May Rosas slowly spells out her Dagoman name as her friends and relatives chase a cricket ball under the Katherine sun, "D-i-g-a-n-b-a-l."
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"Diganbal."
"So that's my tribal name," she said with a short, proud nod of her head.
NAIDOC Week, celebrated last week nationwide and next week in Katherine, is a special time of the year for Mrs Rosas and her family.
The theme for 2020 is Always Was, Always Will Be, in reference to Aboriginal Australians' uninterrupted occupation of this country for thousands of years.
"This land was always occupied by the First Nations people, my ancestors the Dagoman people," Mrs Rosas said.
"And other First Nations people throughout Australia ... we were always here and always will be."
The name for the Katherine region in Dagoman language is Larglan and was the site for the Nitmiluk Cup cricket tournament on the weekend.
The cup is 18-years-old and is the brainchild of Marcus Rosas.
He said it's the first time the cup has been held during NAIDOC Week, and said it only added to the festival of cricket.
"I had a lot of teams say thank you, that they actually learnt something new," he said.
As part of the NAIDOC recognition, Mrs Rosas designed a set of cricket stumps with Aboriginal art displaying the stories of sacred Larglan land.
She also led a welcome to country as players and spectators watched on, stood barefoot in a circle.
The barefoot circle is a sign of respect to Traditional Owners, carried out even at the highest levels of Australian cricket by our Test teams.
"We had barefoot before we discovered thongs and shoes, so it's just taking us back in time for a moment to appreciate and acknowledge our ancestors," Mrs Rosas said.
"When I take you to a sacred place on country, I would ask you to take your shoes off."
"It's about connection."
Mr Rosas said a welcome to country and an increased focus on celebrating Indigenous culture will be a feature of the cup going forward.
"The carnival coincided with the national NAIDOC week ... we had a welcome to country ... this is now something that will be part of the competition from here on in," he said.
"The event was played in the spirit of cricket, which highlighted the respect for the multicultural teams."
NAIDOC Week starts officially this weekend in Katherine.
The local NAIDOC committee will host events throughout the week between November 22 and 29.
The events include a welcome to country at the Katherine Town Council this Sunday and a NAIDOC march starting at O'Shea Terrace on November 27.
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