- Boulder Railway Station Building, Loopline Park, Hamilton St, Boulder WA 6432
- (08) 9021 3788
- info@wangka.com.au
GALCAC’s Men’s Wellbeing project, Puntu Pirni Palya (PPP), is a 3-year initiative for First Nations men across the Goldfields. PPP translates to many good men in Goldfield’s languages.
The PPP project engages men through culture and language as a way to explore and scaffold wellbeing. The project is by First Nations, about First Nations, for First Nations.
The PPP project is delivered by a mobile artefact making workshop in the form of a truck. The truck is fully equipped with resources for artefact making. The truck is manned by First Nations men, and guided by a local Cultural Steward.
The PPP truck visits communities for one week, offering a decolonised space for men to connect, and to create. It provides a decolonised space for men to yarn, connect, create, and enjoy wellbeing all through the medium of artefact making.
The workshops are for First Nations men over the age of 18 and are completely free.
PPP Project Information Brochure
PPP Project Participation Brochure
Wellbeing means living well and feeling well.
Wellbeing includes mental, physical, social, emotional, cultural and spiritual health. It is about feeling a sense of purpose, maintaining strong relationships, having the ability to manage challenges, and feeling connected to culture and community.
In the Goldfields context, wellbeing is holistic and relational. It includes connection to land (ngurra), the opportunity to speak wangka (language), connection to Yanangu (people), the ability to undertake ngurlu (cultural obligations), and abide by Tjukurrpa/Jukurrpa (First Nation’s law).
A decolonised space is one centred in First Nations language, culture and worldview.
It is free from externally imposed programs, evaluation processes, and Western frameworks. A decolonised space prioritises cultural authority, local knowledge systems, and community governance. It is a space managed by Tjukurrpa/Jukurrpa.
The PPP workshop space is culturally, and linguistically, safe. It provides a place for cultural stewardship, and ensures that First Nations knowledge, histories and values are centralised.
Within this space, Western programs, projects, frameworks, and agencies are not delivered.
The PPP project employs a Cultural Steward in each community to guide the workshop space.
The Cultural Steward leads the content of the project and ensures culture, knowledge, and authority are respected, upheld, and passed on. In some communities, more than one Cultural Steward may guide the space where this is culturally appropriate.
Artefact creation is a byproduct of the time men spend at the PPP workshops enjoying wellbeing. Cultural Stewards guide men in artefact making using their own cultural knowledge.
The project prioritises sustainably sourced wood purchased directly from First Nations suppliers. All wood is locally sourced from the Goldfields region.
The type of wood varies between communities, and the materials used depend on what is culturally appropriate and suitable for each visit.
The PPP project is underpinned by 5 values which aligns with First Nations worldview, and respects all levels of First Nations culture.
If you are based in the Goldfields region and would like the PPP truck to visit your community, please contact us!
GALCAC PPP team members will work with community leaders to ensure availability and suitability.
An ICTV news story about the Goldfields Men’s Wellbeing Project can be found here.
Further info or enquiries (08)9021 3788 info@wangka.com.au