Jawoyn Association chair Lisa Mumbin has said it was an honour to choose the new name of a CareFlight rescue plane, revealed today at a small ceremony at the Katherine Airport.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
As the deafening sound of Tindal's jets flying past halted the ceremony, Ms Mumbin said it took her hours to make a call, and she didn't do it alone.
PamJang Peyintin - Maj Nguluk, meaning Healing Wind, is now marked proudly on the side of one of Katherine's five life-saving planes, right beneath it are the words 'Town of Katherine'.
"I sat down with a young man who couldn't be here today and I said 'grandson, what are your thoughts?'"
"What is important to our people?"
He was Raymond Fordimail, previously a tour guide for Nitmiluk Tours, but taking a break to be mentored at Jawoyn by Lisa Mumbin.
At just 22-years-old, Ms Mumbin said he was already showing signs of following in the footsteps of a previous "strong" Jawoyn leader of the same name, Raymond Fordimail, who played a key role in forging a historic agreement with the Northern Territory government to jointly manage Nitmiluk, 30 years ago.
"As the chair I have the responsibility to encourage our young leaders, and he was the first person I thought of to help me name this plane," Ms Mumbin said.
"He said [CareFlight] is dealing with life... and they are dealing with wind while they are up in the air.
"His first words were healing, and we put them into Jawoyn language."
She said the inclusion of their words in language was a "great acknowledgement to my people and my extended people - the other tribal groups".
"It recognises the people today and the ones before us."
Katherine is the busiest location for CareFlight rescues and retrievals outside of Darwin.
Each day, teams are called to emergencies across the vast region, sometimes hundreds of kilometers away.
Since the beginning of this year almost 700 life-saving transfers, mainly to Darwin, have been recorded, the Katherine Hospital's general manager, Angela Brannelly said.
And while the service is invaluable to the people living in the region, as access to vital services are few and far between, the naming is a part of CareFlight's recently developed reconciliation action plan.
The organisation is on a mission to increase their Indigenous representation in offices and in the sky, chair of CareFlight Dr Andrew Refshauge said.
"Many of our patients are Aboriginal and it is important to reflect that in our staff... with (the Jawoyn Association) on board I think we are on track," he said.
"I want to particularly thank the Katherine Town Council and the Jawoyn Association for their generosity and for putting their names on the aircraft.
"It is recognition we can together do better."
While you're with us, you can now receive updates straight to your inbox each Friday at 6am from the Katherine Times. To make sure you're up to date with all the news, sign up here.