I’m grateful.”
Alep’s contribution to the community goes back years, and he was inspired by fellow members of the Malay Muslim community who made international impact when they built a world class Mosque in Katanning.
“We arrived in 1974 and I was a young teenager gradually building myself as a young youth leader and I was involved in fundraising for the future of building a mosque. I can remember for so many years we were renting or leasing buildings…and we saved a lot of money without any help… and then bought a piece of land that we own now. It was a challenge for us but building that mosque – it has become an icon not just for the local but people from overseas including the former king of Malaysia who came here.”
Alep’s business is always lively and buzzing with people who appreciate the offering and the owner. For Alep, his café his more than just an opportunity to serve tasty treats, in the Daily Grind he’s created an outlet for connection and companionship.
“It’s just the people, it is the quietness…Katanning will always be my little cottage home. I can talk to friends. I can talk to you and talk to anybody that comes to the shop. Katanning is home to my children. Home is a shelter, but it’s also a home where I can talk my friends, talk about food, talk about anything that I would like to talk about in the morning drinking coffee.”
Just like Alep, Maeve O’Brien had no long-time links to the regions, but she had a gut feeling that it was going to suit her well, “I have just never felt fully happy in the city but I probably didn’t even know that I wasn’t fully happy in the city until I moved to the country and went – “okay, this is where I’m supposed to be.” Yeah, it just suits me and my head and my life so much better than living in the city ever would.
Maeve quickly found her feet in Katanning and with a degree in animal studies she embarked on a career in agriculture where her fresh perspective presented new ways of doing things.
“Country people and agriculture in general are at risk sometimes of just doing things the way that everybody else has always done it because Farms have been passed down from father to son and father to son and things just happen the same way over and over again. It’s gotten a lot better now and people like me coming from outside has helped that in a big way – doing things more from a scientific background…I found that when I was working for people because I have to learn everything so actively, so I ask so many questions. Asking someone to explain the reason why they do something is a really good way to help them justify why they actually are doing something, the way that they’re doing it and it means that quite often I can see a better way of doing it because they haven’t really thought about it. And I also I think from an occupational health and safety point of view I probably balk at things a little bit more than someone who’s grown up on a farm might. I remember the first time I was asked to climb up to the top of a silo I was terrified and that’s something that you might think of if you have grown up on a farm and done it 100 times.”
Finding a social network is an important consideration for many when moving and for new mum Maeve Katanning is the ideal place for support and connection. She believes the commonly held belief that young people leave the country to pursue their dreams in the city is being reversed, “I think there’s a myth that kids grow up in the country and then they leave and it’s just their parents left behind and they go off to the city and chase their dreams in the city and don’t ever want to come back. But so many people have grown up here in Katanning and stay here and have no plans to leave. It’s a great place to live having a young family.”
Maeve has found a nurturing network, and all sorts of people have emerged to rally around her, including a group of netballers who help from the sidelines so their star recruit can blow off some steam, “it’s been awesome because there’s always someone around to help, like I was just at netball training last night and I brought the baby with me and there was like four people as soon as I walked in saying, “give me that baby! Give me that baby, and you go and run!”
The serenity of regional life coupled with the welcoming nature of the community has solidified Maeve’s commitment to a life in the country and she can’t imagine raising a family anywhere else.
“I see myself staying here long term. My partner and I lease a little farm just to the east of us and I hope we continue leasing that for a long time or leasing land for a long time. We have a really great group of friends; we’ve got our three-month-old little baby and we’ll be raising her in Katanning for sure and we’re hoping to have more kids and would like to raise all of them in Katanning. I don’t see myself moving from here at all, I’m really at home here.”
Someone who inherently understands the importance of support for mothers who move is the 2023 winner of the Katanning Community Citizen of the Year, Moolay Ta Loh.
Moolay’s move to Katanning was a truly extraordinary journey starting in Pauk Kone in Myanmar. Aged 7 Moolay was sent to a refugee camp on the Thailand border so she could pursue her education. Here she lived with her auntie for 11 years and during this time she was unable to see her mother more than once, as demanded by the miliary.
In 2009 Moolay finally had the opportunity to leave, and she came to Australia on a refugee program living in Melbourne at the beginning and later moving to Katanning with her husband.
“My husband knew a friend in Katanning and then they contacted him, and my husband came first to Katanning and then I came out later. We find it easy to live in Katanning – it’s quiet place and also my husband loves to work in the abattoir, and the house price is not too expensive.”
On arrival to the town Moolay initially felt a little lonely so she set about connecting within the community, forming strong bonds within many different networks.
I went to the mother group and there were not only Korean mothers in the group, we could connect with other mothers also, like Malay, Afghanistan, like other ethnic groups so we know each other, so we feel very connected. We could communicate with each other and then the kids like to play with each other and learn how to share with other kids and how to communicate with other ethnic groups, so that made me really happy. I was also happy to get a big job and work within our current community.”
Mothers Group also gave Moolay an opportunity to share her culture and experience other cultures too, “we share the food of our culture and enjoy food from other cultures too… as some of the mothers bring their own food to share with others… We do special days, like New Year’s and Thanksgiving – all the while cooking our food – we never forget our own food and our own culture.”
A visionary with a passion for people Moolay saw a need to support parents migrating to multicultural Katanning and she made herself available to assist with their transition – helping women find their community, driving them to medical appointments, supporting as their interpreter, helping them learn English and supporting them to maintain their culture and rituals.
“When I started working with the current community some of the mothers are non- English speaking so it’s harder when they go into the GP or to a child’s immunization appointment and so I started working with mothers…I also started teaching traditional weaving. Most often the mothers know how to weave their own traditional clothes.”
Moolay has not only moved physical locations to a drastic extent, but she’s also moved hearts and minds, her invaluable contribution to the community was acknowledged last year when she was awarded the Community Citizen of the Year, “I feel like I’m very proud of myself for that award…and it gave me the best memory that I’ll never forget.”
Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe to You Moved Where?
on Apple Podcasts or Spotify for updates
