kaya wandjoo
kaya wandjoo is the Noongar way to say welcome to country.
This phrase is used as a formal greeting to acknowledge traditional owners and welcome people to Noongar land.
Meaning: protocol (noun)
Did you know?
- In Noongar culture, a 'welcome to country' is a specific right held only by the Traditional Owners of that particular land, whereas a 'welcome to country' performed by a non-Indigenous person is called an 'acknowledgement of country'.
- Noongar is not a single language but a group of dialects spoken by different clans, meaning the exact pronunciation of kaya wandjoo can vary slightly across the region.
- While kaya wandjoo is used for the formal protocol of 'welcome to country', kaya on its own is a versatile daily greeting used among Noongar people to say 'hello'.
Examples in context
- Kaya wandjoo.Welcome to country.
