Uncle Lewis Walker
Uncle Lewis Walker
Bundjalung Elder and Wahrla-Bal Custodian, musician and artist
The festival's closing ceremony on Sunday, “Weaving Our Dreams Together”, will be led by the didgeridoo playing of Uncle Lewis.
Uncle Lewis is a Bundjalung Elder and Wahrla-Bal Custodian, born in Tabulam, a rural village in the far north-east of Australia in 1968. He belongs to the Warhlubal Bygal clan. Poppy Harry Mundine Walker’s Clan are the custodians of the Tabulam area, and highly respected for their cultural knowledge. Uncle Lewis’s people still live very close to the land on Jubullum Community. The Clan’s relationship with Mother Earth is a deep and living reality.
Uncle Lewis is a visual artist, dancer, and musician. His work reflects the country between the rocky outcrops of the east-coast ocean and represents the natural bush and animals from the Rocky River country, around Tabulam. His mother, aunties and grandmother taught him language. It was not until the age of 13, on entering the formal school system, that Lewis began to learn English.
He is a Keeper of the ancient Songlines of the Whales. His profound understanding of the relationship between the water, the whales, the Earth and humanity and can teach us that all Earth’s creatures are our brothers and sisters. His role, in his traditions and culture, is to be a bridge between the wisdom and way of his people and the global community.
He was chosen to share the essence of the aboriginal ‘creation song’ globally to bring, once again, unity among all people. Uncle Lewis’s tribal name is Spirit of the Night or Possum Spirit.