Mooley the Cow & Other Ballardong Yarns is presented by Ballardong Moorditj, a community-led program supporting strength, connection, creativity and wellbeing within York’s Ballardong Noongar community.
Mooley the Cow & Other Ballardong Yarns offers a fresh imagining of An Australian Parsonage by Janet Millett—told through the lens of York’s Noongar community. Created in collaboration with textile artist Susie Vickery and sculptor Nic Compton, this installation of mixed-media works weaves together history, culture and everyday life in 1860s York.
Millett, the wife of the Vicar of Trinity Church, lived in York during the 1860s. Her writing is unusual for its time: witty, empathetic and sharply observed. Of particular significance to the Noongar community is her recorded engagement with the Ballardong Noongar—nursing, employing, and fostering cross-cultural exchange—offering a rare lens through which Indigenous lives and cultural practices are seen. More than 150 years on, the book remains in print and continues to spark conversation.
