HOW DANCE SAW CAT QUINTON NARKLE CONNECT TO CULTURE
What Indigenous nation/ s are you connected with?
My language groups are the Whadjuk and Ballardong skin groups, that is in the Noongar region in the south-west part of WA.
What does your heritage/ culture mean to you?
It means a lot. My grandfather was pretty strong on making sure that we kept our culture pretty strong. It’s obviously not as strong as some more remote places up north, but you’ll find in a lot of the city regions a lot of Indigenous people are still trying to get their culture back.
My favourite custom from my heritage is ...
Dancing was probably the biggest thing, especially through school. I went to school at Wesley College in Perth. We had a program there for the Indigenous students and we called ourselves the “Moorditj Mob”, which was pretty cool. We did a lot of dancing around Perth at certain events and got to travel to Hawaii. Shai Bolton and I went to Hawaii together and did a few dances over there, which was cool.
Something not many people know about me is:
I would say a do a bit of painting and drawing, but I think people are on to that. I don‘t think many people would know that I play the didgeridoo. It took me two to three months to pick up the basics and from there I kept learning.
My earliest memory is: I still remember my first dance like it was yesterday. I would have been four or five years old and we went to this event and my uncle just grabbed me and chucked me in. It was like follow the leader really.
One piece of advice I would give my teenage self: I wish I had tried harder at school. At the time I was just focusing so much on football. If I talk to my nieces and nephews right now, I tell them I’d prefer to be smart than a good athlete. The best advice I was ever
given: My mum and grandfather always remind me to not forget where I came from. My family are really big on being close.
A common misconception made about me is: Right now my hair is dyed but my natural hair colour is blonde. Everyone thinks I dye my hair, but only recently have I put a little bit of colour in.
Family means: Everything. Just on my mum’s side I have 36 first cousins. It was my nephew’s first birthday
(recently) and his house was just filled with all of my family. They did FaceTime with me and it was pretty crazy. My mum is one of eight. I’m one of four, but then my dad has four others as well.
Which sporting moment carried the most significance for you? I think the Black Lives Matter protest. I remember going to the club and talking to them saying we should get behind it and support it. That was moving to see it go across the whole competition.
What’s it’s like being an Indigenous athlete today?
It’s better, I’m guessing, than what it used to be. You look at Eddie Betts and the way he talks about when he first got there and what happened with Adam Goodes.
How do we improve support networks for Indigenous athletes coming through the ranks of professional sport?
We’ve got a lot of Indigenous kids coming from very different backgrounds to others. What really helped me
was having Mathew Stokes here. He connected with us and having an Indigenous mentor, I know Richmond have Xavier Clarke there, that helps out a lot. Having someone who has been through the system and knows everything that has gone on, that really helps every Indigenous kid with their footy, on field and off. Who is your inspiration ... My mum Sandra. My dad and her split when I was six months old, so it was just her and four kids.