Building a trusted relationship with Kowanyama State School
Former Kowanyama State School Deputy Principal, Hayley Baxtad, was a teacher supervisor on the 2016 g-oz Travel Program when she worked in Lockhart River. She pursued g-oz upon her move to Kowanyama in 2017.
In collaboration with Hayley and Kowanyama State School, Girls from Oz successfully piloted a program in Term 1 and Term 2 of 2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic program delivery was paused until Term 1 in 2022. Since then g-oz has returned to Kowanyama State School consistently each year to deliver one Community Program per school term to the school’s Kinder to Year 10 cohorts.
As of 2024 Girls from Oz has delivered 14 Community Programs in Kowanyama.
Through our considered and consistent programming we endeavour to engage and re-engage girls and young women in Kowanyama in their schooling and in their community by providing each and every participant with educational opportunities and unique life experiences that would have otherwise remain inaccessible to them, encouraging an appetite for self-determination to confidently shape their futures and chase their dreams.
Supporting Kowanyama to keep local language alive
Kowanyama has a well-established Language Revival Program in operation at Kowanyama State School as initiated by Kokoberra Elder Priscilla Major and led by her niece Michelle (China) Major in conjunction with Pama Language Centre.
The Kowanyama community includes the Kokoberra, Kokomenjen (or Yir Yoront) and Kunjen clans, each with their differences in language and culture. Priscilla Major is one of the few remaining language holders who speaks all three languages, and played an integral role as part of a two-year community consultation process in collaboration with the Queensland Department of Education and Kowanyama State School to incorporate classes of Kowanyama’s traditional languages into the school’s curriculum.
Since the first g-oz pilot program in 2021 Girls from Oz has had a respectful and reciprocal relationship with Priscilla and her daughter, Tania Major, who currently sits on the g-oz Board. g-oz is driven and committed to amplifying Kowanyama’s cultural identity and voice by supporting the existing work of Priscilla and Michelle (China) Major through music and song as both learning and healing tool.
‘Over the past few years, I have personally seen the incredible difference that Girls from Oz has made in our community here in Kowanyama. I am genuinely excited about the opportunity to collaborate with the Board to further enhance this valuable work and expand the reach of this remarkable organisation that focuses on empowering and uplifting young women.’ – Tania Major, proud Kokoberra woman and g-oz Board Member, 2024
Place of many waters
Kowanyama sits on Kokoberra, Kokomenjen (or Yir Yoront), and Kunjen land and is located on the Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland, 600 kilometres northwest of Cairns. Kowanyama means ‘place of many waters’ in Yir Yoront language. It is home to many delta mangroves and wetlands in the north that extend into forest on the central peninsula. As of 2021 the town has a population of 1079 with 937, or 86.8% of residents, identifying as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander.