Unique Rite of Passage ritual alive and well in Inala's Indigenous community

On the outskirts of Brisbane, a group of First Nations youth are embracing the western tradition of the debutante ball, while celebrating their own heritage.

One by one, girls in white ball gowns glide across the stage, taking the hand of their partners dressed up in suits.

They are stand on the precipice of their adult lives, as they turn to present themselves to an audience filled with family members.

For two decades, young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Inala have taken part in the Rite of Passage Ball.

"It's pretty unique, I haven't heard of much people my age who get to do stuff like this," said 15-year-old Lilee Randall.

Lilee is one of dozens who have just completed the program, which is designed to help First Nations youth prepare for their transition into adulthood.

"It's a big thing in our culture, like coming of age, so it's really celebrated," she said.

From public speaking to ballroom dancing

Program coordinator with Inala Wangarra, Frances Lomas, leads the teenagers through eight weeks of workshops.

"A lot of the kids come here and start the program very shy, they don't engage with a lot of the other kids. In this setting, our first workshop is a lot of team building," Ms Lomas said.

The workshops gradually incorporate public speaking and traditional Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander dance lessons, before the young ones try their hand at ballroom dancing.

"At the beginning, they're just like girl boy germs, and at the end they're just loving it," Ms Lomas said.

Waltz, progressive swing, and cha cha are some of the dance styles they pick up.

"I'm nervous about messing up and stuff like that, hopefully other people know their steps, but overall I'm excited," Lilee said.

The importance of ritual

The origin of the debutante ball can be traced back hundreds of years, where opulent parties were held to introduce young women from affluent families to high society.

But coming-of-age ritual dates much further back for First Nations Australians.

Chelsea Watego is a Munanjahli and South Sea Islander writer and academic, who has researched the survival of Indigenous peoples locally and globally.

"From birth to death, we walk with our community throughout all stages of life," Professor Watego said.

"We recognise the importance of these traditions, to have something to look forward to, but also to counter the prevailing social imagining about our people in our community.

"This is not just an event. This is a process of building up our young people in the community for the long term."

Professor Watego, who is a founding member of Inala Wangarra, has also seen all five of her children participate in the Rite of Passage Ball.

"It's interesting that it has a real colonial feel to it, like the old debutante ball, but we bought it back some years ago at the request of young people on our Youth Advisory Committee," she said.

"So, it's a colonial tradition, but it was Indigenous kids in Inala who said, 'we want to have this for ourselves.'"

Twenty years after its introduction, now multiple generations of Inala-based families have taken part in the Rite of Passage Ball.

"I've been waiting for this my whole life since my siblings done it," said 15-year-old Taleii Brady.

"My dads done it, my older siblings done it, I'm the last one to do it now."

Ms Watego said the Rite of Passage Ball had allowed for cultural identity to persist in the modern day society.

"So mob are still identifying in relation to place … even here in suburban areas like on the outskirts of Brisbane.

"That culture is still alive, our kinship systems still operate.

"They've changed a bit, because of course they have, but our mob have always kept our culture alive."