Jan (Yarn) Wositzky tells the story of William Buckley

For the past couple of years I've been maintaining the blog for Storytelling Australia (Victoria). A tad time consuming but it does however motivate me (Lois Lane like) to go and see other storytellers at work when I can.

Recently Jan Wositzky  invited me to meet him at a small western suburbs primary school where he was performing his show Buckley. This is an extraordinary tale of a convict who escaped in 1802 and spent the next 30 years living with the Wathaurong people.

For me Buckley's story is very important . I live in an area of Melbourne where he walked; where the names of key players in the story, Gellibrand and Derrimut are woven into the maps and streetscapes.

Together with others in my community and with the support of Hobsons Bay Council, I have been involved in activities to educate the local folk and especially the children, about our past. One of these projects has been the publication of a booklet about the First People of Hobsons Bay

Here Jan is pictured holding a copy of the The Yallukit-Willam: the First People of Hobsons Bay. You can download the link or contact Hobsons Bay Council for a hard copy.

Visit Storytelling Australia's site and on the blog, you can read a detailed interview with Jan and learn more about Buckley or visit www.storytellersguide.com.au. 

If you would like to see more about our GetUpOut West activities, better still become involved, we're on facebook: GUOW.