The story behind Kingborough and Lauderdale’s Indigenous jumpers

This week’s clash between Kingborough and Lauderdale will take on some extra meaning, with the two clubs taking part in the Indigenous Celebration Game.

Both sides will wear jumpers designed by Palawa artist Takira Simon-Brown, telling a story of the land on which the clubs sit. Read Takira’s full artist’s statement below.

Kingborough

“As a jungen I grew up in Longley passing Sleeping Beauty Mountain each day to go to school, go shopping, or just go out with my brother and father. My dad used to point the mountain out when I was younger and it became an idol to me, looking at the mountain growing up with princess stories all around, although they were not always a happy ending. My nan used to make up stories about country with an Irish vibe to them, and I would look at the mountain and imagine the stories of my ancestors.

“So when I created the design, I used Sleeping Beauty Mountain as its base. The outer lines represent the mountain. The top line is the original linage that is the outline of the mountain seen from Leslie Vale. It is then mirrored to reflect the mountain. Within the mountain lines are communal circles of gatherings, and between those gathering spaces is the country where the wallabies reside.

“When I added the lines to the jersey to create a tiger vibe, that was for the purpose of acknowledging the Tassie Tiger or ‘Thylacine’ from my memory of a book called ‘Magic Waterfall’ that I grew up with, created by Rainbow Publishing Company which published many books in Kingston where the author resided.”

Lauderdale

“The Lauderdale design has been created using the mapping for Lauderdale showing the border lines of the suburb. Within the suburb I have added Turbo Chickens running about, and the leaves represent the native plants of the area that are utilised by First Nations Communities.

“The circular lines represent the waters surrounding Lauderdale, and the canoes (not footballs!) coming from other suburbs to gather on site.”