Welcome to Country

Important Advice:

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised that this app may contain images and voices of people who have died.

About the App.:

The Welcome to Country iPhone app. delivers a simple Welcome to Country video introduction~ to Australian indigenous culture, including basic cultural protocols that are tribal boundary geo-specific^.

The app. uses the GPS function of the iPhone to deliver a Welcome to Country video (or text/image version) to the user via a push notification. Where available within a tribal boundary^, the video will be of a traditional owner (or elder) welcoming the user/visitor to their country when the user enters that tribal geo-boundary^.

The app. educates the user on the Traditional Owners’ culture and heritage protocols right across the Australia. It gives the user a solid appreciation of the many cultures and languages groups that exist in Indigenous Australia. The app. also teaches users some simple, relevant information about Indigenous culture and the customs of the tribe within that tribal geo boundary. As such, the Welcome to Country iPhone app. can be used by tourists, schools, employers, government departments, by tourism bodies and many other user groups and individuals.

Version 1.0 of the Welcome to Country app. contains more than 30 tribes and languages groups (of over 500 groups!) right across Indigenous Australia. We’ll be adding many more language groups over the coming months so please check back regularly for updates.

What is a ‘Welcome to Country’?

“A Welcome to Country is where an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander custodian or elder from the local area or region welcomes people to their land. This may be done through speech, song, dance or ceremony and has been part of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander protocol for thousands of years. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander protocols or customs in relation to Welcome to Country are diverse and will vary from region to region.” (Source: http://www.dhcs.act.gov.au/atsia/welcome_to_country)

Most people don’t know there are over 500 Indigenous tribes (and therefore tribal geo boundaries) and language groups that exist across Indigenous Australia? The Indigenous Australia map that can be found at http://www.abc.net.au/indigenous/map/ is just one representation of other map sources that are available for describing Aboriginal Australia. This map in particular indicates only the general location of larger groupings of people and this may include smaller groups such as clans, dialects or individual languages in a group.

If you’re a traditional owner or a member of an Australian Indigenous language group and you’d like your mob included on the app. please contact us by email welcomeapp@wsmedia.com.au to discuss.

About the Developer:

The Welcome to Country iPhone app. is a Weerianna Street Media (WSM) production.

The app. is part of WSM’s ‘Digital Dreamtime Project’ and is proudly supported by the Australian Government and Woodside Energy / Pluto LNG (operated by Woodside in Joint Venture with Tokyo Gas and Kansai Electric).

WSM is a proud Australian 100% Indigenous cross-media production company located in Roebourne, a small town with a population of less than 900 people, in Western Australia’s majestic Pilbara region. WSM is owned and operated by Tyson Mowarin – creative director, father, award-winning filmmaker & photographer, musician and a proud Ngarluma man who is deeply connected to his Aboriginal culture. He lives in Roebourne with his young daughter Sharliya.

Important Notes:

^ Note that the approximate geo-locations of individual language groups are general in nature and do not in any way represent tribal specific boundaries.

~ Note that the Welcome to Country videos displayed on this app have been been compiled for educational purposes only. These videos must not be used as a substitute for an official, in-person, Welcome to Country in any situation or context whatsoever.